r/physicianassistant

Fellow primary care PAs, my job recently discontinued our visit rule for our schedules, for example I used to have a women’s health day where I only did WWE, Nexplanon’s, etc. but now they are allowing call center to schedule whatever whenever. Like I have 6 new patient visits back to back today…. Is this normal or was I spoiled?

And any other specialty is welcome to give feedback I’m just wondering

Just wondering if anyone has any advice regarding non compete clauses, I currently work in NYC, my contract said something about non solicitation, I work for a company that is contracted by another company. Basically the company I work for now, is getting replaced at the current site and the company that is taking over offered me a job with a better package. Old boss is upset and tells me he will enforce his vague non solicitation clause. I genuinely just am doing what’s best for me and my family. I didn’t steal any business, just making the next logical move. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

My current gig gives a RVU bonus which is low with a low to ok base hourly pay. They are kicking the tires on going full RVU pay. What’s a fair amount per RVU to get paid?

For those who chose a specialty as a new grad, how did you reconcile the fact that there are other APPs that recommend going into primary care first or wished they had done general medicine first before going into a specialty? Did you know this was your dream specialty or did you choose based on the support/environment/schedule?

How I do reconcile the fact that I also want that wide based knowledge and to know a little about everything but also want to be a mastery at something? Especially given the fact that my longterm goal is to end up in an outpatient specialty.

Hello All,
I’m an ortho PA with 4.5 years experience in a subspecialty (left out in case anyone knows me here). Currently work with a great SP who I have a wonderful relationship with, but my commute is 40 min one way. Making 145k in an academic setting. 2 OR days and 3 clinic days per week. No call, holidays or weekends. I’m in a very busy practice with upwards of 50 patients on clinic days as well as 15 patients during my independent clinics 1-2 days per week.

A job is opening at the community hospital near home, same subspecialty, 10 minute commute. This will be with a surgeon that I worked with when they were a resident (spent 3 years of his residency together). I haven’t received an offer yet, so don’t want to put the cart before the horse, but they basically said the job could be mine if I wanted it. They said pay could be comparable, but I would have to take 2nd call with my surgeon one weekend per month and one week night per week. In our discussions they said they could include “precepting” compensation as they asked if I could teach up their other PA on the subspecialty. Being a new surgeon, it will be much less busy for me.

My biggest question is has anyone left a great situation for a job closer to home, even though it meant leaving a great supervising physician? Any advice on this, how to tell them, or what I should be asking for compensation given the above situations would be great.

Hi all,

I'm starting a program in the fall. Trying to borrow loan(s) through private lender and what I'm learning is that students can only borrow up to the remainder amount that is total COA (provided by the school) - federal loan ($20,500) = amount that can be borrowed?

I was advised to borrow with some buffer in case of emergency cash need, etc., however that seems impossible? It doesn't make sense to me that private lenders expect all students to have the same COA that is purely based on the school estimate. You know what I mean?

Every once in a while, its good to have some positivity in this subreddit. If you truly love your job and felt like the school stress and debt was completely worth it, state your reasons why.

Let's get some optimism flowing!!

Just a fun question.

Hi everyone,

I guess this is just a rant, not that anyone asked, but I'm the one who posted my ENT job stats some days ago and I guess I've always known this but I absolutely loathe working. In general, but especially a M-F 8-5 grind. This lifestyle is genuinely awful and I don't think I can even get away from it just by switching jobs or switching specialties. Anyone relate? lol. I am quitting, but to many, this probably sounds crazy, but I can't do it anymore especially with all of the corporate greed. I seriously can't picture myself working everyday for the rest of my life just to retire and then die. If you ask any one of my classmates and friends they'll tell you I'm a big PA advocate and love the idea of being a PA, and it's a great commendable career, and I'm not necessarily going to stop being a PA forever, but I'm going to quit and try to find something else to do or maybe just take a break and then I'll find the right specialty in the future, but I've realized the money is not enough to make up for the job unfortunately. I'm grateful I have a supportive family and I don't have any bills to pay and I'm so glad I didn't ball out and buy a car and all of these things so I saved a lot of money, but I guess basically all I'm saying is, LEAVE THAT JOB that doesn't foster your learning and your own personal development. Leave the job if you're unhappy with the environment, don't stay just to stay. There will always be more opportunities and this time I'm going to take some time to try some new things. I'm going to try to find a source of income that doesn't require a 9-5 and provides me the flexibility that I need and deserve. Any suggestions y'all? Anything y'all switched to PA or not PA that worked out. Don't clown me but I believe in making money on the internet (NOT OF) and internet money is endless. IDK am I being crazy? This just feels right to me. Maybe open a business (medical or not), telemed GLPs, idk. Wish me luck! Wish all of us luck!

