I had my first PA job interview this past Tuesday. It's good to get that first one out of the way. Fortunately, it was with one of my previous preceptors from my primary care block, so it was with a doc I already know & feel comfortable with.
The location is a family medicine clinic in Katy (West of H-town). It's a very nice, farily new & pretty clinic in a very nice area. I think it would be a really great place to start a PA career and very possibly stay long term. He just recently hired a female physician, so there would be 2 physicians to train me. His practice is exploding! He told me that he gets like 6-8 new patients a day! That's a very good thing....plenty of patients. It is very likely he may need 2 PAs. He is even thinking of buying a property a few doors down to use an overflow clinic & said he could foresee me helping run that clinic...if I wanted. That was another cool thing. Room for growth & advancement! He said I could work with him in the main clinic, work in the overflow clinic with the other physician, or rotate in both. I can make my own hours & work in my own style. Both physicians would be there whenever I had questions or needed a second set of eyes/ears/hands. This is especially important for new grads. That first year is going to be a HUGE learning curve & we new grads need experienced physicians/PAs around to rely on for continued training/teaching.
Sooooo, the interview went really, really well & he offered the position to me. Not only that, but he said that his door was always open to me. He would always have a job for me. He said if I wanted, for example, to work in an ER or ICU, etc, for a while, and then wanted to come work for him, I could. How awesome is that?
He asked that I think about it for a while, talk to the hubby about it, & keep him in the loop as to what I decide. I am going to continue to look at all my options & am still considering oncology at MD Anderson, but I will highly consider his offer. However, we still need to talk about salary & benefits, so that will be next. Money isn't the highest priority, but it will be an important factor. Benefits, malpractice insurance, and money towards certification & continuing medical education (CMEs) is also important when negotiating a PA contract.
Anywho, it's nice to know that I have one option already & with a physician that I know, like, & respect. His patients love him. His staff is great and we all got along really well. You don't usually know that from interviewing in a place you have never been in. So, it would be comforting entering into a job where you already know the people & know they all like you.
So, we'll see what happens. Stay tuned! :)
