How Many Hours do PA’s Work? (Broken Down by Specialty) 

You're welcome! Good luck!

Hey, good questions. I haven't worked in psychiatry, but based on what I've heard, and when I did the rotation, it's usually going to be basically business hours Monday through friday. Either at an outpatient clinic, or rounding on patients in a psychiatric hospital. For internal medicine, if you're doing an outpatient clinic then it's basically the same as what I said about family practice in the video, Monday through Friday 8:00 to 5:00. But internal medicine also can be a hospital job, which could include weekends or nights, just depends on what type of schedule you arrange with your employer. I'm glad you've enjoyed the videos! :)

Roughly 6 years. That includes 4 years of undergrad, and two or three years for a master's degree in PA studies. And you may need to pause to get some healthcare experience before PA School.

Good question! For me personally, my salary grew in one big leap when I switched jobs in 2017 (one ER job to another ER job), but has otherwise been pretty level during my 10-year ish career. All the ER groups here were raising pay around the time I switched jobs, even the one I left raised the pay pretty soon after. But not much has changed since then in my local market, from what I understand. I would guess we're close to on par for national averages in emergency medicine.

Hi Ben. Going off of this question, would you be comfortable sharing how much you make working part time? I want to know if I could live off of part time if I have kids one day. Thanks :)

Without getting too specific, the hourly rate for an ER PA often ranges between about $60 and $100 per hour. I don't know all the stats but it depends on what part of the country you work in, and sometimes how much experience you have and other variables. If you figure you work 10 hours on a shift, you can kind of calculate whether you could make ends meet working part time. 🙂 Sorry for the late reply.

After you finish PA School, then you apply for a job in whatever specialty you want. And you interview for the job, just like any other job. 🙂 It helps if you have some experience with that specialty, maybe if you do a rotation there during PA school. But that's not always necessary.

If you're interested in that specialty, you would apply for a job with a neurosurgeon, or a neurosurgery clinic, after you finish PA School. And you might be able to do a rotation with neurosurgery during PA school if you want to, as one of your electives. It's generally a good idea to get some exposure to it first hand before you make a final decision about where to work.

Does PA work in the operating room?

Yes, PA's can assist with surgeries in the operating room.