Write a Physician Assistant Resume Clinically

In this easily digestible guide, we will show you how to save your spot, and how to get to the top 5% of the applicants for your next Physician Assistant position.

Read the article carefully, follow the structures and the examples we have given to create a physician assistant resume the hospital hiring manager is expecting.

Also, use the PRO TIPS and our Resume Templates to make your resume stand out from the 100+ resumes they receive.

Without further due, let's get into the task

The average salary of a Physician Assistant amounts to around $99,000 (Payscale).

Skills in acute care, emergency medicine, and orthopedics get above-average salaries.

Whichever skills you have as a Physician Assistant, you are at the forefront of any medical practice or hospital. A highly satisfying job where you can save thousands of lives while earning a decent living.

However, as the earnings and demand go up, the competition for job positions in the best hospitals and medical practices also increases. To face the higher competition, you need to prepare a resume that stands out from everyone else.

How to make a Physician Assistant Resume

In your resume as a physician assistant, you need to show the hiring managers that you are well organized. This is one of the main skills they are looking for in you which should be reflected in your resume as well.

In fact, HR managers are getting 1000+ resumes for the highly paid PA positions. If you save their time in shortlisting, they would like to see you for an interview.

To do that, your resume needs to have a plan. We will start with the structure and layout of your resume so that the rest is about filling the blanks.

The layout of the Physician Assistant Resume

We are going to present you a time tested, well optimized resume layout for physician assistant resume samples.

• Header with your name and contact details
• Professional summary
• Work experience
• Education
• Skills
• Professional Certifications

Based on your level of experience and special skills, you may tailor the layout a little which we will discuss in just a few minutes.

The structure of the Physician Assistant Resume

Having a proper structure for your PA resume would increase the clarity of the information you present which will save time for the hiring manager and you’ll be rewarded for that!

Reverse chronological order is widely used for physician assistant resumes presenting list type information such as experience and education qualifications. In this, you will start with your most recent experience and list down the rest in that order.

Further, consider these bullet points while you write your resume,

• Send your resume in PDF format
• Use a clear and readable font
• Use a font size of 12-14 for the body text and a bigger font size (about 15-16) for the headings
• Use consistent margins

If you want your resume to stand out from the general resume format made from Microsoft Word, and do not have time to worry about margins, font sizes, and all the formatting, check out our resume templates which are created for the latest industry standards.

Start with the Header of the Physician Assistant Resume

There is nothing complicated about this section of a resume. However, the simplest sections are where applicants make most of the mistakes.

Example of a good header / Example of a bad header for a Physician Assistant

CORRECT

Joe Smith

Assistant Physician

joesmith23@gmail.com

+1 255 68 72 18

https://www.linkedin.com/in/smith

INCORRECT

Physician Assistant

Joe Smith

partyhardjoe@gmail.com

+1 267 87 89 56

101, main street, apt 34,

Washington DC

USA

Though this is simple, this is the first section of your resume. Consider these points for making a good first impression:

• Beginning: You should always start your header with your name
• Email: Use an email address that sounds professional. Make a new email address to send your resumes if your current address does not sound professional

• Physical Address: Mentioning your physical address is not relevant in many cases unless there is a special requirement
• LinkedIn Profile: If you are active on LinkedIn, update your profile and put the link in your resume header

Is a photo required in the Physician Assistant Resume?

You should not include a photo in your resume unless otherwise you are being asked to do so in the job description.

80% of the US organizations have stated that they do not shortlist resumes with candidates’ photos on them.

Most organizations consider it as discrimination to shortlist candidates based on their looks.

Professional summary for a Physician Assistant

This is the area most candidates struggle with. Some professional summaries require a best-selling author to write them.

We know everyone is not a writing expert. That is exactly why we are going to guide you through a proven system to write your professional summary. You will be surprised to see how easy it is to come up with your perfect resume summary.

Use this formula,

Your good Professional Summary usually describes yourself, your current position, professional qualifications, strengths and ambitions all in a few sentences.

