Physician Assistant Jobs

Onward MD is a leading provider of locum tenens physician assistant jobs and permanent opportunities. We work in a variety of settings, including hospitals, private practices, outpatient facilities, surgical centers, and other specialty medical facilities.

We provide permanent, temporary, temp-to-perm, and locum tenens positions for physician assistants. By working as a locum tenens physician assistant with Onward MD, you will receive industry leading pay and benefits, while experiencing the flexibility you’ve always desired from your career.

Currently Available Physician Assistant Jobs

Below is a selection of our most recent physician assistant jobs. If you are interested, please submit your profile or contact us to find out about other available opportunities.

Duties Inherent to Physician Assistant Jobs

PAs serve as fully licensed medical practitioners who are trained to provide care services while under the supervision and direction of a doctor. While the doctor ultimately takes responsibility for the patient, the physician assistant operates autonomously in making medical decisions.

Generally speaking, practicing physician assistants will serve as substitutes, rather than complements, to physicians. For example, a PA may be tasked with providing counseling and preventive medical services that the physician cannot find the time to provide. Alternatively, PAs may be assigned patients with less complicated or routine problems, leaving patients with more advanced or complex issues to the lead physician. They may also be called to assist with new patient consults, order routine chemotherapy, perform invasive procedures, or engage in a number of other tasks. Regulations regarding supervision and scope of practice vary from one state or jurisdiction to the next.

Why Physician Assistants Are In Demand

As the demand for physicians continues to expand with no end in sight, facilities are earnestly seeking solutions to alleviate the resulting healthcare staffing crisis. To this end, physician assistants and nurse practitioners are ideal solutions.

Numerous studies have found that when used well, PAs can be just as effective and provide just as many office visits as physicians per unit time. They lower labor costs (the cost of producing a PA is approximately 20% of that of a doctor), increase hospital efficiency (generating approximately 2.4 times their salary in revenue), and substitute for doctors at approximately 85% the range of primary care tasks. Additionally, a PA can actively provide healthcare services for a full five years before a doctor is able to function independently from postgraduate training.

Historically, physician assistants have been viewed favorably throughout the profession, achieving high levels of patient satisfaction, and acceptance from healthcare providers. One survey of ED physicians fund that 91% had worked with a PA and held confidence in their overall performance. Using PAs can lower patient wait times, coordinate care, and provide services that physicians would otherwise have no time to offer.

PA as a Growing Healthcare Field

As of 2010, there were already 71,000 PAs in current practice in the United States alone -- with the UK, Australia, Canada, and many other countries beginning to follow suit and adopt programs of their own. The number of practicing PAs more than tripled from 1991-2008, growing from 20,000 to about 68,000 (and nearly 80,000 eligible for practice) in less than three decades. Employment of the PA is expected to grow by 27% from 2006 to 2016.

In light of these developments, physician assistants are becoming more numerous than physicians. As of 2008, there was approximately one PA for every ten physicians; today, the number is closer to one in six. If the predicted shortage of physician continues, and the rapid growth of the physician assistant profession continues to grow, PAs may very well provide a larger share of patient care in the coming years.

This is an excellent job opportunity (ranked as one of the best careers of 2008 by US News & World Report), and provides many exciting career openings for the job-seeking professional.

Getting Started In A Locum Tenens PA Job

Physician assistants who operate as locum tenens provide a buffer for areas across the country that are in the most crucial need of related healthcare staffing. As compensation for their willingness to move on to a new assignment every three months or so, they benefit from higher salaries, a flexible work schedule, and the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the best medical facilities across the United States.

By choosing a locum tenens agency to work with, these professionals are able to spend their energies focusing on their profession instead of the errands inherent to this lifestyle. The agency provides PAs under their employment with benefits, arranges for continued and uninterrupted employment at new agencies, and consults with the PA in regards to meeting state certification requirements.

Onward MD's experts can connect you with openings in leading healthcare facilities across the nation, finding the position that's best for you! Take the next step in your career by calling us at (877) 308-5070, or by filling out your online profile today!