Barriers to Research: A National Survey of Physician Assistant Faculty

Success in research is a well-known challenge for physician assistant (PA) educators. Multiple barriers to research productivity have been proposed. This study examines potential barriers to PA research productivity.

Two hundred forty-seven PA programs were stratified by region and Carnegie classification, creating 28 strata. One program was randomly sampled from each stratum, and faculty from sampled programs were invited to participate (N = 214). An electronic survey was deployed via Qualtrics. Data were analyzed, accounting for the stratified survey sample design. Reported are proportions with associated 95% confidence intervals.

Survey response rate was 53% (N = 114). The mean age was 46.7 years [44.5, 48.8 years] and 61% [52.4, 70.4] of respondents were female. Most respondents (53.5%; [44.2, 62.8]) were assistant professors and reported being employed as PA faculty for a mean of 12.4 years [11.2, 13.7 years]. Most respondents (68.1%; [59.7, 76.6]) reported 0 peer-reviewed research articles regardless of number of years as faculty. Few reported an interest in research (22.3%; [14.3, 29.9]) or felt internally driven to perform research (35.4%; [26.6, 44.2]). Most pursued a faculty position to teach (78.1%; [70.5, 85.7]) and spent little time pursuing research. Only 15.8% ([9.7, 21.9]) received research mentorship.

This study identified lack of interest in research by faculty and lack of mentorship engagement as important factors underlying the profession's poor scholarly output. Initiatives to increase scholarship must first focus on fostering individual interest and increasing motivation.