See the difference in the following summaries,

INCORRECT

A practicing pa with 5+ years of experience in a major hospital downtown now seeking the opportunity to extend my service into the orthopedics section in XCARE Hospital

CORRECT

A dedicated physician assistant with NCCPA certification for Orthopedics and 5+ years of experience in family practice and acute care, in a major hospital downtown serving 50+ patients daily, seeking to leverage the Orthopedics unit in XCARE hospital. In the previous position, performed detailed examinations and worked closely with the physician in advanced clinical practices

If you are applying for your first job as a PA, instead of writing a professional summary, you can write an objective statement highlighting your career objectives, interests, education, and specific reasons to apply for the position.

Work Experience in the Physician Assistant Resume

Yes, that is the reality. They may not even read the inspiring professional summary you spent 6 hours to finalize.

The work history section is predominantly the most important section in your resume.

If you have experience in multiple physician assistant jobs, consider providing details on your latest one in 3-4 lines. Reduce the number of lines for the previous job positions.

Most of the hospitals use the applicant tracking system to shortlist resumes. The tracking is done based on the job description and the keywords input to the system.

Therefore, be extra careful to read the job description several times and pick the keywords they have mentioned there, and include them in your resume.

Describe your professional experiences on your Physician Assistant Resume

Write to the point using clear and concise bullet points to describe your experience in a particular position.

Quantify your PA experience whenever possible. Numbers would give you credibility and make your resume stand out from the 95% of the boring resumes.

Examples of professional experiences for Physician Assistant beginner/junior

INCORRECT

June 2019 to Present

UCS Medical Center, LA

• Entered patient data in the EMR software
• Treated wounds and orthopedic emergencies
• X-ray, CT scan, and MRI experience
• Assisted in surgical procedures
• Postoperative care experience

CORRECT

Aug 2015 to Present

USC Medical Center, LA

• Acquired the relevant information and carried out the treatments recommended by the physician and recorded the data in the EMR
• Collaborated with the management and the healthcare team in providing a high-quality healthcare service to all patients
• Carried out X-ray, CT scan, and MRI based on the recommendation of the physician
• Performed 1000+ intra-articular injections in the last year

If you are applying for an entry position, and do not have much experience to list, you can consider writing about the practical experience you had while studying and relevant coursework you did.

Examples of work experience for Senior Physician Assistant

INCORRECT

June 2019 to Present

UCS Medical Center, LA

• Prescribed medications in the OPD
• Treated wounds and orthopedic emergencies
• X-ray, CT scan, and MRI experience
• Carried out surgical procedures
• Clinical experience

CORRECT

Aug 2015 to Present

USC Medical Center, LA

• Acquired patient medical history, examined and prescribed medication, and recorded the data in the EMR
• Carried out traumatic, pediatric, and reconstructive surgeries and managed emergencies in the Orthopedics section
• Prescribed, carried out X-ray, CT scan, and MRIs, and interpreted reports
• Achieved a 25% increase in employee satisfaction in the last year being the Head Physician Assistant in the unit
• Planned out clinical rotations for the staff

Education in the Physician Assistant Resume

A PA needs a particular set of academic qualifications to start.

You should have done your bachelor's degree in biology or a similar capacity. Some positions even ask for a Master’s degree or physician assistant studies to be completed.

Should you start with education or work experience in the Physician Assistant Resume?

If you have a solid academic background but lack relevant experience, you should list your academic qualifications first.

Even if you have a good academic background and you also have a solid 5+ years of experience in a major hospital, you should list that first.

How to properly list your education in a Physician Assistant Resume?

You can use the following format or make your own. However, be consistent throughout,

• Start with your degree type and the major

  Eg: Bachelor’s degree in Biology, Master’s of Science in PA

• Mention the year you started and graduated
• University or institution and the location

  Eg: The University of California, LA

• Honors, awards, or any other special achievements.
• Also, if your grade point average is higher than 3.0, please mention it

Example of the education section of a Physician Assistant

Physician Assistant Resume Skills

This is a key area of your resume which most of the candidates take lightly and dump the generic skills.

If most are doing badly in a particular thing, it is your ticket to reach the top.

Spend some quality time analyzing the job description as to what skills they are looking for and draft a stunning skills section in your PA resume.

What are the main skills sought for in a Physician Assistant Resume?

