Tracy Bingaman, PA-C, MSPS, had over a decade of clinical experience in a high-acuity career she loved when she reached her breaking point. She worked full time as a physician associate in inpatient urology, averaging 55 hours a week with no overtime pay. She spent nearly every waking hour at the hospital, leaving five kids at home.
One morning after spending all day at the hospital and all evening on call, her toddler came to her asking to be held. Bingaman was on the phone, transferring a critically ill patient and told her daughter no. “She looked me right in the eye and said, ‘Mama, you’re stupid.’”
That moment stung, but it also woke her up. “She was right. I was being incredibly stupid, prioritizing this healthcare system and employer over my health and relationships,” says Bingaman.
Within a week, she resigned to recoup and reassess her life and career goals. Today, she hosts a popular podcast, The PA Is In, and coaches other physician associates (PAs) on actionable strategies for earning what you’re worth.
3 Steps to avoid clinician burnout
Despite today’s increased awareness of burnout among clinicians, there remain limited practical plans on how to avoid it. “The very qualities that helped us succeed — overachievement, perseverance and self-sacrifice — are also the ones that put us at risk,” says Bingaman.
During her acute care years, Bingaman found most people tended to endure it until they reached a breaking point. “I didn’t see anyone modeling walking away or valuing themselves,” she says.
Bingaman went on to build what she needed and couldn’t find: a roadmap for decreasing burned-out clinicians.
Step 1: Understand your value
The first step to avoid burnout as a PA or nurse practitioner (NP) is understanding your work value and asking for commensurate compensation.
“We don’t learn the business of medicine in school, so we don’t know how much revenue we’re generating,” says Bingaman.
Knowing this empowers clinicians to advocate for benefits like more pay, flexibility or overtime pay.
Log the following to track your revenue:
- Patient volume (new vs. follow-up)
- Billed procedures or CPT codes
- Phone calls made
- Patient satisfaction scores
- Any reduction in wait times or increased access to care
Even indirect contributions matter. “If you’re doing pre-ops, post-ops or injections, you’re freeing up surgeons to do more surgeries. That’s real value,” says Bingaman.
Step 2: Negotiate like it’s your job (Because it is!)
Clinicians are helpers by nature, which makes many of them people pleasers. However, working as a salaried clinician and going above and beyond is a recipe for burnout. Knowing your performance data helps you break out of that mold.
Once you track your data, it becomes leverage. Bingaman coaches clients to use it to ask for benefits like:
- Higher base pay
- Bonus structures
- Commission models
- Flexible scheduling, such as four-day weeks or remote admin time
“When you work harder, you should make more. That’s how you avoid resentment,” she says.
Step 3: Ask without apology
Bingaman hears the same fears from coaching clients about being too pushy or causing tension.
The worst that can happen is your employer says no. That’s also data.
“Sometimes you learn they don’t value you the way you deserve. Then you can decide to stay, push again later or leave for somewhere that will value you,” says Bingaman.
If salary ceilings limit your employer, consider asking for flexibility. Ask for what makes your life better, like Fridays off, admin days or remote work. “There’s always one provider in every clinic with the dream schedule. Build a schedule others will envy,” says Bingaman.
Bingaman’s coaching includes mock conversations and scripts so clients can go into meetings prepared. Once you ask, you may need to follow up and confirm timelines.
3 tips to thrive without burnout
Besides compensation and job benefits, Bingaman recommends mindset changes to help you build a job around a life you love.
- Know your limits
You can’t enforce a boundary you haven’t defined. Whether it’s your clinical capacity or your emotional bandwidth, understand where your ‘no’ begins. - Know your value
You wouldn’t be employed if you weren’t adding value, so track it and use it to negotiate better terms. For example, if you’re asked to work overtime, know how much value that adds to your employer. - You are not your job
“They’re not putting ‘great in the OR’ on your headstone. You’re more than your title, so don’t forget to show up for your life,” says Bingaman.
Bingaman’s advice works. Last year, her coaching clients earned an extra quarter million in bonuses, raises or new job offers. Burnout doesn’t have to be inevitable for clinicians working in high-stress jobs. “You give your patients an incredible amount of time and attention, and you have value and deserve to be compensated for that,” says Bingaman.
Besides helping clients avoid risk, CM&F Group is proud to partner with healthcare leaders and experts who support our clients as they build successful careers and businesses. Speak to an agent about your insurance needs and any resources you need for your professional growth.
