Great information! You touched on negotiating starting salaries and offered great advice. Is there other advice you can give to second year PA students regarding job hunting such as when in our second year should we start thinking about looking for jobs, what do employers expect from us (e.g., grossing examples, if so how many?), what should we expect from employers, and what kind of negotiating is reasonable.
I would definitely say that in your second year you can start looking for jobs 5-6 months out. Previous students I've known had job interviews in February for a program completion date at the end of June. Several of them had received multiple offers from different employers before the spring and had accepted a position. It’s unusual to not have a job offer by the time you graduate (if you’ve been applying) and often employers will contact programs directly asking the program to pass on a job posting to their current students. If the employer is desperate enough to fill a position they may also offer some kind of relocation/signing bonus - I’ve seen this from an employer in Saskatchewan. One of the biggest factors affecting whether or not you get a job before finishing school is if you're looking to work in a specific location. PA jobs do exist across Canada, although there might not be open postings in the specific city you’d like to work in. In that case I would take a job to start getting experience, even if not in your ideal location, with an eye to apply to any positions that open up in your ideal location with the added working experience you’ve gained from your first job. Most employers are looking for certification or certification eligibility (ie CCCPA predominantly, some Canadian positions will also accept or consider ASCP; American positions only care about ASCP); familiarity with voice dictation software and familiarity with a LIS (lab information system like Millennium or Epic) which are standard things you’ll get through training. Those are the most common technical requirements. If they state they want something like 3-5 years experience up front I would not let that dissuade you from applying. I’ve seen emails from employers who’ve said this is their standard phrasing for their job postings and they don’t actually care how much experience you have because they’re so desperate to get people. Other than that you might get questioned on what kinds of specimens you have experience with grossing/what you’re comfortable with but if you’ve graduated from an accredited institution and are certification eligible they know you’re at least competent and can probably hit the ground running with minimal guidance. I was never asked to give specific examples of the number of cases I grossed and I didn’t keep a portfolio during school of all the cases I worked on. I might have recorded some specialty cases but that’s it. You could keep one and it’s not a bad thing to do as it might score you some brownie points but it’s not required. I’ve also talked to several other PAs and none of them have run into employers that were looking to see a grossing portfolio or examples of previous cases they had grossed. More important, in my opinion, is personality and teachability - it’s much easier to teach technical skills than change someone who is difficult to work with. Unionized employers will be less open to negotiating things like your salary, unless you’re coming to the table with work experience (of more than a year) because the salary steps are very structured and based almost exclusively on time spent working/experience. Negotiating that is not really something the employer has a lot of say in (again unless you have documented previous experience). As a student fresh out of a program you’re pretty much coming in at the bottom of the pay grid and will have to work your way up over several years. Non unionized employers are more likely amenable to negotiating at least a couple $/hr up off the bottom of their salary offer. They will probably offer low (not unfairly low, just at the bottom of their pay scale, especially if you’re new) and if they scoop you up at the bottom it’s a win for them even if they could afford to start you a bit higher. For those employers, if you come to the table with at least one other offer and have done some local research on the current rates being offered you will a) appear to be in greater demand and b) have a leg to stand on if you are able to say something like “thanks for your offer, I appreciate the consideration. However I’m also considering accepting a position from x hospital which is offering me [higher starting amount]. I’d really like the opportunity to work here with you but I have to make sure it also makes sense for me/me and my family. Would you be open to matching this rate?” Just don’t lie about this if you haven’t received another offer elsewhere. I think something like that is very reasonable and respectful to both sides. Also there may be other components to your total compensation that one employer may offer over another, which could add up to hundreds or thousands of dollars a year, that might not be reflected solely in the opening offer (eg the amount of RSP matching offered, a health spending account, paid time off, extra time off etc). Conversely, coming in and saying I want $50/hr or else I walk is probably hitting the wrong tone.
