Wanting to get into education

[BB321]

Current PA-C with 4 years of clinical experience, mainly ER. I’m interested in getting into the education realm. Many jobs I see posted want some teaching experience. Have done some precepting in the past but my current position doesn’t accept students. Any advice on how to get into education? Any other recommendations for boosting resume with plans to get into higher education? Would becoming a BLS/ACLS instructor help? 

[ventana]

find local program

volunteer to do lectures and help out in labs

[NeoTrion]

I would love to do a remote gig or guest lecture.  I did volunteer with my program that was 3.5 hours away, but never heard anything back from them.  I have worked in multiple specialties, serve on the state PA board, and have an MBA and a doctorate. I was a little surprised I never heard anything back.  I know there has been some turnover in that program.  I am in the same boat with precepting as the physician I work with graduated fellowship in 2022 and doesn't want to deal with students just yet.  She has no problem with me doing my own thing out of the clinic.

[PAMalignantHeme]

What exactly are you looking to do in education ? 

If you are interested in a full time faculty position ... consider applying for one. PAEA jobs board is a great resource. Even if you feel you may be lacking experience. Unfortunately PA faculty salary has significantly lagged behind clinical and industry salaries. I just saw several NY faculty gigs posted which offer salary less than some new grad starting salaries. here is one at Molloy for 85 - 130K based on experience .... new grads are starting at 120's at my hospital.   https://jobs.chronicle.com/job/37619828/full-time-faculty-physician-assistant-program?utm_campaign=google_jobs_apply&utm_source=google_jobs_apply&utm_medium=organic

NY state has a new law where all employers must advertise salary range so this is now public information. Anecdotally I hear some programs are struggling to fill faculty roles with high quality candidates. 

 

Many PA programs need to set academic calendar and ensure proper didactic staffing months in advance. Usually core faculty and a few adjuncts deliver most curriculum. Often times 1 or 2 adjuncts are hired to deliver an entire subject (i.e Emergency Medicine, neurology etc) if the core faculty cannot. It would be a bit overwhelming for the didactic coordinator to organize lets say 15 lectures with 15 random volunteer faculty. So it can be hard to find an open lecture spot for a volunteer who may or may not return the following year. One role where new adjunct faculty can often get involved is physical exam or OSCE / skills assessment, case studies, masters project/research course work. Also I would imagine even if you are delivering a few hours of curriculum you will need to be an employee at the university and complete all necessary HR coursework etc. This maybe like 10 hours of stuff and not worth anybody time if you are doing 2 hours of work a year.  I have two adjunct roles and both require me to do sexual harassments, workplace violence etc every year.

 

I hope I did not come off negative. I love working in PA education and have enjoyed many rewarding and stimulating moments through my current adjunct roles. And while the salary is unfortunate, there is often room to negotiate some nice quality of life perks and release time for clinical part time work to boost involve.  Remember the University is a business ...negotiate with them just as you would any private medical practice or hospital. They are making A LOT of money off of saturating the PA profession. 

 

 

 

[NeoTrion]

I appreciate the reply.  I am mainly looking at doing this to give back to the profession and perhaps to make a little more income on the side.  The income is less important to me. 

[iconic]

I read about lack of PA faculty, but Idk how true that is. I looked at a job on LinkedIn the other day which had over 50 applicants..

Also I would not feel ethical working for one of those no-name for profit schools that have popped up overnight.

Interestingly, I know a few programs where most faculty seem to come from same niche surgical backgrounds, which makes me question how they are able to teach a wide range of topics..

Edited Thursday at 05:35 PM by iconic

[PAMalignantHeme]

I read about lack of PA faculty, but Idk how true that is. I looked at a job on LinkedIn the other day which had over 50 applicants..           I will say anecdotally numerous programs report challenge finding faculty.  Many of the new faculty applicants have no experience and often are looking to get out of clinical practice and it is less about a calling to academia

Also I would not feel ethical working for one of those no-name for profit schools that have popped up overnight.   Some new programs seem to have no business in PA education. I really wish there was a way to cap the number of new programs. 

Interestingly, I know a few programs where most faculty seem to come from same niche surgical backgrounds, which makes me question how they are able to teach a wide range of topics..     Some of the strongest PA programs do not rely on core faculty to each every topic. Employing a diverse group of adjuncts with various specialties. I tell pre PA applicants if the same faculty member is teaching cardiology, neurology, pediatrics, radiology do yourself a favor and do not apply.

Very important to any PA applicant viewing .... find out about clinical rotations (where are they, how established, how are they developed and assessed, exposure to specialties) and didactic lecturers ( are the topics taught by experts in the field? or does someone look up the topic on uptodate the week before).