New Grad PA: Andrew in Orthopaedic Surgery
A McMaster PA graduate recounts his experience securing employment through the Ontario Career Start Program. Andrew includes incredibly helpful tips for new PA grads about landing your first PA job.
I started preparing for the PA Job Hunt early
Early on in the program, I already had a good idea of which areas of medicine would best fit my personality, skills and interests.
For example, for me, it is working in a fast-paced working environment with opportunities for practical skills and with a lot of variety.
Once it was time for the first years to choose our clinical rotation streams, I selected the one that front loaded the fields I would be interested in (in my case, emergency medicine and general surgery). This enabled me to get a feel for that field and gave me ample time to plan the rest of my elective blocks to have more time in said fields.
Much like how senior medical students use their clinical rotations as an opportunity to secure residency, I used my clinical rotations as an opportunity to have an extended job interview.
After the end of my clinical rotations, I went through the motions of updating my CV and drafting cover letters for each and every position I applied to.
My Experience with the Career Start Program
I applied to about ten positions:
Emergency Medicine (x3 positions)
Paediatric Emergency Medicine (x1 position)
Orthopaedic Surgery (x1 position)
General Surgery (x1 position)
Family Medicine positions (x2 positions)
I received six interview invites and attended three.
I received two job offers of the three interviews I attended.
Deciding on the specialty I wanted to work in
Truthfully, I had to make a tough decision about where I wanted to work.
I completed a three-week rotation at my current workplace during the tail end of my clinical rotation which I found to be very enjoyable. I knew that they were hiring and my end-of-rotation review was very positive and really made me feel like I would be a welcome addition to their team. I also felt quite good about my interview and was very pleasantly surprised to have received an offer shortly after.
That being said, I had also received an interview invite for another major hospital working in Pediatric emergency medicine which was also very appealing. It was a tough choice as I didn’t have the luxury of time to attend the other interview and hated the idea of that big “what if?” looming over my head. This is not uncommon as it is something that some of my peers have also struggled with.
With all that’s said and done, I confidently feel I made the right decision.
What made me a successful candidate for my top PA job choice
As cliché as it may sound, I have to say that having a resume, cover letter, strong interview, having completed a rotation at the job location, and strong references played their role in making me a successful candidate.
My CV and cover letter was fairly solid and I owe a lot of it to some friends who helped me review and edit them.
It also helped that I have worked with some excellent PAs during my clinical rotations that made excellent references.
I later spoke with the administrative director of my division and she flat-out told me that my references were very strong and supportive.
My Tips for New PA Graduates applying through the Career Start Program
Clerkship: Always be on the lookout for new, potential employment opportunities as the year goes on. Ask your preceptors and allied health staff what they know about PAs. Show them how much you know and how much you are capable of. Create opportunities.
Applying: I highly recommend having others involved with reviewing and editing your applications as it can be all too easy to have tunnel vision after reading over your work a dozen times.
Interview: Research the company, read (and re-read) their job posting and be confident (or fake it ‘til you make it).
The vast majority of my classmates did secure employment after graduation.
For many, they are quite happy with their decision but, like any profession, there are those who are not. Regardless, PAs are a very fortunate group of health care providers who have opportunities available to us early on in our careers.
The challenge, as many can attest, is to demonstrate the ability to help our attending physicians either with finance, schedule or by extending the current level of care provided.
Andrew is now working as an Orthopaedic Surgery PA
Andrew Lim is a Canadian Certified Physician Assistant who works in Orthopaedic Surgery at Sunnybrook alongside their department of 16 Orthopaedic Surgeons, many residents and fellows. He is a graduate of McMaster's PA program.
