How do new Physician Associates land that first job?

Men's health month

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 16:59:23 GMT

Every Journey has a first step

June is Men’s Health month so let’s talk about it.

In the beginning of my career as a Physician Assistant, I worked in Urgent care and the Emergency department. One thing I remember from those days, is from time to time you could have a real profound, lasting impact on someone's health, and not always in the way you thought. In the process of treating the condition they initially came in for, sometimes the patient's overall health or chronic conditions came up and I was quick to give a speech about it, or maybe a talk is a better word. You never really knew when it was going to happen, but occasionally this led to a patient making real changes in their lives. Even small changes can have big impacts over time, so in that spirit, let’s talk about one of the big three concerns for men's health.

Heart Disease

It’s no surprise heart disease is one of leading causes of death for men over 40. Conditions like coronary artery disease, heart attacks and heart failure are all significant causes of death. We have all heard about utilizing diet and exercise to change the course of heart disease, and many words have been written about what is the best cardiac diet. I personally like to keep it simple. Eat whole foods, avoid processed foods as much as possible, minimize your sugar intake and eat healthy fats (oils). In my mind these are the four pillars of eating healthy.

As for exercise, what can we say about it? Just do it (insert Nike product here, lol). I think the important thing to remember is that you do not have to become a triathlete, although that would certainly help you. Small incremental changes will make a big difference. Walk more, maybe jog a bit, do some pushups. Moving in some way helps not only with heart disease but you will feel better. As we age everything gets stiffer, tighter and hurts, so in my opinion, moving is the best way to keep your joints and your body in general feeling good. If you can find a sport you enjoy like playing basketball, pickleball, or cycling. Whatever it may be, then focus doing on that because If you enjoy it, you will likely do it more often.

Take a nap. If you are struggling with the first two points, this one is your jam. Studies have shown that daytime naps can significantly improve cardiovascular mortality. This makes sense really because we know the negative impacts stress can have on your health and how rest in general is restorative. So if your wife is asking what you are doing about your health you can say relax. No, don't tell your wife to relax, tell her you are relaxing for your cardiovascular health. Also on a side note, it seems there is no additional cardiovascular benefit after 2 daytime naps per week. You can decide who to share that information with.

Stay healthy gents,

Pharaoh

Pharaoh Sargent PA-C

Founder PA Staffing Solutions

Navigating Employee Benefits

Fri, 12 Jan 2024 16:22:00 GMT

Employee Benefits for Physician Associates/Assistants, let's take a look

Benefits

When comparing job offers, benefits can be the deciding factor but they can also be difficult to evaluate. If it is your current job vs a new one, or two competing offers, evaluating the salary difference is pretty simple but benefits on the other hand definitely require some thought. Let’s take a look at some of the most common benefits and how they might affect your decision of which job is right for you.

Paid time off

Paid time off, or PTO as it is now commonly called, is one of the easiest benefits to evaluate but there are some nuances. It is pretty easy to put a dollar amount on your PTO. All you need to do is figure out your hourly or daily rate, if you have a salary instead of hourly pay you can estimate. Once you have your number just multiply it by the amount of PTO you get to find the exact dollar amount this benefit is worth. Sounds simple right, hold on a second, what is included in PTO? I don’t love this term because it sounds like it's vacation time but some practices have started to include sick time and CME time. Therefore it is important to distinguish what is included in PTO.

CME

Most hospitals and medical practices offer CME these days. It is still worthwhile to look at the details of the CME benefit. First of all, do they include CME time or are you expected to use your vacation? In my opinion if they don’t include time they don’t really value training. Three days of CME time is typical and reasonable. Second, how much is the benefit and what does it cover? I worked for a practice that had a $1,500 annual CME benefit but it did not cover any travel expenses, only the cost of the conference was covered, so not a real $1,500 benefit. $1500 annually is pretty standard, I have seen $2000 at some practices. If the CME budget seems low, find out what the doctor's CME budget is. PAs have the same CME requirement as the docs so we should have the same budget.

Medical / Dental / Vision

Medical coverage or health insurance is the big one here. Most dental and vision plans do not cost that much and do not pay out that much either. Health insurance can be very difficult to value. Most organizations offer multiple plans at different costs that have different coverage. Health insurance is complicated even for medical providers. Instead of trying to evaluate all the plans they offer, why not focus on what the employer contributes? Do they contribute to the cost of your medical coverage and if so how much? You probably will not be able to change the plans they offer but you might be able to negotiate contributions to that plan.

401k

401k or 403b in not for profit hospitals is a very common benefit these days. It’s relatively easy to evaluate if you know what to look for. The first thing to realize is just because the benefit is offered does not mean the employer pays into it. You do have to ask if they pay into the 401k and if so how much and under what conditions. Is it a match of your contribution up to a certain amount? Do they pay into it regardless of if you do and if so how much. Another thing to consider is if your employer does contribute you probably need to be vested before you actually can get the funds. Employers usually want 3-5 years before you are vested which I think is reasonable but keep the timeline in mind because if you leave early you will never see that money. 401k might not seem like a big deal your first or second year of practice but after 10 years the difference between having a 401k that your employer also contributes to and not is substantial. That money will really grow with time.

