Credentialing.....

[monk1280]

I have heard, in the case of PAs employed by a hospital, that the credentialing process is really long and was wondering if this is a standard thing or not? Some newer grads have told me that they were not able to start until June or July and they finished their program in  March of the year they graduated. Is this also a long process for PAs that choose to work in a different setting such as urgent care or primary office?

[GreatChecko]

Depends on the hospital, but short answer is, yes, it can take that long. Credentialing is the last step in the process to be able to work at most hospitals. Usually, all licenses have to be issued before this can occur, but I'm sure that there are some places that will credential on pending licenses, but I would expect that to be the exception, not the rule.

 

I graduated in mid June began working in mid September. I got everything done as quickly as I could and shaved a couple weeks off the process. Getting the state licenses is usually takes the longest and where most of the delays occur. Once everything was submitted, credentialing took all of a week or so, that was probably the easiest step. It's just getting everything they needed that took time. 

[cinntsp]

Yep, hospital credentialing can take 2-3 months.

[monk1280]

thank you

[UGoLong]

The credentialing boards often meet monthly and all of the paperwork (licenses, references, etc) have to be in for them to consider you. Some hospitals used to give provisional credentials to let you start work, but I haven't seen that in a while.