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How To Hire a Physician Assistant
By Susan Doktor MONEY RESEARCH COLLECTIVE
What is a physician assistant?
A physician assistant (PA) is a licensed clinician who provides a range of medical services in virtually every medical specialty and clinical setting. Physician assistants practice under the close supervision of medical doctors. To become a physician assistant, you must complete a bachelor’s degree program and a specialized master’s degree.
What does a physician assistant do?
Physician assistants do many of the same things doctors do. According to the American Medical Association, a physician assistant may be responsible for:
- Conducting physical exams
- Diagnosing and treating illnesses
- Ordering and interpreting tests
- Counseling patients on preventive health care
- Assisting in surgery
- Writing prescriptions
Physician assistants may also take on administrative, patient education and research tasks as required while practicing.
How to hire a physician assistant
Patients put a lot of trust in their doctors. They rightfully expect their docs to care about and direct every aspect of their treatment. Physician assistants are a direct reflection of the doctors who supervise them. In fact, doctors who supervise PAs are legally responsible for the actions PAs take. So it’s incumbent on doctors to hire only the most qualified and responsible candidates.
We’ve worked with ZipRecruiter, one of the best job posting sites for employers on the internet and overall hiring experts to develop a list of recommendations to help you make the best physician assistant hire for your practice. Our comprehensive guide covers searching for, interviewing, hiring and onboarding physician assistants. If you’re considering hiring a physician assistant, this is a great place to start. We’ve broken the recruiting process down to eight steps as follows.
Know the physician assistant education and license requirements
If it’s your first time hiring a PA, the first step you should take is to review the educational and licensing requirements for becoming one. In all 50 states, physician assistants are required to complete a bachelor’s degree. While it’s not mandatory, some physicians prefer to work with PAs who complete their degrees in a science-related field. Afterward, the student must complete a master’s level physician assistant program. PA master’s programs take two years or more to complete. To be permitted to work as a PA, graduates must pass the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE). Only then can the PA qualify for a license to practice. All 50 states require that PAs complete an accredited PA master’s degree program and pass the PANCE. These qualifications should be the first thing you scan for when reviewing PA resumes.
Get familiar with PA scope of practice laws in your state
A scope of practice outlines the duties a PA can legally perform. These requirements vary from state to state. So before you begin searching for a PA, you should find out what responsibilities a PA can legally take on in your state. These responsibilities should align with your expectations of how a PA will assist you. You may need to adjust your expectations based on state regulations.
Decide which physician assistant specialty your new hire should have experience in
There’s a core group of skills every PA needs, no matter what type of clinical setting he or she will be working in. These include taking patient health histories, performing physical exams, diagnosing medical conditions, ordering tests, prescribing medication and more.
But if you’re a medical specialist or you’re hiring for a role in a specific hospital department, you may want to focus on non-standard skills and qualifications. For example:
Emergency care PA: Experience with urgent tasks like wound care and patient stabilization tactics and administering anesthesia.
Family medicine PA: Performing minor surgical procedures and making rounds at hospitals and nursing facilities.
Oncology PA: Strong interpersonal skills and a high degree of empathy.
Cardiology PA: Experience performing cardiac tests like echocardiograms, EKGs and ankle/brachial index ultrasounds and with post-surgery care.
Neurology PA: Neurology certification through the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants.
Obstetrics/gynecology PA: Strong interpersonal skills that allow a PA to discuss sensitive or embarrassing issues with patients. A sincere interest in assisting women throughout all stages of pregnancy.
Dermatology PA: Experience performing minimally and non-invasive cosmetic procedures, such as Botox injections, laser skin resurfacing and chemical peels
Pediatrics PA: Experience working with young people who may not be able to articulate their symptoms, dealing with frightened patients, and knowing when to prescribe a lollipop.
Write the perfect physician assistant job description
Arguably, there’s no task more critical to finding the best candidates than writing an effective job description. Do it for yourself and do it for the job hunters reading it. A great job description will save you all a lot of time and disappointment.
- Take a whiteboard approach to begin with. Literally write down every skill and qualification you want your “perfect” PA to have. Hone in on character traits, too.
- Next, make a list of all responsibilities your PA will have in your practice. Make sure your two lists align. If candidates meet all of your qualifications, they should be able to handle the job. It’s also a good idea to get some input from others in your organization. You may have forgotten something — or you may just gain another perspective.
- Prioritize qualifications into must-haves and nice-to-haves to create a succinct presentation of the opportunity. And be sure to discuss your company culture in your job listing. Recent research reveals that company culture trumps salary when it comes to accepting a job offer. Candidates don’t want to work for companies that don’t share their values.
Your job description should give candidates a clear picture of what’s expected of them. Ideally, candidates will self-select — unqualified candidates won’t apply and you’ll be left with a smaller group of better choices. Don’t know where to begin? ZipRecruiter’s physician assistant job description template is a great jumping off point.
Choose a recruitment method to attract qualified candidates
In today’s job market, listing your open position on one or more job boards is essential. ZipRecruiter, LinkedIn and The Ladders are great places to start, but you should also look into job boards that focus on the healthcare sector. Health ECareers is one of the more popular sites for physician assistant job postings.
Networking is another effective tactic in the PA recruitment process. Reach out to your friends and acquaintances and ask them for referrals. They may keep a list of qualified candidates they interviewed but didn’t ultimately hire. Contacting those candidates directly may be a good move.