Percs

If there are any other obvious non traditional benefits, you should consider them when evaluating your benefits. Maybe your employer buys lunch every day or weekly. Are there company outings that might interest you, golf trips, retreats or medical missions? I have even heard of practices buying cars for their PAs, but obviously it’s not common.

Take away

When thinking about a new opportunity, take some time to evaluate the entire package. In general hospitals tend to have a more consistent benefits package than private practice but there are always exceptions. There are many things other than salary that can affect your life. Salary, benefits, schedule and scope of work, these are the elements of a job that combined should be considered.

Good luck out there and good job hunting.

Pharaoh Sargent PA-C

Founder PA Staffing Solutions

PAhiring.com

How do you handle a bad recommendation?

Sun, 03 Dec 2023 21:01:31 GMT

Is a bad recommendation letter the end of the road?

There are a lot of steps to getting hired as a Physician Associate / Assistant. One step that you can count on is needing recommendations from a few people. It might be at the beginning of the hiring process or it might be later when you are credentialing at a hospital but it usually does happen. Yes, someone does look at them.

So what do you do if one of those recommendations comes back suboptimal? Obviously avoiding this situation completely is the best option. Think carefully about who you choose to write you a recommendation, your boss is not always the best option. It is true the physician you work most closely with will know your clinical skills the best but they may also have the most to lose by you leaving, especially if they own or run the practice. They might see you leaving as a betrayal and become vindictive. Even if it’s only subconsciously it could color a recommendation for the worse.

The first step is avoiding anyone who may see you differently when they know you are leaving. However this is not always possible. What if you are a new grad, or you have been working in the same job for a long time and there are not that many other providers that work there. If you end up asking for a recommendation from someone who you suspect might not give you a stellar review, be prepared for it in the interview.

You definitely do not want to get blindsided but if you know a mediocre or bad review may be coming then prepare for it prior to the interview. Think about what this person might say and how you can counter it. If they say you’re slow, perhaps you know you are above the office average in RVUs proving you are not slow or you can say you are thorough and have very few patients bounce back with the same complaints. If they complain about your sudden departure as a lack of being a team player then put it back on them by saying something like, my boss was very upset when I told them I was leaving. Clinical skills deficiency, that was my first job out of PA school and was still learning a lot, or my first job in this field. You can counter anything except an attack on your work ethic or your professionalism, so never give anyone a reason to doubt those things.

Keep in mind if the worst happens and someone does manage to mess up a job opportunity for you, it’s only one employer. When you apply to the next one you will obviously not use the person who torpedoed you. It is perfectly fine to use other PAs you have worked with or a nurse, it does not alway have to be the physician you worked with the most. There are other people who know you well. As long as they worked with you at some point a recommendation from them would work fine.

Good luck out there.

Pharaoh Sargent PA-C

Getting hired is a Physicain Associate students final lesson

pgsargent@gmail.com (Pharaoh Sargent) — Sun, 19 Nov 2023 22:20:46 GMT

PA-S How do I get my first job?

Physician Associate / Assistant students and the scramble for their first job .

PAs are still in demand throughout the country and that demand is projected to grow. Experienced PAs typically have options on which job they choose but for new grads that first job is often the toughest job for them to get. How can a newly graduated PA with minimal real world experience improve their odds and stand out from their peers?

What you do in school matters

If you know the specialty you want to land in, it’s a good idea to have as many relatable rotations as possible. Want to go into Emergency medicine? Rotate in EM, Medicine, Peds, OB/GYN and Ortho. Interested in a surgical specialty? Do as many surgical rotations as possible. You want something to point to as experience in the field you are interviewing for.

Extracurriculars

Just like when you interviewed for PA school in the first place the interviewer at your first job is trying to get a sense of who you are as a person and these can help. I found out after the fact that the first attending I interviewed with, landing me my first job, actually noticed I had volunteered to treat homeless youth while in PA school. I certainly was not thinking about my first job when I did it but it did help me stand out. Even non medical extracurriculars can be helpful because they can give you and your interviewer something to talk about other than medicine. This will help you connect with them.

Networking

Be friendly while on your rotations and exchange some contact info. You will be asking for recommendations from some of the people you are working with on your rotations so make it easy for them. Many students actually get offers from their rotations but not every rotation needs a new PA so do not count on it. You should network away from rotations as well. Start a Linkedin account, this is a great way to put yourself on the map professionally. Go to conferences and be social.

So to all you new grads and about to be new grads good luck out there. If it takes a little longer than you expected to land your first job, keep your chin up and know that it does get easier.

Pharaoh Sargent PA-C