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Never going to be a PA


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Hey everyone,

I need some help, please. I feel utterly defeated, like I am never going to be successful. 
I am licensed Physician Assistant with a Masters of Medical Science in Physician Assistant Studies. I graduated in June of 2016 from Arcadia University and obtained licensure shortly there after. Since graduation I have not been able to obtain employment as a PA due to a injury with prolonged recovery and complications. Although I have not practiced as a PA my PA license is valid and I have continued to educate myself with CME classes including participating in a cadaver lab at a recent conference. During my studies as a PA my focus was mostly on family/emergency medicine but, I also completed rotations in pain management, trauma and orthopedics.

I honestly have put in about 500 applications without even getting a single interview. Four years after graduation without a position as a PA, I feel like such a failure. My student loan payments are causing me to go even more into debt and my current job is barely keeping me afloat. As you can see I am so desperate, my head is spinning and I am not sure what to do. 

If you have any professional recommendations I would greatly appreciate it because I am almost giving up on ever practicing as a PA.

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I don't usually recommend people take anything they can get but your situation calls for desperate measures, IMO. So pull out all the stops and consider any state, any location, any pay, recruiters, part time, PRN, med spa, locums, cold call local offices, LinkedIn, Facebook PA groups, etc. Do they still do classified ads in the paper?

Contact your alma mater and request assistance and advice. Call your preceptors and classmates. Contact state PA boards and request assistance. 

If there's a will, there's a way. (Maybe with the help of a little luck mixed in.)

What a trying time it's been. Keep your head up, and good luck to you.

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CV looks pretty good to me.

 

1.  You are graduating into the worst PA market in the history of our profession.  25 year seasoned PA's have been furloughed, laid off or just flat out fired.

2.  Try to do a residency somewhere.  Be ready to pick up and move.

3.  Offer to work for $25/hr for the first 6 months.  You need experience and every day that goes by with you out of work makes you less marketable.  

4.  Quite simply it is a terrible time to be looking for a job as a Provider. 

Edited by Cideous
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Try locums. And Network, Network, Network! There seems to be a dearth of jobs since covid. Prior to March there were tons of places (in the bay area anyway) that had postings. Now, I only see lots of PRN jobs. I would recommend taking one of these and always accept when called to work. While still always looking for another job.

Best wishes!

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-Consider compiling 4-5 bullet points that summarize you as a good candidate at the top of your CV. Not a narrative, concise bullet points.

-Consider putting your professional experience before your education. Nobody really cares about where you went to PA school (or even what PA school is). They only care about the -C. 

-Also, you really need to put PA-C behind your name. For all they know, you could be a student applying. That’s the first thing that caught my eyes. This is a very very very necessary change.

-Put your abroad experience under the professional experience as well as any other volunteering.

-Provide a short and sweet explanation in your cover letter. For example, it was puzzling to me from your initial reasoning for not seeking PA employment d/t your injury but then see that you’ve been working as an EMT through that timeframe.

-You need to dress up your cover letter for every single different position you apply for. 500 applications makes me think your probably haven’t done this. Sending something generic or just the CV will get you tossed into the backup candidate pile.

Edited by ANESMCR
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I don't understand how you could have sent out so many applications without a single bite. I mean, I guess the current job market sucks, but you've been applying for the past four years, and not even a call back? I think your CV could be formatted a little better, but there's got to be more going on than that. Are you applying for jobs that you're somehow not qualified for? Limiting yourself to a narrow geographic area? Something doesn't make sense, because if you have a PA-C behind your name and sent out 500 applications, you should definitely have people calling you back, no matter what.

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26 minutes ago, HMtoPA said:

I don't understand how you could have sent out so many applications without a single bite. I mean, I guess the current job market sucks, but you've been applying for the past four years, and not even a call back? I think your CV could be formatted a little better, but there's got to be more going on than that. Are you applying for jobs that you're somehow not qualified for? Limiting yourself to a narrow geographic area? Something doesn't make sense, because if you have a PA-C behind your name and sent out 500 applications, you should definitely have people calling you back, no matter what.

Agreed. It was a terrible market before, even worse now but we’re clearly not getting the whole story here. I interpreted the OP’s statement as in they haven’t been applying until recent due to an injury. 

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I agree with above posters that although your credentials are impressive your resume screams “student “ .

Bullet point your qualifications and do not list rotations . Really that’s a “given “ since PA education is standardized , so write a solid cover letter and show up in person to drop off your materials with a hiring manager .

 

good luck ! 

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Also, what exactly have you been doing the past four years and why are you reaching out for help now? I mean, why weren't you doing this after the first six months of no interviews? I don't mean to beat you up about it, but your situation is a bit of a head-scratcher, and I'm sure it must seem that way to some of the HR people screening CVs. If you have extenuating circumstances, I'd be prepared to lay them out on the table in a cover letter at this point.

