6 examples · Updated October 2026
Physician Assistant Resume Examples and Templates
A strong physician assistant resume proves three things fast: you are certified and licensed, you are safe at the specialty’s acuity, and your care moves outcomes. Put PA-C after your name, name your certification in your summary, list license and DEA together, then quantify patient volume, procedures and results.
Physician Assistant (PA) resume at a glance
- Best format
- Reverse-chronological, PA-C after your name, credentials grouped
- Length
- 1 page; 2 pages for senior or academic PAs
- Top skills
- Differential diagnosis, Labs and imaging interpretation, Prescribing and medication management, Procedures and surgical assist
- Key credentials
- NCCPA PA-C (passed PANCE), Active state PA license, DEA registration; BLS and ACLS
- Median pay
- $135,880 a year ($65.33 an hour)Physician Assistants, BLS 2025 wage data via O*NET
- Job outlook
- Much faster than average (7% or higher)11,500 openings a year, 2025-2035 projection
6 physician assistant (pa) resume examples for 2026
Below are 6 physician assistant resume examples, from new grad PA-C to chief PA. Each physician assistant resume sample comes with a free Word template, plus summaries, skills, bullet points, ATS keywords, CV tips and a guide to listing NCCPA certification. Each one is shown at true A4 size and comes with a free single-column Word version. Open any example to read it in full.
Swipe to see all 6 examples →
Amara Nwosu, PA-C
Physician Assistant, New Graduate (Hospital Medicine)
Salt Lake City, UT · amara.nwosu@email.com · (555) 013-6182 · linkedin.com/in/amaranwosu
Skills & Tools
Summary
NCCPA-certified physician assistant and 2026 University of Utah MPAS graduate with 2,000+ supervised clinical hours across 8 rotations, including a hospital medicine elective, plus 4 years as an emergency department technician before PA school. Presents concise, prioritized cases, writes clean Epic notes and escalates early. Seeking a hospital medicine PA role or postgraduate fellowship in the Salt Lake City area.
Professional Experience
Hospital Medicine Elective Rotation, Silverlark Medical Center, Salt Lake City, UT Summer 2026
- Followed 4-6 patients a day on a 16-patient hospitalist team, presenting each on rounds with a prioritized problem list and plan.
- Wrote 60+ H&Ps and progress notes in Epic and pended orders for preceptor review; by week 3, notes needed no major edits.
- Reconciled admission medications for 45 patients, catching 7 discrepancies, including a duplicated anticoagulant, before the first doses were given.
Core Clinical Rotations, PA Student, University of Utah PA Program, Salt Lake City, UT 2025-2026
- Completed 7 core rotations of 5-6 weeks each: family, internal and emergency medicine, general surgery, pediatrics, women’s health and behavioral health.
- Saw 10-14 patients a shift on the emergency medicine rotation and repaired 25 lacerations under direct preceptor supervision.
- Scrubbed in on 35 general surgery cases, mostly laparoscopic gallbladder and hernia repairs.
Emergency Department Technician, Silverlark Medical Center, Salt Lake City, UT 2020-2024
- Logged 6,000+ patient care hours in a 52-bed ED, doing ECGs, phlebotomy, splinting and wound care.
- Rotated on chest compressions in 40+ cardiac arrests and set up resuscitation bays and supplies for trauma activations.
- Trained 9 new techs on 12-lead ECG placement, halving repeat ECGs caused by lead errors.
Education
Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS), University of Utah School of Medicine, 2026
Bachelor of Science in Biology, Utah State University, 2020
Licenses & Certifications
NCCPA Board Certified Physician Assistant (PA-C), September 2026 · Physician Assistant License, Utah (application submitted October 2026) · BLS and ACLS (American Heart Association)
Why this example works
- Lists rotations like jobs, with setting, patient volume and supervised procedures, so a thin PA work history still reads as clinical experience.
- Puts PA-C after the name and in the summary’s opening words, and dates the license application, answering the first credentialing question.
- Uses ED technician years to show thousands of hands-on patient care hours, proving comfort with acute patients.
Why this example works
- Opens with patient population and breadth of care, the two things a community health medical director checks first.
- Quality bullets use real primary care measures (A1C control, screening gaps, retention in care) instead of generic duties.
