Jump to content

Pennsylvania. Hired >6 months ago but still waiting on state board to be able to work.


Recommended Posts

The title basically sums up my situation. Here's some more details:

I graduated forever ago (mid-2019). Took a while to pass the boards. Job searched for months and got lucky enough to get an employment offer for my 1st job that I accepted >6 months ago. Was ecstatic - it's in the specialty I want and seems like I'll get great training and mentoring at the practice.

I moved to rural Pennsylvania for this job from out of state. Here the state board must grant PA's a license and then review and approve the agreement with the physician you're working with before you can begin practicing. It's been >6 months since I started this process. While my license was approved a few months ago, my physician agreement still hasn't been.

The board was supposed to send me a letter after I got licensed to be able to practice temporarily until they review my practice agreement but it never showed up. My employer said they've never seen a letter like that sent in practice, regardless of what the board's website says. So I just keep waiting. I've emailed the board. I've called the board. My employer has called the board. They just keep saying my agreement is in the queue waiting to be reviewed. My employer is apologetic this is taking a while but doesn't seem overly concerned. Does that mean I shouldn't be concerned? I'm trying not to bother them too much. But meanwhile my family has bills to pay and this job was supposed to provide the majority of our income. What money we have in the bank is close to running out.

At this point I don't know what to do. I'm starting to feel like I'm missing something. Can anyone else who has worked in PA tell me if this is normal?!

Thanks in advance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unfortunately, it is not that uncommon. 6 months is a little bit longer than normal though.  Try contacting your state representatives to see if they can assist. My practice has used this tactic with some success. Just hope the reviewer doesn't find something wrong. We use the same form for all of our new hires, and 2 times in the past couple of  years some reviewer decided that our standard practice delegation had a problem. That caused a bigger delay. The other issue in PA is that there are separate boards for MD and DO delegation forms. It is a total cluster.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, briansk said:

Unfortunately, it is not that uncommon. 6 months is a little bit longer than normal though.  Try contacting your state representatives to see if they can assist. My practice has used this tactic with some success. Just hope the reviewer doesn't find something wrong. We use the same form for all of our new hires, and 2 times in the past couple of  years some reviewer decided that our standard practice delegation had a problem. That caused a bigger delay. The other issue in PA is that there are separate boards for MD and DO delegation forms. It is a total cluster.

Thanks so much for your reply. That makes me feel a lot better! I'm with the MD board - definitely crossing my fingers the reviewer doesn't find anything weird.

Do you know who is usually notified when an agreement is approved? Is it the MD or the practice or the PA?

The other states where I'm licensed don't even review practice agreements! They just had to be created and available in case the state ever requested to review it. It's crazy to me that state laws can be so different and there's such huge consequences!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Welcome to the Physician Assistant Forum! This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn More