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PA saturation?
Started by zhenat26
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new grad salaries continue to go up. The last new grad average salary was $73k up from $71k. Anecdotally new grads are having more difficulty finding jobs but its very regional. Not as much a generalized saturation as localized saturation aggravated by experienced PAs moving into desirable markets. There are plenty of jobs out there for new grads. They may not be where the new grads think they should be.
David Carpenter, PA-C
D
deleted6669
agree with david- lots of jobs out there but there are some metropolitan areas(especially where there are lots of pa programs) that are a tight market(ny city, pennsylvania, the bay area/san francisco, los angeles). it isn't that there are no jobs there it's just that the new grad either takes a lower paying job than they might have otherwise or the job they really want is taken by a guy with 10 yrs of experience who wants the same job.
in my area there are 3 local pa programs. anyone who wants a pa job in the area can find one at a reasonable salary but not always in the specialty they want.
for new grads the rule of thumb tends to be this:
salary,specialty,location
pick 2
once you have some experience you can get all 3 but hard to do right out of school. I opted for location(my wife was in grad school) and specialty (em) with a low to reasonable salary.
now I have all 3, but it took a while.
in my area there are 3 local pa programs. anyone who wants a pa job in the area can find one at a reasonable salary but not always in the specialty they want.
for new grads the rule of thumb tends to be this:
salary,specialty,location
pick 2
once you have some experience you can get all 3 but hard to do right out of school. I opted for location(my wife was in grad school) and specialty (em) with a low to reasonable salary.
now I have all 3, but it took a while.
so choosing to go to a school that happens to be the only PA program in the state (arkansas) would hypothetically provide more opportunities (including the three variables you talked about) than going to one of the many schools in the Philly area?
D
deleted6669
assuming you are willing to settle in arkansas, yes.
The problem with any area is that you have to have a critical mass of PAs before they are widely accepted. Arkansas and Mississippi have the problem that there were not civilian PAs until several years ago. Arkansas and Missouri probably have around 100 PAs total in each state (extrapolated). There are jobs there but you have to put up with a very hostile environment. For example in the AAPA job site there are four jobs listed in Arkansas (two in minute clinics). Not to discourage people but sometimes there are reasons that there are no or few PA schools in places (like Mississippi).
David Carpenter, PA-C