- Shows current practice: a buprenorphine program built after the federal X-waiver ended, not an outdated waiver credential.
Applying through an online portal? Use the Word download: it is the same resume in a single-column, ATS-safe layout. Keep this two-column design for emailing and networking.
Daniel Brooks, PA-C
Physician Assistant, Certified (Emergency Medicine)
Denver, CO · daniel.brooks@email.com · (555) 012-7471 · linkedin.com/in/danielbrookspac
Profile
Board-certified physician assistant with 9 years in emergency and family medicine, including 6 in a 54-bed emergency department seeing 220 patients a day. Treats patients across the acuity spectrum, from fast track to resuscitation, in collaboration with attending physicians. Credentialed in procedural sedation and point-of-care ultrasound, with a record of faster, safer throughput.
Professional Experience
Physician Assistant, Emergency Medicine, Highline Peaks Hospital, Denver, CO 2020-Present
- Evaluate and treat 25-30 patients per shift across fast track, the main department and resuscitation bays, collaborating with attending emergency physicians.
- Reduced average fast-track door-to-disposition time 19%, from 142 to 115 minutes, by standardizing provider-in-triage orders and the splint-room workflow for injuries.
- Perform 40+ procedures a month, including joint reductions, abscess drainage, procedural sedation, ultrasound-guided IVs, lumbar punctures and complex laceration repairs.
Physician Assistant, Family Medicine, Quartz Ridge Family Health, Denver, CO 2017-2020
- Managed a 1,100-patient primary care panel, seeing 20-24 chronic and preventive visits a day.
- Raised patient-rated provider communication scores from the 68th to the 85th percentile with teach-back education and 72-hour follow-up calls to new patients.
- Added same-day sick visits that cut the clinic’s urgent care referrals by a third in the first year.
Emergency Medical Technician, Cottonwood Bluff Ambulance, Fort Collins, CO 2011-2014
- Answered 900+ 911 and transfer calls part-time in college, logging 2,500 patient care hours.
- Performed scene assessment, splinting, spinal motion restriction and CPR on 911 calls, giving structured radio reports to receiving emergency departments.
- Coached 5 new EMTs on stretcher safety, with zero crew lifting injuries all that year.
Education
Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS), University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, 2017
Bachelor of Science in Biology, Colorado State University, 2014
Licenses & Certifications
NCCPA Board Certified Physician Assistant (PA-C), 2017 · CAQ in Emergency Medicine, NCCPA, 2023 · Physician Assistant License, Colorado (active) · DEA registration · ACLS, PALS, BLS (AHA) · ATLS (ACS)
Core Skills
Emergency stabilization · Diagnostic interpretation · Laceration repair · Incision and drainage · Fracture care · Procedural sedation · POCUS (eFAST, DVT) · Lumbar puncture · Epic ASAP
Why this example works
- The credentials section groups PA-C, CAQ, license, DEA and ATLS, which is exactly what an emergency group’s credentialing team checks.
- The 19% throughput result has a before-and-after time, so a medical director can see how it was measured.
- Explains the path from EMT to family medicine to emergency medicine, so the career reads as deliberate.
Why this example works
- Quantifies OR volume, clinic load and injections separately, so a surgeon sees both the operating and clinic value.
- Outcome bullets (same-day discharge, 90-day readmissions) match how joint replacement programs are measured and paid.
- Turns orthopedic technician years into credible pre-PA experience that explains early comfort with casting and fractures.
Aisha Rahman, PA-C
Hospitalist Physician Assistant
Charlotte, NC · aisha.rahman@email.com · (555) 016-4420 · linkedin.com/in/aisharahman
Profile
Board-certified hospitalist physician assistant with 6 years in adult hospital medicine, including a postgraduate fellowship, after 5 years as a registered respiratory therapist. Carries a 14-16 patient census on a 7-on, 7-off schedule and leads an observation unit APP team. Holds the NCCPA CAQ in Hospital Medicine.
Professional Experience
Hospitalist Physician Assistant, Catawba Crossing Hospital, Charlotte, NC 2021-Present
- Admit 4-6 patients a shift from the emergency department, managing pneumonia, COPD, heart failure, sepsis and GI bleeding with attending hospitalists.