FYI, the employment gap is going to come up after you get hired and have to get credentialed. It's not insurmountable, but be prepared with an explanation.

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Ugh. Revamp that resume as has been stated already. Your section on clinical experience needs to be restructured ... there's no need to belittle yourself by reminding that rotations are (4 weeks), etc.

All this: "Duties typically included ...", I'd take all that out. Anyone reading is already going to know that those points were included in a Provider's educational experience. Trim it down. 

Basically what I'm saying to you is you have TA DAH (PA, Master's Degree) and then *um* (4 weeks here and there) ... there's no need to overstate.  

Additionally, I'd take away or way trim down the dates from your first page, they're glaring and too prominent. Things like that can honestly  wait until an application, a Resume doesn't need to necessarily showcase your timeline. Choose your focus of bold better. 

Finally, how about starting with a Goals section, where you can concisely mention a quick summary so that people don't have to dig into your Resume to figure you out. Something along the lines of "Having graduated from Physician Assistant school, I am searching for a position which will allow me to utilize my skills and training in my field. My prior EMT experience makes me a perfect candidate for blah and blah and blah.' Keep it positive, leave out any lamenting. You want to get to work, right? So make it all sound-match as if you're ready for that. If they want to know what your story has been, let them ask and then be ready to give a brief answer (again, keep it positive).

Go for a part-time option somewhere, maybe a less-desirable shift. Write up a brief letter of explanation for older Docs to read and go around to smaller offices and drop it off personally. Take a telehealth from home position. You could even consider scribing as a start or volunteering somewhere to get your foot in the door. 

Good luck and glad to hear you're on the mend. 

 

 

 

 

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Also, most states have a Physician Health Program which advocates for Providers in recovery from various conditions, including medical. I see you're in NJ, reach out to http://www.papnj.org/  and get a caseworker who will advocate for you. That will definitely be something you can add to your Resume (say, in the Goals section) and will also increase your breadth of networking. Those people will have seen it all and will be able to help you get to where you need to be. 

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I am currently on the job search and I definitely think you need got make your resume more concise - 3 pages is too much to go through. I see you're also from Monmouth County (as am I) and I would love to connect and maybe we can talk. Also definitely take the guy who is offering a job up on that offer!!!

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I am currently on the job search and I definitely think you need got make your resume more concise - 3 pages is too much to go through. I see you're also from Monmouth County (as am I) and I would love to connect and maybe we can talk. Also definitely take the guy who is offering a job up on that offer!!!
I agree... I have 10 yrs experience as a PA and only have 1.5 pages for my CV.

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24 minutes ago, Joelseff said:

I agree... I have 10 yrs experience as a PA and only have 1.5 pages for my CV.

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mine is 3 pages, but that includes publications and info on prior ER tech and paramedic jobs going back 33 years. 

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On 7/16/2020 at 9:44 AM, KABusc said:

The page with EMT info could be condensed a lot. They are not hiring you to be an EMT, so it's ok to list dates and places and strike the descriptions. This is what I have in mine: 

Critical Care Transport Paramedic, XXXXX Ambulance, Philadelphia, PA, October 1993 – June 1995
Paramedic, 911 Response, XXXXX  Ventura and Los Angeles Counties, CA, August 1992 – June 1993
E.M.T./Medical Assistant, XXXXX , Santa Cruz, CA, December 1988 – January 1991
Emergency Department Technician, XXXXX CA, Summer 1988, 1989, 1990
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36 years and two pages, including additional training (BLS current, prior ACLS, ATLS, ADLS, etc.) as well as assoc. professorship mentions.  Kept NCCPA and Tx. license info though retired because you just never know...  I list each prior position with dates but leave out details since anyone looking at it shouldn't need me to list what I did in said position because the position should be clear enough (EM, Card., Emp Health), or else they can ask me.  I do keep my prior EMS training (and where, such as UTSW) in there in case someone wants to consider me for instructor positions.  I have a separate sheet that I can print out showing prior ending income amounts for each employer as well as contact information.  I have a third sheet for references.

Edited by GetMeOuttaThisMess
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Thank you all for your help. I’m going to revamp my resume and condense it. I have started looking at Locum positions of temp positions for new grads.
For the inquiring minds as to why it took me so long to reach out for help...I felt like a failure. Surgery #1 was repair to my foot with hardware with a 8 month recovery. Finally get cleared to start looking for a job and have a second surgery. Then two weeks after that I get a blood clot and needed emergency change surgery. After the six month recovery from the arterial clot. I became depressed and felt more and more like a failure. I finally met someone that pushed me to get my ass in gear. That was April of 2019. Then my mom was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Finally she got the all clear on Thanksgiving she kicked cancers butt. I have been I’m putting in applications since and I have a few interviews scheduled, then bam COVID. Every interview was rescheduled and I was back to square one. My fiancé has been helping a lot and has been supportive and told me to reach out to other PAs for help.

 

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