MaxPA Posted May 19, 2018 Share Posted May 19, 2018 About to commit to a well established program in a very small city on the East Coast. This is fine for school but it's not where I want to live in the future. Should I anticipate having problems finding a first job in a larger city (probably East Coast or Midwest regions) if it's not a place where I did rotations or where the school is well known? I am hoping I made a good choice. We keep hearing that PA profession is a "best job" for the future, but it is hard to know what that means for finding employment in the real world. (If relevant, I am mostly interested in family practice, possibly pediatrics, would do urgent care too. Also coming in with years of good patient experience.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinkertdm Posted May 19, 2018 Share Posted May 19, 2018 This might sound rough, but this exact same question has been asked about a million times. Employers don't give a rats ass about where you went to school, the name, the city, or your rotatations. This isn't med school; Daemen college has the exact same prestige as Arcadia University. They have no idea of the education or cme requirements either. They think the Pance is something you get at walmart. They do care: can you see patients, and can you make them money? If you are worried about finding a job, you should be- what makes you so special about the other thousand new grads? Shine through your rotatations. Get good lors. I graduated from a school in the middle of new York, then got a job in the middle of Illinois. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxPA Posted May 20, 2018 Author Share Posted May 20, 2018 11 hours ago, thinkertdm said: This might sound rough, but this exact same question has been asked about a million times. Employers don't give a rats ass about where you went to school, the name, the city, or your rotatations. This isn't med school; Daemen college has the exact same prestige as Arcadia University. They have no idea of the education or cme requirements either. They think the Pance is something you get at walmart. They do care: can you see patients, and can you make them money? If you are worried about finding a job, you should be- what makes you so special about the other thousand new grads? Shine through your rotatations. Get good lors. I graduated from a school in the middle of new York, then got a job in the middle of Illinois. Your question anticipates my question. PA programs are proliferating like rabbits. So yes I will be competing with thousands of others. Isnt there a saturation point in many markets? It's funny that med schools don't proliferate to meet demand. They want to keep their product valuable. Anyway, if someone could point me to the forums that previous writer mentioned, that would be helpful. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostzebra Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 17 hours ago, thinkertdm said: This might sound rough, but this exact same question has been asked about a million times. Employers don't give a rats ass about where you went to school, the name, the city, or your rotatations. This isn't med school; Daemen college has the exact same prestige as Arcadia University. They have no idea of the education or cme requirements either. They think the Pance is something you get at walmart. They do care: can you see patients, and can you make them money? If you are worried about finding a job, you should be- what makes you so special about the other thousand new grads? Shine through your rotatations. Get good lors. I graduated from a school in the middle of new York, then got a job in the middle of Illinois. Do you recommend having letters of recommendation for jobs, or just a list of references' contact information? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PACJD Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 18 hours ago, thinkertdm said: This might sound rough, but this exact same question has been asked about a million times. Employers don't give a rats ass about where you went to school, the name, the city, or your rotatations. This isn't med school; Daemen college has the exact same prestige as Arcadia University. They have no idea of the education or cme requirements either. They think the Pance is something you get at walmart. They do care: can you see patients, and can you make them money? If you are worried about finding a job, you should be- what makes you so special about the other thousand new grads? Shine through your rotatations. Get good lors. I graduated from a school in the middle of new York, then got a job in the middle of Illinois. Hmm, I would have to disagree... I also graduated from the east coast and graduating from the school I did, with the reputation it had, opened the door to many job opportunities all over the east coast. Many of the chief PAs and hiring managers went to my school, a lot have heard about my school, or have hired many PAs that have gone to my program and have given me an advantage over other candidates from lesser known schools. Not to say that going to a newer, smaller school will prevent you from getting a job, but going to the school i did definitely helped me if anything. In terms of job saturation, the truth is yes, many new schools are opening up, the PA profession is a sought after desirable profession that many people are trying to get into. It is starting to become like pharmacy did 15-20 years ago where many of the younger generation flooded the market. Nonetheless, despite the saturation, there will still be jobs out there no matter what. Pharmacy is still a great career to get into and the PA profession will be the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SedRate Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 21 hours ago, MaxPA said: About to commit to a well established program in a very small city on the East Coast. This is fine for school but it's not where I want to live in the future. Should I anticipate having problems finding a first job in a larger city (probably East Coast or Midwest regions) if it's not a place where I did rotations or where the school is well known? I am hoping I made a good choice. We keep hearing that PA profession is a "best job" for the future, but it is hard to know what that means for finding employment in the real world. (If relevant, I am mostly interested in family practice, possibly pediatrics, would do urgent care too. Also coming in with years of good patient experience.) Yes and no. You can try setting up rotations in cities you want to live to help get your foot in the door. You can also attend state conferences and network like crazy. But as thinkertdm said, you'll be competing with many others, so another thing (and more important thing, IMO) to consider is to just focus on your training, use your rotations as not only training but job interviews, get good references, get a good first job (wherever that may be), and then take your experience to your desired location. With that said, one of the important deciding factors for which school I went to was location. I wanted to establish myself in the area I wanted to end up and develop my professional network there from the get go. Anecdotally, I received job offers from my rotation sites and I've even had preceptors reach out years later when they had an opening. Peruse the Pre-PA section for other similar threads. Good luck and congrats on getting in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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