- Lead APPs in a 24-bed observation unit, cutting median stay from 31 to 22 hours with protocol-driven chest pain and syncope pathways.
- Perform 15-20 ultrasound-guided paracenteses, thoracenteses and central lines a month, with zero procedure-related pneumothoraces in 2025.
Hospital Medicine APP Fellow, Catawba Crossing Hospital, Charlotte, NC 2020-2021
- Completed a 12-month inpatient fellowship with 1:1 physician mentors and weekly didactics, carrying an independent full census by month 7.
- Rotated through the ICU, cardiology, nephrology and palliative care services, logging 120 supervised bedside procedures for hospital privileging.
- Led an insulin-ordering quality project that cut inpatient hypoglycemia events below 70 mg/dL by 30% on 2 medical units in 6 months.
Registered Respiratory Therapist, Brindlewood Regional Hospital, Charlotte, NC 2013-2018
- Managed ventilators, BiPAP and high-flow oxygen for 10-14 adult ICU and step-down patients a shift in a 400-bed hospital.
- Responded to rapid responses and code blues on assigned floors, managing airways and drawing and running arterial blood gases.
Education
Master of Medical Science (MMS), Wake Forest University School of Medicine, 2020
B.S., Respiratory Therapy, Georgia State University, 2013
Licenses & Certifications
NCCPA Board Certified Physician Assistant (PA-C), 2020 · CAQ in Hospital Medicine, NCCPA, 2024 · Physician Assistant License, North Carolina (active) · DEA registration · ACLS and BLS (AHA)
Core Skills
Admissions and rounding · Observation care · Sepsis and DKA · Paracentesis · Thoracentesis · Central lines · Discharge planning · Anticoagulation · Epic
Why this example works
- Gives census, schedule and team leadership in the summary, the first things a hospitalist group asks about.
- Throughput results (observation stay, early discharge orders) show system impact beyond individual patient care.
- Lists the fellowship as its own role with outcomes, which proves structured training to employers comparing new hospitalists.
Nicole Petrakis, MHS, PA-C
Chief Physician Assistant, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery
Richmond, VA · nicole.petrakis@email.com · (555) 019-5836 · linkedin.com/in/nicolepetrakis
Executive Profile
Chief physician assistant with 17 years in surgery, including 14 in cardiothoracic surgery and CVICU care and 10 in APP leadership. Leads 26 PAs and NPs covering the OR, CVICU and step-down for a cardiac surgery program performing 1,100 open-heart and structural heart cases a year. Holds the NCCPA CAQ in Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery. Builds coverage models, onboarding and quality programs that improve STS outcomes, retention and surgeon OR time.
Core Competencies
APP service-line leadership · 24/7 coverage model design · Credentialing, privileging, OPPE and FPPE · Onboarding and competency programs · CABG, valve and aortic first assist · Endoscopic vein harvesting (EVH) · Radial artery harvesting · CVICU management (vasoactives, IABP, Impella) · Chest tube and pacing wire management · STS database quality improvement · APP documentation and billing compliance · Budget and FTE planning · Enhanced recovery after cardiac surgery
Professional Experience
Chief Physician Assistant, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Hollisford Heart Institute, Richmond, VA 2021-Present
- Lead the cardiac surgery APP team across the OR, CVICU and step-down, owning hiring, schedules, privileging and a $4.2M APP labor budget.
- Designed 24/7 in-house CVICU APP coverage, cutting night-time response to post-operative bleeding and arrhythmia calls to under 10 minutes.
- Reduced first-year APP turnover from 30% to 8% with a 16-week onboarding curriculum, simulation days and paired mentors.
Lead Physician Assistant, Cardiac Surgery, Hollisford Heart Institute, Richmond, VA 2016-2021
- First assisted on 1,500+ CABG, valve and aortic cases and performed endoscopic vein harvesting with a 1.2% harvest-site complication rate.
- Started the program’s PA radial artery harvesting service, supporting multi-arterial grafting in 35% of eligible CABG patients by 2020.
- Wrote CVICU protocols for chest tube removal, epicardial wire removal and vasoactive weaning used by 20+ APPs and nurses.
