Meet the Team

The B-03 Task Force on Burnout was founded by the AAPA House of Delegates and the AAPA Board of Directors in 2019 to respond the concerns about PA burnout. These experts on burnout and well-being were tasked with identifying ways to address PA burnout and promote PA wellness through education, awareness, research, and more. See the full list of charges and read more about the task force members below.

Eric Tetzlaff

Kari Bernard

Heidi Brown

Amanda Chapman

Bettie Coplan

Heather M. Hylton

Barbara Morrison

Talia Sierra

JoAnne Mora

The staff advisor for the task force is Noel Smith, Senior Director, PA & Industry Research & Analysis, [email protected]

Eric Tetzlaff, MHS, PA-C, DFAAPA

PA Tetzlaff’s interest in provider wellness and burnout dates back to his collaboration with PA Heather Hylton and the Association of PAs in Oncology (APAO) to examine provider characteristics and their association with burnout and career satisfaction among PAs in oncology. In follow up, APAO awarded them a 3-year grant to conduct a longitudinal study of provider wellness and career satisfaction in oncology PAs to further understand the impact of burnout on the oncology PA workforce.

Kari Bernard, MS, PA-C

PA Bernard is the Anchorage campus site director for the University of Washington MEDEX Northwest PA program and the 2019-2020 AAPA/PAEA Research Fellow. She is pursuing a PhD in industrial and organizational psychology with an emphasis in professional well-being. Kari has co-authored peer-reviewed manuscripts on PA well-being, presented at medical conferences on evidence-based wellness practices, and partnered with leaders at Midwestern University to integrate their wellness curriculum at MEDEX.

Heidi Brown, BHS, PA-C

PA Brown is a practicing Psychiatric PA in Idaho, Oregon and Utah. She also works with individuals, organizations, and educational programs to develop and implement burnout education and prevention programs.

Amanda Chapman, MMS, PA-C

PA Chapman started her research into burnout back in 2015, in response to experiencing burnout and seeing the toll that burnout took on her colleagues and the healthcare system. She has experience in PA education, along with clinical experience in general surgery and surgical oncology. She is passionate about healthcare advocacy and has an interest in helping others mitigate burnout, by finding solutions to the challenges PAs are faced with in healthcare delivery.

Bettie Coplan, PhD, PA-C

PA Coplan is Assistant Professor in the Department of PA Studies at Northern Arizona University. She has been a PA since 1999 and an educator since 2006. She practices clinically in primary care, and her research has focused on PA workforce issues including burnout, diversity, and PA contributions to primary care.

Delilah Dominguez, LCSW, PA-S

As a licensed clinical social worker and PA student, Dominguez is passionate about mental health and provider well-being. She is interested in the student perspective and how interventions at the PA education and training levels can help reduce and prevent burnout.

Heather M. Hylton, MS, PA-C, DFAAPA, FASCO

PA Hylton’s clinical background is in oncology, and she has served in key administrative and clinical roles at leading healthcare organizations. She has multiple publications and national presentations on clinician burnout and wellness and is particularly interested in the opportunity to impact this issue both nationally and locally in collaboration with other stakeholder groups, including policymakers.

Susan (Suze) D. Kopynec, MPAS, PA-C Emeritus, DFAAPA

PA Kopynec is the Director of FirstHealth’s Center for Provider Wellbeing (CPW) — an innovative service to address physician and APP burnout with a focus on addressing systems-related issues and resilience. She has received Certifications in Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP), and as a CAPP Coach (ICF Accredited), which inspired utilization of the PERMA theory of wellbeing for the CPW’s foundation.

Barbara Morrison, PA-C

PA Morrison has practiced primarily in primary care, internal medicine, and emergency medicine with the privilege and responsibility of caring for patients of all ages and backgrounds. Over two decades of practice, yoga has helped her navigate the professional boundaries that allow her to stay balanced. With increased institutional and other pressures on PAs, she is passionate about sharing how these practices have helped her avoid burnout. She has presented workshops on burnout, mindfulness, and other similar topics at state PA conferences.

Talia Sierra, MPAS, PA-C

PA Sierra graduated from Idaho State University’s PA program in 2008 with clinical experience in family practice, urgent care, and psychiatry. She has experience in PA education and practices clinically in primary care. She has a research focus on burnout with multiple publications and her work has been presented at local, state, national, and international levels.

JoAnne Mora, PA-C, MMSc, DFAAPA

PA Mora’s interest in burnout and well-being is because of many years being a PA. She has seen healthcare teams that work well and others that have not. Now she understands that the problems were systemic and not because of individuals. PAs are a good breed in healthcare. They mean well and want to do a good job in taking care of their patients. This problem is an international problem in healthcare and she is happy that AAPA has taken initiative to help with well-being for PAs. Her interest is helping PAs do better in their professional career.