Postgraduate PA Residency Programs: General intro
Physician assistants (PAs) are trained as medical generalists and are able to work in any type of specialty. PAs attend PA programs that are typically 24 to 36 months in duration. Once PA students are concluded with their PA program education, they may seek out further, more focused experience through a PA residency program. Although not required for any specialty, PA residency programs allow recent PA school graduates to expand on their knowledge of a specific field, learn more advanced clinical skills and gain valuable experience.
Why Attend a Residency Program
The advantages of attending a PA residency program include receiving guided education in a specific specialty of your choosing. PA school clinical rotations are only a few weeks long and only provide a brief introduction to the specialty. Attending residency programs allow students to improve their ability to care for patients, develop judgement and technical abilities in the specific specialty, and accelerate their post-grad learning experience. PA residencies are opportunities for graduate PAs to obtain advanced training in a specialty of their interest. The confidence that can come with the attending a residency may take others years to attain! Also, the small class size provides a more intimate educational setting to receive tailored instruction. Class sizes range between just 1 student to up to around 16 students. This is much less than a typical PA school cohort and will give you more opportunities to allow your personal and professional growth in the specialty. In addition, PAs may be able to negotiate a higher starting salary once they complete residency due to the extra training and experience!
The Cons of Physician Assistant Residency Programs
The cons of attending a PA residency program are the lower salary compared to the median PA salary. PAs participating in a residency program earn compensation from $50,000-$75,000 depending on the program. While this is better than having no income during PA school, it is well below the national PA salary average. The national PA salary average in 2020 was $112,260. Gaining this extra experience over the year long residency program may allow you to negotiate a higher starting salary at a potential PA position after completing the residency. However, eventually the salary for a PA in a specific specialty will max out and be equivalent to a colleague who has similar experience but did not attend a PA residency program. You must also keep in mind that residencies may require well over 40 hours a week of clinic time. In true residency fashion, many programs may have you both in a learning setting and a clinic setting for a combined maximum of 80 hours per week!
How long is residency for a PA and what is the schedule like?
Most PA residencies have a duration of 12 months, but some may require a 24-month commitment. PA residency programs often have PAs rotate through different areas of the specialty they are pursing to gain a broad understanding of the field. These rotations may last a few weeks and the schedule differs based on clinical setting. For example, a PA residency in cardiology may consist of multiple orthopedic-oriented rotation varying between in-patient and out-patient and from adults to pediatrics. This allows the PA resident to receive a great amount of exposure in the various settings within the specialty!
Applying to PA Residency Programs
Applying to the majority of PA residency programs requires the following:
Graduation from an ARC-PA accredited PA program prior to matriculation into the residency program
Pass the Physician Assistant National Certification Exam (PANCE)
Submit education transcripts
BLS/ACLS certification
Completed application with current resume
Personal statement
Professional recommendation letters
State PA license for the state the program is located in
Interview at the program
Acceptance!
How competitive are PA residencies? (PAA)
Due to the limited seat availability in most PA residency programs, they are competitive to get into. Some programs only take one PA, while others may take a handful. Either way, the seat availability compared to the number of certified PAs in the U.S., any spot in a residency program is highly competitive.
PA Postgraduate Residency and Fellowship Programs by Specialty
PA residency programs are categorized by the specialty or field of medicine they focus on. A breakdown of current PA residency programs are as follows, with more being developed every year:
Acute Care
University of Missouri (see all of the best PA schools in MO)
Carolinas Healthcare System Center
Mission Health
Cardiology
Mercer-Piedmont Heart
Cardiothoracic Surgery
St. Joseph Mercy Hospital
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center
Critical Care & Trauma
Carolinas Healthcare System Center
Intermountain Medical Center
Einstein/Montefiore Division of Critical Care Medicine
Emory Critical Care
Johns Hopkins Hospital
St. Joseph Mercy Hospital
St. Luke’s Hospital
Mayo Clinic Arizona
WakeMed Health and Hospitals
Winthrop University Hospital
Dermatology
Medical College of Wisconsin
Emergency Medicine
Albany Medical Center
Albert Einstein Medical Center
Arrowhead Regional Medical Center
Baylor College of Medicine
Brown Alpert Medical School
Carilion Clinic
Eastern Virginia Medical School
St. Luke’s Hospital
Jane R. Perlman/NorthShore University Health Systems
Johns Hopkins- Bayview Hospital
Lakeland Regional Health
Marquette University- Aurora Health
New York University
University of Missouri
New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center
Regions Hospital
Staten Island University Hospital
Team Health EMAPC Fellowship
University of Iowa
University of New Mexico School of Medicine
UCSF Fresno
US Army/Air Force-Baylor
Yale New Haven Hospital
University of Kentucky
Carolina Healthcare System
Family Medicine
Carolinas Healthcare System
Geriatrics
Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center
Hematology & Oncology
Mayo Clinic Arizona
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Hospitalist
Carolinas Healthcare System
Mayo Clinic Arizona
Regions Hospital
Internal Medicine
Carolinas Healthcare System
Neonatology
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
University of Kentucky
OB-GYN
Arrowhead Regional Medical Center
Montefiore Medical Center
Orthopedics
Arrowhead Orthopedics
Carilion Clinic
Illinois Bone and Joint Institute
UCSF Fresno
DMC Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine
Riverside University Health System
Navy PA Graduate Training
Otolaryngology
Mayo Clinic Arizona
Pediatrics
Carolinas Healthcare System
Primary Care
Shasta Community Health Center
North Florida- South Georgia Veterans Health System
The Emory Physician Assistant Program and The Veterans Atlanta Medical Center
Psychiatry
Nationwide Children’s Hospital Child and Adolescent Psychiatry PA Program
University of Iowa
The Cherokee Mental Health Institute
Surgery
Bassett Healthcare
Duke University Medical Center
Hartford Healthcare
Johns Hopkins Hospital
Montefiore Medical Center- Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Norwalk Hospital/Yale
Texas Children’s Hospital Pediatric Surgery
University of Florida
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Urgent Care
Carolinas Healthcare System
Carilion Clinic Urgent Care and Rural Health
Urology
Carolina Healthcare System
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Oncology
The Ohio State University
Organ Transplant
PA Abdominal Organ Transplant Fellowship
Compensation for PA Residencies
PA residencies do not cost money to attend and provide compensation or a stipend for the time in the program. The compensation of the residency programs listed above range between $50,000-75,000. Many residency programs also offer medical insurance plans with options for dental and optical coverage. Other benefits include professional liability insurance, paid time off and CME (continuing medical education) credits. After the completion of a fellowship, you earn up to 50 category I CME credits granted by the AAPA. All certified PAs must earn CME credits to sustain their certification.
Conclusion
PA residencies provide PAs the opportunity to further their education through guided didactic and clinical skills experiences. A program tailored to helping PAs become experts in a specialty. Upon completion of a PA residency, the PA will earn a certification and may even earn a Doctor of Medical Science degree (DMSc). Coming right out of PA school with only minimal experience in each specialty, residency programs can start to pave the way for you to provide expert, focused medical care.