Physician Assistant, Cardiothoracic Surgery and CVICU, Ambercliff Medical Center, Petersburg, VA 2012-2016
- Managed 8-12 post-operative cardiac surgery patients a shift in a 14-bed CVICU, titrating vasoactives and managing IABP and temporary pacing.
- Placed arterial lines, central lines and pulmonary artery catheters, and assisted surgeons with emergent bedside chest re-exploration.
- Performed 400+ endoscopic vein harvests after completing the program’s EVH training and credentialing.
Physician Assistant, General and Vascular Surgery, Eno River Medical Center, Durham, NC 2009-2012
- Managed pre- and post-operative care for 15-20 general and vascular surgery inpatients, writing daily notes and discharge plans.
- First assisted on 500+ laparoscopic and open procedures, including colectomies, hernia repairs and dialysis access cases.
- Ran the surgical clinic’s wound check and drain-removal schedule, freeing surgeons for 6 added OR blocks a month.
Clinical Research Coordinator, Cardiology, Eno River Medical Center, Durham, NC 2006-2007
- Screened and enrolled 85 patients in 3 cardiology outcome studies, keeping case report forms audit-ready before PA school.
- Recorded vital signs, ECGs and medication histories at study visits, logging 900 hours of direct patient contact.
Education
Master of Health Sciences (MHS), Physician Assistant Program, Duke University School of Medicine, 2009
Bachelor of Arts in Biology, University of Virginia, 2006
Licenses & Certifications
NCCPA Board Certified Physician Assistant (PA-C), 2009 · Certificate of Added Qualifications in Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, NCCPA, 2015 · Physician Assistant License, Virginia (active) · DEA registration · ACLS and BLS (American Heart Association) · Fundamental Critical Care Support (FCCS), Society of Critical Care Medicine
Technical
Epic (OpTime and inpatient) · STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database · QGenda scheduling · Microsoft Excel and Power BI
Teaching and Academic Roles
- Adjunct clinical faculty and cardiothoracic surgery elective director for a regional PA program, 2017-Present
- Faculty, annual cardiac surgery APP skills workshop: EVH, chest tube and pacing wire stations, 2019-Present
Presentations and Publications
- Building 24/7 APP Coverage in the CVICU, podium presentation, national cardiothoracic surgery PA conference, 2024
- Co-author, peer-reviewed article on outcomes of PA-performed radial artery harvesting in a community cardiac surgery program, 2021
Leadership and Affiliations
- APP Executive Council, co-chair, 2022-Present
- Member, APACVS (cardiothoracic and vascular surgery PA association) and AAPA
Why this example works
- Opens with team size, case volume and coverage, the scope a CMO or surgical chair checks before anything else.
- Leadership bullets tie to measurable results: turnover, response times, extubation, documentation and recovered revenue.
- Keeps hands-on surgical depth (EVH, radial harvest, CVICU) visible, proving the chief PA still credibly practices.
Physician Assistant (PA) resume summary examples
Copy the summary that matches your level, then swap in your own numbers, systems and specialties.
NCCPA-certified physician assistant and 2026 MPAS graduate with 9 clinical rotations, including a 6-week general surgery elective with 40+ scrubbed cases. Brings 3 years as an emergency department medical scribe and fluent Epic documentation. Seeking a general surgery PA role where efficient notes and careful post-operative care support the surgical team.
Family medicine physician assistant with 5 years in a suburban multi-specialty group, managing a 1,200-patient panel and 22 visits a day. Strong in diabetes, hypertension and preventive care, and raised Medicare annual wellness visit completion from 41% to 68%. Performs skin biopsies and joint injections and precepts PA students.
Urgent care physician assistant with 4 years in a high-volume walk-in network, seeing 35-45 patients a shift across all ages. Confident with fractures, lacerations, abscesses and X-ray interpretation, and an antibiotic stewardship champion who cut unnecessary prescriptions for viral illness. Available for evening and weekend shifts across multiple sites.
General surgery physician assistant with 6 years first assisting on laparoscopic, robotic and open cases, averaging 30 cases a month. Manages pre-operative clinic visits, post-operative rounding and drain and wound care for a 4-surgeon group. Known for clear handoffs and for helping shorten post-operative length of stay through early mobility.
