Are you Happy?

[EMEDPA]

A salary hit to work all nights ? Needless to say, those are traditionally viewed as the more undesirable shifts, no? Seems backwards. Unless you cut hours....

I do get more/hr to work nights but we also earn money based on production and nights are slower than days. typical production bonus for day shift is around 22-25 dollars/hr on top of base hourly rate. night shift averages $10/hr in production. the night differential is 5 dollars/hr so I end up down 7-10 dollars/hr.
night shifts are a bit longer so I will be working more hrs but will still end up in the red vs all days or a mix of days and nights...and I don't care, it's still a lot of money, more than 95% of pa's make probably. making even more money isn't worth it if I hate going to work...and I was hating work when I was doing days....

[EMEDPA]

than why do we get paid significantly less then doc? And, and we hit the salary plateau quicker, assuming here. not sure if any PA makes 200k after 15+ years experience. looks like tons of added frustrations.

docs set the salaries for pa's and value our work less than their own.
pa's who work A LOT in a specialty can make 200k. one of my partners does but he works 24-26 days/mo., I work 17-18.
docs hire pa's to do the work they don't want to do at the times and places they don't want to do it so they can be home with their families at night and on holidays, spring break, etc.
docs in my group work around 100-110 hrs/mo. for >350k/yr
most pa's in my group work 160-180 hrs/mo for 135-150k or so depending on production.

[physasst]

That also depends if you get production pay or bonuses E...I know that I don't and no one at this institution does. No one. Docs included. You get paid a straight salary.

[johnv]

It's be interesting to see the responses if the question was posted in a doctors forum...

[EMEDPA]

That also depends if you get production pay or bonuses E...I know that I don't and no one at this institution does. No one. Docs included. You get paid a straight salary.

we get hourly + production bonuses quarterly based on rvu's of pts seen.
I actually prefer a no bonus system. I think working on production makes folks get sloppy in an effort to see more pts.
I assume my bonus will be zero and try to base my life on that. I won't speed up just to see an extra pt or 2 at the end of shift to make more money. that leads to poor outcomes and poor documentation.

[True Anomaly]

we get hourly + production bonuses quarterly based on rvu's of pts seen.
I actually prefer a no bonus system. I think working on production makes folks get sloppy in an effort to see more pts.
I assume my bonus will be zero and try to base my life on that. I won't speed up just to see an extra pt or 2 at the end of shift to make more money. that leads to poor outcomes and poor documentation.

I as well don't have any RVU/bonus/production system- we're also just straight salary. It definitely takes the financial incentive out of it, which it should in the ED. And the added bonus is the rare encounter with a patient who likes to complain about how much they think they paid (which they actually didn't) for their ER visit. My response is always "I don't see any part of that- I make the same whether I see 50 patients a shift or none".

[jmiller]

so it the same situation for surgery PA vs FP PA or EM PA? Does sugery PA has to rush to see multiple patients as FP PA? or every place is different in how they set up the salary pay.

[andersenpa]

so it the same situation for surgery PA vs FP PA or EM PA? Does sugery PA has to rush to see multiple patients as FP PA? or every place is different in how they set up the salary pay.

Surgical PAs don't typically see their "own" patients, they operate and do periop care on pts consulted by surgeons. These positions are salaried or hourly.
Certain surgical PA jobs may bill per pt for procedures (ortho).

[jsfelder0417]

I am a student, but so far I am very happy. I applied to and was accepted to PA school during my last year in the service. I think it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I am moving straight from active duty service into a very secure profession doing what I love.