PA Scholars: What Drives and Inhibits Success?

The full expression of an educator includes scholarship, yet many physician assistant (PA) educators are not published. Several barriers unique to PA education are often cited to explain this phenomenon. However, some in the PA profession have become prolific writers despite working in the same environment. In this study, authors strove to understand what motivated these productive faculty by posing 2 research questions: (1) What are the drivers of success for high-performing PA scholars and (2) how do high performing PA scholars overcome barriers?

A qualitative study using a constructivist, grounded theory approach explored the experiences and motivation of PA-credentialed educators who published >5 peer-reviewed articles and whose body of work achieved an h -index of >3.

High-performing scholars valued scholarship as a creative outlet and a rewarding pursuit. Scholars achieved a sense of fulfillment in their work. Research and writing were described as protective against burnout. Participants viewed barriers differently than other educators. Barriers were acknowledged, but participants developed strategies to overcome obstacles. Mentorship was seen as crucial to success. A nuanced understanding of PA research and the characteristics associated with high-performing PA scholars emerged. The study identified developmental stages associated with the formation of a scholar.

Progression from prescholar to mature scholar has important implications for initiatives designed to increase scholarship and provides evidence to support the claim that scholarship positively affects job satisfaction, personal well-being, and talent retention.