Promoting mental wellness and reducing stress among physician assistant students
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Abstract
Physician assistant (PA) programs are graduate medical programs, where the training is academically rigorous, placing students in a vulnerable position for increased psychological stress and poor mental wellness. As the role of a PA is relatively new in the field of medicine, less research has been performed on ameliorating these risks in PA student education compared to medical students. In the pursuit of an accelerated educational experience, PA programs place a variety of stressors on students, which can exacerbate underlying mental issues. As PA students are future health care professionals and advanced practice providers (APP), it is important to recognize these stressors, as well as implement practices focused on stress reduction.
PA program faculty can reduce psychological stress and improve mental wellness during the training period. If programs were to provide increased attendance flexibility, it may allow students time to focus on juggling mental health during acutely stressful situations improving mental wellness. The implementation of attendance flexibility would benefit students and faculty alike, as this change would decrease the burden of work overseeing student compliance, while and decreasing PA student burnout.