Physician Assistants are often expected to hold everything together while also carrying their own enormous emotional pressure. They move from patient to patient, absorb trauma and grief, navigate increasingly strained healthcare systems, and continue showing up with compassion and professionalism no matter how exhausted they may feel. Many are balancing impossible workloads, staffing shortages, productivity demands, administrative burdens, and the emotional toll of caring for people during moments of crisis.

Yet many PAs do not feel safe talking openly about what this work is actually doing to them. Conversations about burnout, emotional and compassion fatigue, anxiety, or moral distress are still deeply stigmatized in healthcare culture. Many struggle silently with feelings of self-doubt, overwhelm, and isolation, while believing they should simply “push through” because caring for others is part of the job.

At GPS Group Peer Support, we believe healthcare workers deserve support too. That belief led to the development of the GPS For Physician Assistants Curriculum, a trauma-informed peer support guide created specifically for PAs and the emotional realities they face in today’s healthcare environment. The curriculum was developed in partnership with the Massachusetts Association of PAs (MAPA), a MASStrong Implementation Partner committed to strengthening wellbeing and support for PAs across the profession. GPS and MAPA recognized the urgent need for structured, emotionally safe support spaces designed specifically for PAs.

Rooted in the GPS Model, this curriculum centers validation, emotional safety, connection, and shared lived experience. Unlike traditional wellness initiatives that focus primarily on productivity or individual coping strategies, GPS groups create space for honest conversations about what PAs are truly carrying emotionally. The curriculum helps facilitators establish supportive discussions around burnout, feeling unseen or underestimated, compassion fatigue, stress and overwhelm, balancing professional expectations with personal wellbeing, and the emotional weight of constantly caring for others while struggling themselves.

One of the most important aspects of this work is naming the realities many healthcare professionals have been taught not to say out loud. PAs are often expected to appear endlessly resilient while navigating systems that leave many feeling emotionally depleted and unsupported. The GPS For Physician Assistants curriculum acknowledges these realities directly and helps reduce stigma by reminding participants they are not alone in their experiences.

The curriculum includes four structured support group sessions with facilitator guidance, trauma-informed group practices, GPS Realities and GPS Principles, reflection activities, and discussion prompts. It was intentionally designed to be adaptable across hospitals, healthcare systems, medical practices, academic settings, workforce wellness initiatives, and professional associations seeking meaningful support options for their PAs.

The GPS For Physician Assistants curriculum is available FREE of charge to individuals and organizations in MASStrong. Those outside of Massachusetts who are interested in bringing this support model to their own healthcare communities can purchase the curriculum in addition to attending GPS facilitator training to learn how to lead groups using the GPS Model with fidelity.

At a time when the healthcare workforce burnout continues to impact retention, morale, mental health, and patient care outcomes, creating spaces where PAs feel genuinely supported is essential. While peer support cannot eliminate every systemic challenge facing healthcare workers, it can help to reduce isolation, strengthen connection, and create opportunities for healing and honest conversation.

The GPS for Physician Assistants curriculum exists because too many healthcare workers have spent too long believing they have to carry everything alone. This curriculum offers something many PAs rarely receive in professional spaces: permission to be honest, permission to be human, and permission to receive support too.

Bring MASStrong to Your Workplace

GPS’s MASStrong program offers free GPS trainings, support groups, curriculums, and toolkits for Massachusetts medical, behavioral health, and community care workers and organizations. Eligible organizations can also apply for GPS partnership support and grants up to $10,000.