@@canadianpathassistant9066 Wow, thank you for such a thorough response! Sounds like I don't need to worry too much about a grossing portfolio but should my training during practicum be quantified in any way? As in, should I give a rough estimate of my hours of experience/training on my CV/resume or as you stated, is it enough that I will have graduated from an accredited program? Thanks again, I'll definitely keep your advice in mind once I start job hunting :)
If you have a rough idea of how many specimens you’ve grossed that’s probably a good landmark to know if asked (e.g. I've done 15-20 neoplastic gyne, breast and GI cases each over the course of practicum etc) as well as what subspecialty case types you have the most and least comfort with but I haven’t run into anyone who has needed specific grossing numbers for their interviews. As far as a rough estimate of hours/training if you were looking to include it on your CV, you could say your training included a year of full time clinical rotations at sites that focussed on [subspecialty 1, subspecialty 2 etc]. If they want more detail than that they can ask you to explain during an interview. Having graduated from an accredited program goes a long way! Instead of asking about your number of hours of experience, a better question you might get asked is to tell us about the most challenging specimen you’ve worked on, what made it challenging and what you did to ensure a high standard of care was maintained for the patient. Good luck for when you start job hunting!
Thank you! This information is very helpful. I was thinking about working weekends to cover expenses. As a nurse this is possible but what is your opinion about this? Thank you again!
Being able to work weekends for OT cash is a great option and one I would take advantage of when you can if you need the extra cash. That said, the lab you work for/your employer may not have regular OT available or it could also depend on whether or not you're paid in a salaried or hourly position. I'm paid hourly but there certainly is not enough extra work for me to regularly get weekend OT (I've worked somewhere between 80-100 hrs of OT each of the past two years). It varies a fair bit from lab to lab and would be something to ask about when you're looking for a job if you need to make above your base pay.
Hi Luke! Since you mentioned that you are located in western Canada and I am too, I thought this question would be applicable, does your hospital offer lots of overtime? How often does overtime opportunities arise?
The OT is quite variable and it seems somewhat dependent on the time of year. In the past, most OT has been offered in the winter/early spring, there isn't much offered during the summer and then later in fall/early winter it picks up again. Summer is usually when we're slowest in the lab so there's more ability to catch up on work without needing to rely on OT. I've picked up around 60-100 hours of OT per year over the last 3 years if that's any help
Hi, i’ve recently found out about your channel and it has really peaked my interest. I’m currently studying BSc. Medical Lab Sci. in UAE and I want to further my studies in Canada and PathA is one of my options, as well as MSc. in Pathology/Laboratory Medicine. I know that competing as an international applicant is tough and I need to make sure I would 100% land a job after for my PGWP. But, I’m doing all the best I can to make my application stand out atleast. Do you recommend me to push PathA? or take another masters program?
If you graduated from a pathologist assistant program you would most certainly be able to find a job. PAs are in demand in both Canada and the US and while you might have to move after school to accept a position you would be able to land a job. What other career would a MSc in Pathology/Laboratory medicine be setting you up for? If you are interested in research more than doing consistent hands-on work, a PA program is not the correct path for you. Applicants that reflect an interest in doing predominantly research oriented work, are generally not accepted into programs as readily - there is nothing wrong with doing research but this career isn't suited towards it. PA training is better suited if you are interested in a more practical, hands on style of job. If your application doesn't reflect a strong understanding of what a PA is or even what the day to day looks like and how you would be a good fit for that style of training/workplace, your application is unlikely to stand out. Beyond that I can't say there is one specific thing that makes applications stand out simply because people come from diverse backgrounds and have a wide range of experiences. However things in general that successful applicants have are a strong understanding of what a PA is (as I said above), competitive GPA (this differs based on the program you apply to but generally a 3.3/4.0 GPA or higher), some shadowing or first hand experience (not required but most successful applicants have at least some of this), some work or life experience they can relate to why they would be a good fit for a PA program and how their specific skillset would make them successful as a PA. I'm also assuming you would have at least 2 strong references for your application. Also any background of previous classes taken in anatomy, physiology, histology, would be an asset as a lot of the day to day work involves handling and dissecting fresh and formalin fixed surgical specimens as well as doing autopsy. Hope that helps!
This is based on my experience in Canada but yes typically with more time working you will earn more days off, especially if you work in a union position as you get additional time off after completing x many years of work. I cant' speak for all PAs but I'm in a union position, have been working for 5 years and I get 20 vacation days, 3 personals days and 1 float day. So that's 24 days I can book off. In addition to that I get all stat holidays off or a day in lieu if the stat is on a weekend (12 additional days throughout the year). In my first year I had 15 vacation days, between years 2-9 I get 20 vacation days and between 10-19 years I get an extra 5 vacation days for a total of 25. The personal and float days don't change based on seniority. Vacation/stat holidays etc might be different if you work for a private employer or somewhere in the US. No I wouldn't expect bonuses (unless maybe from some private labs in the US) however some employers will offer signing bonuses.