Hospitalist physician assistant with 4 years on an adult medicine service, carrying 12-16 patients and admitting from the emergency department. Performs ultrasound-guided paracentesis and thoracentesis, leads early discharge planning and keeps ACLS current. Seeking a hospital medicine role with nocturnist or observation unit responsibilities.
Physician assistant with 6 years in emergency medicine moving into dermatology, bringing 1,500+ laceration repairs and simple excisions, strong skin exam skills and 60 hours of dermatology CME. Completed a hands-on dermatologic procedures course and is ready to train on biopsies, cryotherapy and full-body skin cancer screening.
Want one written around your own experience? Try the free resume summary generator.
Best skills for a physician assistant (pa) resume
List the skills the job posting names, in the same wording, and prove the important ones in your experience bullets.
Hard skills
- History and physical examination
- Differential diagnosis and treatment planning
- Ordering and interpreting labs, ECGs and imaging
- Prescribing, including controlled substances
- Chronic disease management
- Laceration repair, I&D and wound care
- Fracture care, splinting and casting
- Joint injections and aspirations
- Surgical first assist and closure
- Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS)
- Inpatient admissions, rounding and discharge
- Central lines, paracentesis and thoracentesis
- Preventive care and screening
- Clinical documentation and E/M coding
Soft skills
- Clinical judgment and prioritization
- Collaboration with physicians and nurses
- Clear patient education (teach-back)
- Composure under high patient volume
- Cultural humility and bilingual care
- Teaching and precepting
- Ownership of follow-up and results
- Adaptability across settings and specialties
Tools and software
- Epic (including ASAP, OpTime and Haiku)
- Oracle Health (Cerner) PowerChart
- eClinicalWorks
- athenahealth
- MEDITECH Expanse
- Dragon Medical One
- UpToDate
- State prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP)
- Butterfly and Sonosite ultrasound
- Microsoft Excel and Outlook
Certifications
- NCCPA Board Certified Physician Assistant (PA-C), earned by passing the PANCE
- State physician assistant license (state medical board or PA board)
- DEA registration (with the one-time 8-hour substance use disorder training)
- Basic Life Support (BLS) and ACLS, American Heart Association
- Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), American Heart Association
- Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), American College of Surgeons
- Certificate of Added Qualifications (CAQ), NCCPA
- Fundamental Critical Care Support (FCCS), Society of Critical Care Medicine
Physician Assistant (PA) resume bullet point examples
Strong bullets pair an action verb with a specific task and a measurable result. Adapt these to your own numbers.
Diagnosis and patient management
- Titrated guideline-directed medical therapy for 220 heart failure clinic patients, raising the share on all 4 recommended drug classes from 28% to 49%.
- Performed 3,000+ full-body skin exams a year in a dermatology practice, with biopsies confirming 140 skin cancers, including 22 melanomas.
- Managed medications for 400 adult psychiatry outpatients by telehealth, keeping 30-day follow-up after hospital discharge above 90%.
Procedures
- Completed 300+ skin excisions and Mohs defect closures with layered repairs, keeping the wound infection rate under 1%.
- Placed 120 ultrasound-guided PICC and midline catheters a year as a member of the hospital vascular access team.
- Performed 180 bone marrow biopsies and aspirations a year in a hematology-oncology clinic, with a 98% adequate-specimen rate.
Quality, safety and stewardship
- Cut antibiotic prescribing for acute bronchitis and viral upper respiratory infections from 46% to 19% of visits with delayed prescriptions and patient handouts.
- Raised adolescent depression screening at well visits in a pediatric practice from 54% to 92% by building the PHQ-A into rooming.
- Checked the state PDMP before every controlled prescription and safely tapered 35 long-term opioid patients to lower doses over 12 months.
Leadership, teaching and practice growth
- Opened a PA-led satellite clinic that reached 18 visits a day within 6 months, adding 2,800 new patients to the health system.
- Generated 6,900 wRVUs in 2025, the highest of 14 APPs in the group, while holding a 4.9 out of 5 patient rating.
- Served as clinical coordinator for a PA program’s surgery rotation, placing 24 students a year with 9 preceptors.
