Job openings for PAs by specialty

Abstract

Objective: Physician assistants (PAs) have adapted to roles in virtually every practice specialty. One factor that has affected PAs' specialty choices has been the availability of jobs. We describe 2014 job postings for PAs at the national level by practice specialty.

Methods: National data on 2014 job postings for PAs were obtained from a leading labor analytics firm. Each job posting (N = 34,137) was coded with regard to practice specialty and analyzed descriptively.

Results: The largest proportions of job postings were in the surgical (28%) and medical subspecialty (23%) categories, followed by primary care (19%), other (18%), and emergency/urgent care (12%).

Conclusions: Job opportunities for PAs are plentiful and are focused in subspecialty practice. Future research should examine trends in job postings for PAs. Trend analyses will be useful for multiple purposes, including informing PAs who are seeking employment and tracking demand for the profession as a whole.