Hi! My partner got a new job in NJ and we currently live in northeast PA. I am currently applying for the NJ state license because I had a recruiter call for one of the hospitals I applied for, and the recruiter said I should probably have my license before I start applying. One of the required documents is a Verification of Hospital/Medical Employment Privileges or Appointment that I have to send to my current employer to fill out. I am afraid to send this because I do not want them to know I will be leaving the system. What should I do? I don't want to delay the state licensing process.

Hello all,
I would like to connect with someone who is in Vascular Surgery as PA. I am new to this profession and also it’s my first job as PA.
I am struggling, I feel like my team hates me. I don’t feel comfortable and I don’t feel being supported or educated enough here. But I want to stick around and try to self educate, learn and understand more. I don’t feel very confident asking my team for advice or help, I feel judged all the time. So I decided to give a shot and possibly find someone here who can just talk to me and provide some insights being Vascular Surgery PA.
Please help me

Noob question I’m sure, but just wanna make sure I’m understanding this correctly.

My job gives us a free UpToDate subscription, and from what I understand the searches/reading count as Category 1 CME. Of course, NCCPA says I need 50 Cat 1 CME + 50 additional CME hours over the 2-year cycle.

I’ve been stressing trying to find conferences/courses/subscriptions that fit within my job’s CME budget without eventually coming out of pocket. But am I correct that I could technically fulfill the whole requirement just through UpToDate credits?

I work in a high-acuity/high learning-curve environment and already have 30ish credits in a few months just from using UTD at work. Realistically I’ll probably hit 60–70 by the end of the year, maybe even the full 100 by the end of the cycle.

Just making sure I’m not misunderstanding this before I stop hunting for extra CME stuff lol.

I start my first job in the cardiac ICU in July. I graduated in December, passed the PANCE in January.

I follow some medical groups on Facebook and instagram that post quizzes and I get the simple ones wrong sometimes… anyone have any suggestions on keeping up with medical knowledge? Preferably free? Should I be doing Quizlet? I feel like I’m getting dumber with each passing week and I want to stay ahead of the game.

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: meant to say in between graduation and first job.

Hey everyone,
I received a job offer as a new grad PA at a surgical dermatology practice.

I worked at the practice as a MA for several years prior to PA school so I am familiar with the workflow, EMR, and general operations. The role would involve a mix of clinic and surgical assisting.
Trying to gauge if this is standard or on the low end for derm PAs right now.

Offer:
$85,000 base (full-time, 5 days/week)

25% of net collections after a $150,000 threshold
Quarterly bonus payouts

15 PTO days total (vacation/sick/CME combined)

Malpractice included (no mention of tail coverage)

Would really appreciate any advice from anyone in derm!

I'm making 107k in an FQHC, primary and urgent care. How about you guys?

I’m a 32F PA living on the West Coast, married, and have been working in a pretty niche specialty for the past 2 years. I’m grateful to have a job, but honestly I’ve been feeling increasingly dissatisfied because I don’t really feel like I’m practicing “real medicine” anymore or growing clinically in the way I hoped I would as a newer PA.

I recently got an opportunity to transition into emergency medicine. I don’t necessarily know if EM is my dream specialty long term, but I’m really craving stronger medical experience, broader knowledge, and the chance to develop skills/confidence that I feel like I’m missing right now. The job market where I’m at has also been pretty rough (I’ve been applying for a year with no luck), so part of me feels like this could be a really valuable opportunity even if it’s challenging.

My biggest hesitation is timing. My husband works a demanding job and we were trying to have a kid sometime this year. The idea of starting in the ED as a relatively inexperienced PA while also potentially being pregnant or having a newborn honestly feels overwhelming. I worry about shift work, stress, sleep, training, burnout, schedules never aligning, etc.

At the same time, I also worry that if I pass this up and stay where I am, I’m going to continue feeling stuck and unhappy professionally.

For those of you in EM, especially women with young kids or who were pregnant during training/onboarding, how realistic is this? Did EM feel manageable with a family? Did starting in EM significantly improve your confidence/skills overall? Or would you recommend continuing to look for a different type of job transition instead?

Would really appreciate any brutally honest perspectives

If there is anyone that is thinking about using Zocdoc for marketing or anyone trying to find a provider, I urge you to not use Zocdoc. They are straight criminals that do not care about the patients nor the providers.

If they say that they will not charge you unless a patient books, understand that they are just lying to get you through the door.

They are predatory!!!

Avoid at all costs!!!

You’ve been warned, again…