AnchorandCaduceus

I would look into working w/ US doctors who regularly participates in global missions. A PA colleague who usually volunteers with the FloatingDoctors (floatingdoctors.com) now works with them and regularly travels to Panama. Now he is full-time w/ them and manages their trips and operations.

Not all PAs work in a clinical setting. We are part of a much larger public health setting. Don't limit yourself to PCE. Im part of an adcoms and would see this as an advantage over the other candidates. In addition to having PCE you also have a bigger picture of how our healthcare system work. As our field grows, we will need to start thinking outside PC. We will need to look into expanding our field. I had work in pharma, government, foreign sites, disaster relief, and tribal affairs (Indian Health Service) as a non-clinical PA.

@hokie4beach I sent you a PM. I think pay in the pharma/research field can be comparable to the clinical field. It’s hard to compare though since one you can do overtime while the other you have stock options. I think PAs pay is limited in the clinical side;the more you work the more pay. But we all know this gets old quickly. In the pharma side you can move up, lateral move, work overseas, salary pay, stocks, and have higher ceiling on the pay. I was surprised with the type of clinical work we do and have a comparable office job pay! Having that clinical experience though keeps many doors open but having another field under belt opens even more. You can always go back to the ED! Try to make the move as soon as you can before you get burned out. I would look into Drug Safety Associate to get a feel of Pharma. It’s a drastic change of pace. But keep the ED for moonlighting. This way you can keep up with your clinical skills.

I have applied in the Navy after PA school but the recruiter at that time told me they only accepted PAs trained by the Navy. So instead of signing with them I looked in the US Public Health Service. Now I only have have 7 more years until my 20. I know a lot of PAs have been happy taking this route. USPHS is under the Uniformed Services, so same benefits as the other sister services.

I have been working in the pharma/regulatory field as a PA since 2005. I have worked in Drug Safety, Regulatory, Clinical Research, in both domestic and foreign locations. I would like to revive this thread.