Joekalish Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 It seems every day I see another school jumping on the PA bandwagon. I am a Molecular Biology Major and as I near the end of my undergrad I'm faced with a few very different graduate paths. I would much prefer the PA profession over my other opportunities but my concern is, despite the great job market now, will the epidemic that spread through Pharmacy and many other professions with fairly high salaries, also spread to the PA profession with the increasing number of PA grads. Now my concern is not so much based on the salary median being driven down due to high supply, but just rather actual potential for job placement after I pass my boards. I know there are a lot of variables such as geographic restraints, specialty, and the caliber of school I attend, among others, I'm just curious if anyone has any general input. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joekalish Posted July 29, 2013 Author Share Posted July 29, 2013 Sorry about that "b" that slipped into the the thread title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted July 29, 2013 Moderator Share Posted July 29, 2013 all md/do/pa/np folks will have jobs for the next several decades. we are way behind the curve on producing enough providers to meet our needs. that doesn't mean you are guaranteed a job in your home town but there is a job out there if you are willing to move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joekalish Posted July 29, 2013 Author Share Posted July 29, 2013 Sounds good, that was the response I was hoping for. Thanks for the insight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waitingblessing Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 I believe that around 2018 there will def be a job market saturation for PA. Like the above person mentioned you will prob be able find work but you might have to relocate :( I'm in the radiology field and I had to move 8 hrs away for my 1st job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joekalish Posted July 30, 2013 Author Share Posted July 30, 2013 What do you accredit the problem to? Did you have to move because you were seeking radiology, or the market in your area wasn't bustling? What program did you attend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator LT_Oneal_PAC Posted July 30, 2013 Moderator Share Posted July 30, 2013 It always has, and always be this way: location, specialty, pay. Pick two. Can't have it all. As far as saturation, there are 100k PAs, 150k NPs, and 850k docs. We are the group furthest from saturation, especially since we can work in any specialty unlike the others. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoRyou Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I believe that around 2018 there will def be a job market saturation for PA. Like the above person mentioned you will prob be able find work but you might have to relocate :( I'm in the radiology field and I had to move 8 hrs away for my 1st job. Look at least this way, YOU have one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotaskimmer Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I would much prefer the PA profession over my other opportunities but my concern is, despite the great job market now, will the epidemic that spread through Pharmacy and many other professions with fairly high salaries, also spread to the PA profession with the increasing number of PA grads. Excellent question and kudos for stopping to think about the long view instead of blindly jumping on a bandwagon. Back in 2006 the AAPA put out a good little 3-page paper on PA supply projections to the year 2020. Assuming a 5% increase in the rate of new PAs (modest, if you ask me), the number of PAs in clinical practice will have doubled from 2007-2020. And I believe it will be more than that, as that 5% assumes only one new PA program per year for every 20 that currently exist. **EDIT** A quick search on ARC-PA shows that 11 schools got initial accreditation last year, out of 173 programs total. That's a ~6.8% increase in number of programs, higher than the highest percentage that the AAPA thought to calculate in 2006. (I know I'm equating # new practicing PAs to # PA programs, but I think it works as a rough estimate). I think it has a lot of parallels to the pharmacy rush we saw a little while ago in the medical field. Schools see the demand, smell the money, and don't even need to advertise for the cash to come pouring in. I'm not complaining; I'm attending one such program right now. But if history repeats, these programs will still be popping up long after the demand for PAs starts tapering off. Unfortunately, this is because public perception of demand always lags behind actual demand (in any "hot" profession). And schools constantly play into this public perception to make more money. I definitely think that by the early 2020s we'll see a saturation, like we see with pharmacists now. So I think if you wanna be a PA, now's the best time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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