I’m an PA in Denver. In general Denver job market is not great. Healthcare included. I was helping my new grad friend through interviews and she finally got a decent Primary care offer for 115k. I told her to counter offer. She was really nervous but agreed to do it and got another 5k onto her salary. New grads, hold out for the better offers and ALWAYS COUNTER! Worst case scenario they say no as long as you do it professionally.

I accepted my first job as a new graduate in a specialty knowing there would be a steep learning curve. I never expected to know everything after training, and I was fully prepared to continue learning independently outside of work.
What I wasn’t prepared for was essentially being expected to practice with almost no formal training.

When I interviewed, I was honest that I had completed an elective in the specialty and had prior experience working in the field before PA school. I think that experience led the practice to assume I required very little onboarding.
Instead, my “training” consisted of a few days learning the EMR and observing clinic before I was expected to begin seeing patients independently. There was no structured education, no discussion of diagnostic approaches, no review of common conditions, and very little direct supervision.

There are also aspects of the clinical workflow that have made me question whether the standard of care aligns with what I was taught. Without getting into identifying details, there are diagnostic tools and examination practices that I expected to be routine but are not used in this practice. As a new graduate, that’s left me second-guessing both my own knowledge and what I’m seeing every day.

I’m honestly becoming increasingly anxious because I want to provide safe, evidence-based care, but I don’t feel like I’ve been given the support to do that.

The difficult part is that my employment contract includes restrictive clauses that make leaving financially challenging, so I feel stuck between wanting to practice responsibly and feeling obligated to stay.

Has anyone else started found themselves in a situation like this? How did you handle it?

If you work only in the OR I’d love to hear how you like it!!

I currently work as a PA in a surgical subspecialty, mainly floor and some clinic. I really don’t enjoy the “medicine” aspect of my job which could be due to feeling like I never got proper training on basic hospital medicine. I also just feel very burnt out with interacting with patients.

I have always been a very hands-on person. I am creative and do a lot of hobbies that involve using my hands (drawing, painting, cake decorating, etc). I really enjoyed my surgical rotations in PA school and I’m leaning towards looking for a role where I could just be in the OR. I’m curious to know how people feel about their jobs if they only do OR? Do you find that you often have to stay late for cases? Or do you have days where you actually get done early? Are these roles mainly available only for general surgery or do some of you have OR only roles in surgical subspecialties? Let me know any pros/cons you have!

Hi, PA with 3 years of ED/UC experience redoing my resume for the first time since finishing school. Was hoping for any pointers.

I'm thinking of removing the EMR section and expanding more on job responsibilities that would match to each job I apply for (ex: adding blurb about managing epistaxis, rhino rockets if applying to ENT). I might stick to EM/UC, though.

I removed my rotations from PA school, was thinking of adding back in if it's relevant to job I'm applying for.

Was trying to keep it to one page, Not sure if I should make it longer with an objective statement etc. Thank you!

*yes, there are some typos in there, not a final draft

Hi! I’ve been job hunting since April 2025 and have applied to MANY places with very little interaction with places I’ve applied to. I have been wanting to expand my knowledge into women’s health and have applied to NYPs OBGYN dept many times and I just haven’t heard from them at all (also applied to diff NYC hospitals in that same field + others as well) - nothing. For those who’ve secured a position with NYP, how long did it take for them to reach out?

For context - I applied to an obgyn that was new grad friendly (although not a new grad, just new to obgyn) in January 2026 and nothing :(

I have been a licensed PA for 4 years - 4 years of urgent care and 1 year of ENT.

Any insight would help!

I’ve been working in emergency medicine for over 15 years, split between two hospital systems. I love my job but my husband also works in the ER, so since having kids the schedule has become untenable for childcare. So for the first time since 2011, I started perusing the job market, and wow….60-70% of the outpatient jobs in my area are listed as NP only. I’ve been looking in psych, palliative, rehab, and maybe sleep medicine. I know that many physicians prefer to work with PAs in general, but it seems like physicians are doing less and less of the hiring. During my rehab interview, I was told by the doc that the job was mine, but a few weeks later I got an email that administration would not approve the hire because I was a PA (they instead hired a new grad NP from an online program). It made me wonder what we should do to address this, as PAs. I’m not sure what we can do about it, other than lobbying to be independent practitioners ourselves, but I don’t think PAs as a group really want that. Since I’ve been out of the job market for so long, I wanted to post on here to see what experience others have had in job hunting over the past few years. Are we getting pushed out?

I currently work in plastic surgery about 2.5 years at the same private practice in texas. I started at 100k with commission. Now I am at 130k base with commission. Typically I make an additional 40k in commission per year. My main commission is from doing pediatric lacerations (375-500/per repair) with some injectables. I find stress in doing these repairs and being “on call” often. This call isn’t required but sometimes I feel obligated. I love my coworkers but my boss is a lot (not grateful or respectful). I enjoy my day to day job for the most part but sometimes feel stressed. Is this a job I should stay at?

Hey everyone,

I’m a recent PA graduate, living in South Jersey and currently navigating my post-grad job search.

I’ve applied to several jobs in the South Jersey area, but so far haven't had much luck landing an offer, and it's starting to feel overwhelming. I’m hoping to get some real-world advice from people who have been through this process in NJ/PA.

A couple of quick questions:

1. NJ Licensing Process: I’ve started my NJ state license application and am currently at the stage where I’m waiting on the state board to send the email with instructions/contributor case number to get fingerprinted. How long is this stage usually taking right now? Is there any way to nudge them along, or is it purely a waiting game?

1. South Jersey Job Search: For those in South Jersey (or nearby PA/DE), what health systems, private practices, or specialties tend to be the most receptive to new grads?

2. Interview/Application Strategy: How do you best communicate with potential employers when you're still waiting on the fingerprinting/final state license steps so they don't lose interest or pass on a new grad?

Any tips, encouragement, or regional advice would mean a lot right now. Thanks in advance!

Midwest northern Indiana large hospital. Any ideas on what to expect for offer?new grad.

See title. I'm finally leaving a toxic position at an FQHC for a part time role at another clinic. Some of the physicians I work with have been throwing around the idea of opening a new clinic. As far as I'm aware, none of us have business backgrounds.

I've made a lot of snide comments over years of practice about the MBA's with no clinical experience dictating how I practice, but I'm realizing I've also never set up a payroll or rented an office space. I have some other physician colleagues who have started their own practices and want to give advice, but I'm wondering how much I could gain with an MBA or doctoral PA degree in a leadership track. Has anyone opened their own practice? Did additional postgraduate training feel essential, or no?

Hi everyone, im a new grad PA currently applying for my licenses. I finally got my NJ state license and my CDS license. Im trying to get my DEA license next but while reading it says that some states may need a supervisory agreement with specific authority for controlled substances. I cant find an answer anywhere online as to whether we need this in NJ to apply for a license. Was hoping if anyone practicing in NJ knows the answer for this? What do we need to submit a DEA application? Trying avoid losing $888 just because i missed something.,

How long does it take to get hired as a PA at an FQHC? I interviewed and completed a background check 2 weeks ago but haven’t gotten any updates or an offer yet.

I got a job offer in a hospital for an orthopedic surgery position. They offer private policy malpractice insurance but not tail coverage and was told i dont need tail coverage. Is this something I should be cautious about?

Anyone here personally in, or know someone in Wilson’s mentorship program?
I was close to applying but I’m just too skeptical and hesitant as he charges $10k.
It sounds like he helps you find a better job and connects you to his personal investment sources… but is not a CPA and doesn’t have any finance degree.
I know he posts all his client stories on his Instagram but wondering if anyone has heard anything about this mentorship.