Best State/City/Region To Practice As A Pa

[PhoNomenal]

Hi all,

We all know there are statistics on the best state/city/region for PAs to practice according to average salary, availability of jobs, and state practice laws for PAs. But I am curious if there are any of you out there that have had personal experiences in different states/cities/regions that would make it more/less desirable to practice there. 

I’m from Minneapolis, MN - a pretty good state overall for PAs in terms of practicing laws, salary, and quality of life. But I’m considering moving to another state/city to practice and settle down. 

Hope to hear about your personal experiences and where you would recommend or recommend against.

[EMEDPA]

east coast> west coast. rural > urban.

[Endeavor]

16 minutes ago, EMEDPA said:

east coast> west coast. rural > urban.

How bout those of us in the middle :( 

[EMEDPA]

those are all fly over states....:)

in all seriousness, there are some great jobs in the middle of the country. in general places docs don't want to be are great for PAs.

[bike mike]

I personally have worked in Atlanta and San Francisco. In Atlanta I have a lot of autonomy -  up titrate or wean inotropes based on my clinical judgement, run codes, place lines, etc. In SF I literally worked as a scribe, was not allowed to manage patients on my own, and my job duties included changing dressings. I lasted 6 weeks before I walked.....ran out the door.

[EMEDPA]

YUP, Lots of docs want to work in places like SF, NYC, Seattle, Chicago, so typically PA jobs there have very limited scope.

[tenjjetnis]

I work in one of the most saturated states for pas with a few more new programs still on the way....

However, thankfully I was able to find a position at a small hospital that is associated with a major healthcare system. The job provides excellent pay, benefits and in house educational opportunities plus resources associated with the main academic center. Patient load is not overwhelming either and cost of living is very low. The system has a rich history of training pas since the 70s, most of my patients are familiar with the pa concept which is an added benefit! This was in contrast with my training experience in another state with terrible state practice laws, general physician and np opposition. I would constantly run into patients' who would question my credentials when seen, wondering what a "pa was". 

I would advise in looking for a position with a group or organization that is known for training and utilizing pas well. Location wise.. I would favor rural areas that are in pa friendly states.

The only downside..... is that these areas that contain great jobs tend to be located in places where your neighbors are cows, chickens, and corn stalks.. which makes it difficult for single individuals.

[mmiller3]

14 hours ago, EMEDPA said:

YUP, Lots of docs want to work in places like SF, NYC, Seattle, Chicago, so typically PA jobs there have very limited scope.

I have not seen this in the Chicago area. I have had a lot of autonomy here (admittedly suburbs, but we have a high physician population). I cannot speak for any of the other areas you mentioned, however.

[Cideous]

DFW = Completely Saturated

 

2 PA schools (3 if you count the one in Lubbock), 3 NP schools, massive relocation from Houston to DFW just in the last few months (post floods).  Corporate takeover of all practices from Urgent Care to specialty groups and their propensity to drive wages down and eliminate benefits.  When California PA jobs offer much better benefit packages then Texas....?  You know something is going on here.  And when I say elimination of benefits, I'm not talking about paid pet insurance.  I mean PTO...Gone.  CME reimbursement...Gone or massively reduced.  

If you are considering moving to DFW from another state I would strongly recommend having a contract signed BEFORE you move.  Actually working here 3 months BEFORE you move, and renting/leasing, signing no more than a 6 month lease agreement just in case it goes sideways and you need to move to a region where there are actually APP jobs available.  

 

 

[PACJD]

On 11/30/2017 at 6:18 PM, EMEDPA said:

YUP, Lots of docs want to work in places like SF, NYC, Seattle, Chicago, so typically PA jobs there have very limited scope.

In the places I've worked in NYC I have had good autonomy. Surgeons would come in, do the surgery, round for 5 minutes, and leave, leaving the PAs and NPs managing the CT ICU by ourselves. It is saturated here though and very hard to find a job, but otherwise I can't complain about the salary or autonomy. 

[MCHAD]

Idaho and Utah are pretty saturated, there are jobs to be found but unfortunately wages are pitiful.  When I was looking for new work a year ago there were lots of postings for PA/NP in primary care with hourly wage $33-40/hour.  This was pretty tough for me to swallow since I started at $43/hour as a new grad in rural northern Nevada in 2012.  

Granted a lot of those jobs are with intermountain health which is a large hospital system offering great health, retirement benefits etc. but I still couldn’t stomach it so I held out and found a good gig in Idaho but it took a long time and a lot of searching to find it. 

 

[CoastalPalm]

4 hours ago, NJPL1213 said:

In the places I've worked in NYC I have had good autonomy. Surgeons would come in, do the surgery, round for 5 minutes, and leave, leaving the PAs and NPs managing the CT ICU by ourselves. It is saturated here though and very hard to find a job, but otherwise I can't complain about the salary or autonomy. 

Same.  I'm not a PA, but the PAs I work with in my NYC major academic hospital are pretty autonomous, typically managing pts, orders, procedures, etc. without physician input.  Some services are more autonomous than others (I'm in neuro, and the neurology PAs (and NPs) are much more autonomous, while the neurosurg ones typically have to run things by the senior resident).

[jmj11]

I had an experience once, early in my career, where I ran into a Milwaukee lawyer while kayaking around the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior. He was not just a kayaker, but a professional kayaker (guide). He made the decision to live where other people vacation and to vacation (back home in Milwaukee ) where other people have to live. He gave up his lucrative practice and settled for a 30k / year job, but loved every day.  I made the same decision. I tried to work and live on Lake Superior for 10 frustrating years. I went from horrible job to horrible job (horrible attitude towards PAs in Michigan's UP during the early 1990s, different from Michigan in general). Finally, in frustration, I gave up that dream and decided to look for just a good place, professionally. I went to Mayo Clinic. It was a wonderful place to work with plenty of respect. However, I hated living in land-locked farmland for five years. So I came out to the beautiful San Juan Islands (kayak capital of the world). During the 1999 to about 2010 it was not a good place to work (low wages, low respect). But slowly, the PAs and NPs have fought our way into respect and now, 90% of the time, it is a wonderful place to work and live. I would recommend it. Our hospital has been looking for a PA for almost a year without success. The only PAs who are disappointed are those (in my opinion) who are new graduates and have an unreasonable view that they should be earning 130K per year their first year, for urgent care or Family Medicine.