Action verbs for a physician assistant (pa) resume
Start each bullet with a precise verb instead of “responsible for”.
- Evaluated
- Examined
- Diagnosed
- Treated
- Ordered
- Interpreted
- Prescribed
- Titrated
- Managed
- Admitted
- Discharged
- Stabilized
- Sutured
- Repaired
- Injected
- Performed
- First-assisted
- Harvested
- Counseled
- Educated
- Precepted
- Collaborated
- Coordinated
- Streamlined
- Implemented
- Launched
- Lowered
- Credentialed
Find more by category with the free action verb finder.
Best resume format for a physician assistant (pa)
Use a reverse-chronological physician assistant resume with PA-C after your name and experience listed by specialty and setting. New grads and most PAs under 10 years fit on 1 page; senior, leadership and academic PAs can use 2 pages or a CV. The Word templates here are single-column for ATS.
| Your situation | Format | Length | Lead with |
|---|---|---|---|
| New grad PA-C or PA student | Reverse-chronological with a clinical rotations section | 1 page | PA-C or PANCE date, license status, top rotations, pre-PA patient care hours |
| Practicing PA (1-9 years) | Reverse-chronological | 1 page | Specialty, setting, patient volume, procedures and outcomes |
| Specialty PA (EM, ortho, CT surgery) | Reverse-chronological | 1-2 pages | CAQ, procedures, case volume and privileges |
| Changing specialties | Hybrid: summary and transferable skills first | 1 page | Overlapping procedures, CME and training in the new specialty |
| Chief PA or APP director | Reverse-chronological | 2 pages | Team size, coverage model, budget, quality and retention results |
| PA faculty or researcher | Curriculum vitae (CV) | 2+ pages | Teaching, publications, presentations and grants |
Every example above follows these rules. Browse more layouts in our free resume templates.
How to write a physician assistant resume that gets interviews
A physician assistant resume is judged on licensure and clinical competence first. Employers screen for NCCPA certification and an active state license, so put PA-C after your name, name your certification in your summary, list every license in one credentials section, then show clinical experience and patient outcomes.
Show scope and results, not duties. Name the specialty, patient volume and acuity, the procedures you perform and the outcomes you moved: throughput, readmissions, quality measures or patient experience. ‘Saw 25-30 patients per shift’ tells a medical director far more than ‘evaluated patients’.
List ACLS, PALS or ATLS, your EHR and specialty procedures in the posting’s own words, because recruiters and applicant tracking systems match those terms. Keep it to one or two clean pages that show a board-certified provider ready to see patients on day one.
How to list NCCPA certification and your PA license on a resume
List NCCPA certification as ‘NCCPA Board Certified Physician Assistant (PA-C)’ with the year you were first certified, and put PA-C after your name. Then add each state license with its status, DEA registration and life support certifications in one Licenses and Certifications section, under your summary or after education.
- Name line: Your Name, PA-C (or Your Name, MHS, PA-C)
- NCCPA Board Certified Physician Assistant (PA-C), 2021
- Certificate of Added Qualifications in Emergency Medicine, NCCPA, 2025
- Physician Assistant License, Texas (active); Oklahoma (active)
- DEA registration · ACLS, PALS and BLS (American Heart Association)
- New grad: NCCPA certified September 2026; state license application submitted
PA student and new grad physician assistant resume
A new grad physician assistant resume replaces years of experience with clinical rotations. List your strongest rotations like jobs, with setting, patient volume and supervised procedures, then add patient care work from before PA school, such as EMT, medical assistant or scribe roles.
State your status plainly: ‘PANCE scheduled November 2026’, ‘NCCPA certified, license pending’ or ‘PA-C, Utah license active’. Name the specialty or postgraduate fellowship you want, and keep it to one page.
Applying to PA school instead? A PA school resume leads with patient care experience hours, healthcare experience, shadowing and volunteering, because programs and interviewers look for direct patient contact.
What medical directors look for on a PA resume
Medical directors and PA recruiters scan for credentialing readiness, specialty fit and proof you work well in collaboration with physicians. These five signals decide most interview invitations.
