Each year, Mill Valley, CA-based Glassdoor, an online jobs and recruiting site, lists its top choices for our nation’s best careers. This year the physician assistant tops the company’s Best Jobs in America list.
Commonly known as PAs, physician assistants practice medicine on teams under the supervision of physicians and surgeons, examining patients, diagnosing injuries and illnesses and administering treatment. Often, they also are agents of change, working with the American Academy of Physician Assistants to lobby state and federal lawmakers to improve scope-of-practice laws and boost patient access to care.
PAs command salaries of over $97,000 a year on average, according to statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And demand for highly trained PAs grew a whopping 300 percent from 2011 to 2014, according to healthcare search firm Merritt Hawkins. In fact, at the time of this writing, Glassdoor lists more than 45,000 job openings for PAs at hospitals and clinics across the country.
In developing its annual list, Glassdoor identified 25 specific jobs with the highest overall job scores, based on a five-point scale that measures average annual base salaries shared by US-based employees over the past year, career opportunities ratings shared over the past year, and number of open job listings posted to Glassdoor in a three-month period. Physical therapists and nurse practitioners also made the list at #19 and #24, respectively.
Says Jeffrey A. Katz, a family practice physician assistant and president and chair of the board of the American Academy of Physician Assistants:
“Now is the moment for PAs,” said Jeffrey A. Katz, a family practice PA and president and chair of the board of the AAPA, in a recent media interview. “PAs get to do what they love — practice medicine. This is a career for those who have a passion for caring for others, who want to affect change in healthcare, and, ultimately, who want to positively influence lives and heal.”
No matter which particular medical career path you chose, WOLFPACC can help prepare you for your studies and significantly boost your chances for success. Find out how by calling 904-209-3140 and speaking with an enrollment specialist today.
