Physician Assistant Faculty Retirement Intentions

Abstract

Participants received an individually addressed e-mail containing a link to a Web-based survey, followed by a group thank you and reminder request sent 4 weeks later. Descriptive and comparative cross-tabular analyses were performed. Results: Completed surveys were obtained from 445 faculty, for a response rate of 43%. Gender variability was noted in several categories, and of particular concern was the finding that although 45% of female respondents would ideally like to retire under age 62 (compared to 23% of males), 27% of females age 55 or older felt they could never afford to retire (compared to 8% of similar-aged males). The most important personal retirement decision factor was assurance of a satisfactory income (88%), and the most important academic decision factor was classroom contact with students (55%). The option to retire early if offered was something that a plurality (42%) of faculty were uncertain about. Conclusions: Although this study reflects strong faculty concern for personal health and financial status prior to considering retirement, it also suggests the need for education in terms of financial and health benefits planning and the need to examine the gender differences in many response categories. There does not appear to be a large cohort of faculty on the verge of retirement. Some findings have implications for PAEA annual conference content planning.