- Credentialing readiness: PA-C, an active license in their state, DEA registration and current life support
- Specialty match: the same setting, acuity and patient volume, such as fast track or resuscitation
- Procedures: the specific procedures you are privileged or competent to perform
- Outcomes: throughput, length of stay, readmissions, care gaps closed or surgical case volume
- Teamwork: precepting students, committees and onboarding new APPs
Physician assistant resume keywords for ATS
Applicant tracking systems match the exact words in a PA posting, so use its specialty, procedures, EHR and credentials wherever they are true for you. Write the full term and the acronym once, such as Certificate of Added Qualifications (CAQ).
- Credentials: PA-C, NCCPA, PANCE, state PA license, DEA, CAQ, ACLS, PALS, ATLS
- Clinical: history and physical, differential diagnosis, diagnostic interpretation, prescribing, patient education
- Procedures: laceration repair, I&D, joint injection, first assist, central line, paracentesis, POCUS
- Settings: primary care, urgent care, emergency medicine, hospital medicine, orthopedics, surgery
- Systems: Epic, Oracle Health (Cerner), eClinicalWorks, athenahealth, MEDITECH, Dragon Medical One
Physician assistant resume: what to include vs. what to avoid
| ✓ Include | ✗ Avoid |
|---|---|
| PA-C after your name and NCCPA certification with the year first certified | Duty lists copied from a job description with no results |
| Every active state PA license with status, plus DEA registration | Full DEA, license or NCCPA numbers on a resume you post online |
| Specialty, setting and size for each role, such as a 54-bed ED or a 1,400-patient panel | An X-waiver or ‘DATA-waivered’ listed as a current credential (Congress eliminated the X-waiver in December 2022) |
| Patient volume and acuity: patients per shift or day, census, case volume | Patient names, photos or any protected health information |
| Procedures you are competent or privileged to perform | Calling yourself a ‘mid-level provider’ or ‘physician extender’ |
| Outcomes: throughput, length of stay, readmissions, quality measures, patient experience | Rotation lists with no setting, patient volume or procedures |
| ACLS, PALS or ATLS, any CAQ, and your EHR | Every CME course you have taken (keep CAQs and major training) |
| Rotations and pre-PA patient care hours for new grads | Text boxes, tables, or headers and footers holding key details, which ATS parsers can misread |
How to write a physician assistant resume
- Make credentials easy to find. Put PA-C after your name and mention board certification in your summary. Then list NCCPA certification, each state license with status, DEA registration, life support and any CAQ together in a Licenses and Certifications section, so credentialing questions are answered at a glance.
- Write a clinical summary. In 3 to 4 sentences, name your specialty, years as a PA, setting, two strengths the posting asks for and one measurable result. New grads swap years of experience for rotations and the role or fellowship they want.
- Show setting and scope. Under each employer, name the specialty, setting and size, such as a 54-bed emergency department or a 1,400-patient primary care panel, and how many patients you see per shift or day, so a medical director can picture your workload.
- Quantify outcomes. Use numbers for patients per day, procedures, surgical cases, throughput, length of stay, readmissions, care gaps closed and students precepted. Before-and-after figures show the impact that duty lists cannot.
- Mirror the posting. Match the job title, specialty, procedures and EHR named in the listing, writing each acronym in full once. This clears ATS screening and shows the hiring physician you fit their service.
- Check length and format. Use a clean reverse-chronological layout, such as the single-column Word templates on this page: 1 page for new grads and most PAs under 10 years, 2 pages for senior or leadership roles. Save as PDF or DOCX and run it through an ATS checker before applying.
Physician Assistant (PA) salary and job outlook
National figures for physician assistants. Use them to benchmark offers, not as a promise for any single job.
Employment is projected to grow much faster than average (7% or higher) from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,500 openings each year.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2025 wage data and 2025-2035 employment projections, via O*NET OnLine, Physician Assistants (29-1071.00). Pay varies by state, employer and experience.
Cover letter tip for a physician assistant (pa)
Open with the specialty and setting you want and one result that fits it, such as faster fast-track throughput or better diabetes control. State your PA-C status, licensed states and start date, name the procedures you can cover, and close by asking to meet the medical director or shadow a shift.
Start from our cover letter templates or draft one in seconds with the cover letter generator.
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