PA outlook in Oregon

[asome34]

Hey everyone,

 

I'm graduating in may from an NYC PA program and was interested in moving to Portland. What is the PA job market like in Portland? What is the pay like? How are PAs treated? Specifically I'm interested in EM, Trauma, Ortho, and CT surgery.

Any help would be great!

 

Thanks

[Just Steve]

http://www.oregonpa.org has a jobs link.

[asome34]

www.oregonpa.org has a jobs link.

 

Thanks for your help!

[sartort]

http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291071.htm

 

Hover over the states on the maps for specific info.

[rpackelly]

major problems are 1) time to get license 2) restrictive laws in terms of changing jobs or SPs and 3) NPs are independent providers who do not need co-signature or physician collaboration or supervision in this state.

[VictoriaO]

Agree with what everyone said above, things are getting better though. New legislation now that the Oregon Medical Board cannot dictate scope of practice, scope of practice is between us and our SP.

 

As far as Portland goes, one of my classmates got a CT surg job as new grad. Ortho is always hiring, if you like doing pre/post op clinic (most of what I've heard from classmates in ortho, not sure if much OR time). You might get a better gig at a non-teaching center for ortho. EM is very tough as a new grad, believe me I tried to find a position nearby. If you wanted to live in Portland you could commute to somewhere more rural. Most places want 1-2 years of experience at least.

 

As far as Trauma-only 2 hospitals with Trauma PAs (that I know of) in Portland, one (my hospital, the one on the hill :;)):) has trauma PAs that hold down the ICU and they are very experienced CC PAs who have been through residency. Did my elective there which was super-procedure heavy and high-acuity. Not a place for a new grad, IMHO.

Other hospital has trauma PAs that go to the ER for trauma and manage all the patients stable enough for the floor. Not much OR or procedures from what I heard, no ICU time, also do do trauma clinic follow-up. Gig might be better than when I got an offer from them which I didn't think much of, know a new PA grad who's starting with them and she was happy with her offer...

 

Feel free to PM me if more ? about Portland.

-V

[rev ronin]

The biggest problem with Portland is that it has two local PA programs, OHSU and Pacific. Both are churning out high-quality graduates, roughly half of whom want to stay in the general area. So, as a new grad, you're going to be competing against students who did at least some of their rotations locally.

[jdenning]

I'm in Portland metro and there are jobs. More in specialty care than primary care, so as a new grad you might want to think carefully about how you want to do things. Also consider looking outside Portland area like Salem, Corvallis, Eugene....

[EMEDPA]

also consider living in portland and working across the river in WA for a better PA job environment. you will have to pay OR taxes on your WA salary but it's worth it....NP's own oregon and the medical board is not pa friendly at all. pa's are overseen by a sub-board that also does acupuncturists...EM is a very tight market in the portland metro area. the same 20 PA's cover all the facilities in town either as full time or per diem employees. there is opportunity to do urgent care if you want at places like kaiser or providence but if you really want hospital based em your opportunities are fairly limited until you have some significant experience.

pm me for more on OR and WA ( I work in both).