There are two skill types that you need to include here: Soft skills and Hard skills.

Soft skills are the generic skills of a PA such as communication and time management. These skills are difficult to measure so anyone can list these, which makes them less appealing to the hiring managers.

Hard skills are specific skills of a PA such as proficiency in EMR and Ultrasound. These skills are easily measurable in a test and you could even back them up with relevant certifications.

However, for a Physician Assistant, you should list down a mix of soft skills and hard skills.

Following is a list of Soft and Hard skills you could choose based on your experience and the job description.

Soft Skills for Physician Assistants

• Ability to work under pressure
• Time management
• Communication skills
• Teamwork
• Well organized work ethics
• Problem-solving
• Interpreting data

Hard Skills for Physician Assistants

• Hand-on experience in EMR data entry and analysis
• Ultrasound
• Gynecology
• Medical prescriptions
• Applying injections
• MRI/ CT scans
• Orthopedic emergencies management
• Diagnostic tests

What skills for a junior Physician Assistant

For a junior PA, write a mix of soft and hard skills focusing more on the operational experience.

• Hands-on experience in X-ray/ MRI and CT scanning
• Data entry and interpretation in EMR system
• Imaging tests
• Ability to work under pressure
• Applying injections
• Time management

What skills for a qualified senior for a Physician Assistant position

For a Senior PA, write a mix of soft and hard skills focusing more on the management experience.

• Managing patient admittance to discharge process
• Interpret X-ray/ MRI and CT scans
• Surgical procedure management
• Patient examination and prescribing
• Communication skill
• Problem solving
• Ability to work under pressure

Additional Headings for your Physician Assistant Resume

There are a few additional skills sections you could include in your PA resume.

• Certifications
• Licenses
• Awards
• Language
• Volunteer activities

If you want your resume to stand out, one or two of these sections would do the trick!

Computer skills, Certifications and, Awards in a Physician Assistant Resume

List down something really valuable for your career that you have acquired. Especially a professional certification or an award you won would be ideal.

In fact, some of the job positions would require you to have certain certifications specific to the position.

Here we have listed some of the top certifications for physician assistants,

• Physician Assistant-Certified (PA-C)
• Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA)
• Certification in Pediatric Anesthesiology (PA)
• Family Medicine (MC-FP)
• Certified Medical Assistant (CMA)

Interests in a Physician Assistant Resume

Do not list generic interests here. If your interests do not add any value to you as a PA, do not waste your precious resume space for them.

However, if you are applying for an entry level PA position and you have experience as a volunteer for a relevant cause, you can list them here.

Languages in a Physician Assistant Resume

Your language skills may have an advantage here. A hospital receives patients who speak different languages. If you are proficient in more than one language, you can list them as that would be a key point for some hospitals.

Summary: Key Points for Writing a Perfect Physician Assistant Resume

• Start with a clean header with your name and contact details
• Write a professional summary or an objective summary showcasing your experience and specialty
• Use reverse chronological order to list down your experience
• Use a clear format to write your education qualifications
• Write a mix of soft skills and hard skills
• Use relevant additional sections to stand out from the crowd

Write a Cover Letter That Goes With Your Physician Assistant Resume

A good cover letter would positively complement your resume. However, every PA job is not requesting one.

If the position you apply for requires a cover letter, make sure you write it tailored to the position.

The typical cover letter size is half a page. Do not overwrite. Tell concisely how your previous experience and knowledge as a Physician Assistant could help them run smooth operations and increase efficiency. Those are the two main factors hiring managers would be interested in.

Frequently Asked Questions for a Physician Assistant Resume

How do I write a resume for a physician assistant?

Your physician assistant resume should include the following sections,

• Header with your name and contact details
• Professional summary
• Work experience
• Education
• Skills
• Professional Certifications

How many pages should a Physician assistant resume be?

The standard size for a physician assistant resume is ONE page.

What are the top skills for a Physician Assistant?

Physician assistant should have the following skills,

• Hand-on experience in EMR data entry and analysis
• Medical prescriptions
• Applying injections
• MRI/ CT/ Ultrasound scans
• Orthopedic emergencies management
• Ability to work under pressure
• Time management
• Communication skills
• Teamwork