Look through physician assistant resumes and decide who to interview
Today’s unemployment rate is quite low. But you’re still likely to be inundated with resumes when you post a PA job to a job board. Reviewing them all may be too time-consuming a task for your staff to handle alone. That’s when resume scanning software can come in very handy.
Resume scanning software can be customized to help you winnow a large field of candidates down to only the most qualified candidates. Your job is to input a list of qualifications and keywords — such as “oncology experience” or “pediatric specialist” — for the software to work from.
When you post your job listing to a major job posting site like ZipRecruiter, the company will use resume scanning software to help you cull through the umpteen resumes candidates submit.
Start the interview process
Once you’ve decided which candidates you’d like to interview, prepare a list of questions you want to cover when you meet. Here are a few sample interview questions to get you started:
How do you approach a first appointment with a patient? A candidate’s answer to this question can reveal how well the PA performs initial intake procedures. He or she should be able to answer this question in great detail.
Tell me about a time you had to manage an appointment with an angry or frightened patient. A candidate’s answer to this question demonstrates well-honed interpersonal skills, the ability to handle stressful situations and whether the candidate knows when it’s wise to ask a supervising physician to intervene.
Tell me about a time when your decision-making skills made a difference in a patient outcome. What was your thought process? PAs have to make many decisions during the course of practice. Some of them can be urgent and life-saving, while others afford a PA more time for consideration. Learning how candidates approach decision-making can give you insight into how they will react in a wide range of situations that require analysis and action.
Which skills, qualities and experiences does a PA need to be successful? You want to be sure that a candidate’s knowledge base is broad enough to manage the many responsibilities a PA practice entails. You’ll also gain insight into candidates’ values when you ask them to prioritize skills and character traits.
Other questions on your list may drill down to the qualifications required to work in a particular specialty. Recruitment experts generally recommend you prepare no more than 10 questions for an hour-long interview, but don’t be surprised if you don’t get to all of them. And don’t end an interview without asking candidates whether they have any questions for you.
Hire and onboard your new physician assistant
You’ve identified the best candidate for your open position. That’s probably the toughest part of recruiting. But your job doesn’t end there. You still have to ink a deal. And that may require considerable persuasive skills. Again, the job market favors employees right now. Your perfect candidate may have a variety of offers to choose from.
Your offer letter should be very detailed and outline all aspects of compensation, including benefits. You may work with your company’s legal team when crafting it. The best offer letters serve another purpose besides outlining a total compensation package: they also help “sell” the opportunity your company is offering. Under ideal circumstances, you’d extend an offer in person. But that may not be practical. So be sure your offer letter reflects a human touch. Thank candidates for their interest. Remark how excited you are at the prospect of having the candidate join your team. Extend an invitation to discuss the offer letter should the candidate have questions about it.
Your top candidate has accepted your offer. Congratulations! But no, the job’s not done yet. A well-crafted onboarding process will ensure your new employee starts off on the right foot and has the support he or she needs to succeed long-term. Expect your onboarding process to take at least two days. Introductions to key staff members should take priority. You want your new PA to feel like he or she knows where to turn for support. Technology instructions will also take up a good bit of time. A thorough tour of your facility is also in order. You may want to schedule a lunch for your new PA and one of your more seasoned ones. Not to put too fine a point on it, but an effective onboarding process can mean the difference between a smooth, efficient transition for your new PA or a rocky and frustrating experience. Great onboarding processes have been correlated with better employee retention, too.
How to hire a physician assistant FAQ
How much do physician assistants make?
Physician assistant salaries vary, based on multiple factors. The cost of living in your area will have an impact on what you can expect to spend when you employ a PA. PAs with deeper experience will command a higher salary. PAs who specialize in certain medical disciplines may also expect a higher salary. But according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average PA salary nationally is just over $120,000 per year.
Can physician assistants prescribe medication?
Yes, PAs are licensed to prescribe medication. They're bound by the same regulations as physicians when they do so. When PAs prescribe controlled substances, such as certain pain medicines or drugs used to treat Attention Deficit Disorder, they are required to get authorization from a supervising physician.
What's the difference between a physician assistant and a doctor?
Perhaps the chief difference between physicians and physician assistants is that physician assistants can only practice medicine under the supervision of a physician. Physicians may practice independently.
Both are trained to provide a wide range of medical services. It's estimated that PAs are qualified to do about 80% of the jobs a doctor does. The two are also required to complete different educational programs before they are licensed. The minimum time a licensed physician spends in medical school is about 7 years. Specialist physicians devote even more years to their education. Physician assistants can generally complete their physician assistant training in three years or so.
How much does it cost to hire a physician assistant?
According to the most recent data, the average cost of recruiting is about $4,000. But it all depends on how you approach the recruiting process. If you engage a headhunter, your costs are likely to be higher. That's because headhunters normally base their fees on a percentage of the new hire's salary, which can be as high as 30%.
Summary of Miami Herald’s how to hire physician assistants
Here’s our recommended approach to finding the best candidate to fill your open physician assistant position:
- Get familiar with physician assistant education and license requirements and scope of practice laws in your state.
- Write the perfect physician assistant job description.
- Decide on a recruiting strategy: how will you promote your job listing?
- Make use of technology, including resume scanning software, to make recruiting speedier and hone in on the most qualified candidates.
- Prepare a targeted list of interview questions, including some tailored to your practice’s medical specialties.
- Don’t forget that the work doesn’t end when you find the perfect candidate. Develop an offer-making strategy that persuades candidates to come to work for you, even in a competitive job market. Have a well-thought-out onboarding process to help your new team member transition smoothly into his or her new role.