Purpose
Physician assistants/associates (PAs) working in PA programs play a vital role in shaping the next generation of medical providers. However, there is a lack of research on PAs employed in these programs. Thus, we explored key roles, attributes, and career trajectories of PAs working in PA programs.

Methods
We analyzed 2023 national workforce data from the National Commission on Certification of PA, including employment characteristics and experiences of 82,424 PAs who responded to a question asking whether they were employed in a PA education program. We compared the characteristics of PAs who reported being employed in a PA program to those who were not.

Results
Nearly 4% (n=3229) of PAs were employed in a PA program. Most PAs held the academic rank of assistant professor/clinical assistant professor (35.2%), indicated their role as adjunct faculty (36.2%) or didactic faculty (27.1%), and had a median of 4 years in PA education. Among PAs employed in a PA program, 81.6% indicated working clinically. Compared to their colleagues, a higher proportion of PAs employed in a PA program (all p <0.001) indicated having a doctorate (15.2% vs. 2.2%), postgraduate fellowship/residency (10.5% vs. 5.6%), secondary position (49.3% vs. 13.5%), and provided care in under-resourced settings (31.9 vs. 23.9%). Of the PAs employed in PA programs, 7.8% indicated they planned to leave their position in the next 12 months. Of those intending to leave, the two reasons reported were: insufficient wages given the workload and responsibilities (39.5%) and feelings of professional burnout (35.9%). PAs employed in PA programs were more likely to indicate being satisfied with work-life balance (p=0.023), number of hours worked (p=0.015), benefits (p <0.001), and employer (p=0.006) than PAs not employed in a PA program.

Conclusions
Understanding the attributes of PAs employed in PA programs is essential for developing effective recruitment and retention strategies.