Practice Location?

[Baloo]

Does anyone know how post P.A. school employment tends to be in terms of location i.e. do you tend to practice where you went to P.A. school or where you did a residency or does it just matter more where you have connections?

 

I guess this also ties into another question I had regarding licensure reciprocity and which states have agreements amongst each other (if any at all) to make transferring state licenses a more fluid process? Sorry for the long winded questions, any and all input is greatly appreciated!

[UGoLong]

There is a map at my old school showing where their graduates practice: literally everywhere. One woman came from Alaska to Ohio for school and moved back to Alaska to practice. You work where you want to and can find a job.

 

After you have your NCCPA certification (i.e., you went to an accredited program and you passed your boards), it is mostly a question of paperwork getting your license in a particular state.

 

As far as contacts, people often do get jobs where they did their rotations (or residency), but that is certainly not a requirement.

 

Good luck.

[SHU-CH]

It varies pretty widely. If you know you want to work in a particular area, it is generally a good idea to try to rotate there. Like it or not, life runs on connections and networking. The PA community is still relatively small. Meet as many people as you can and get to as many state society, specialty society and CME meetings as you can.