Starting salary PA

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Starting salary PA

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amother

Seafoam

Wed, Dec 07 2016, 11:09 pm

Can anyone share their experiences with starting salary as a PA? I was offered the equivalent of $44/h..... seems low to me?

amother

Honeydew

Thu, Dec 08 2016, 12:12 am

It really depends.
What specialty? What city? Any benefits? Potential for increase in salary in 6m when you establish competency and can work fully autonomously?

amother

Seafoam

Thu, Dec 08 2016, 7:35 am

amother wrote:

It really depends.
What specialty? What city? Any benefits? Potential for increase in salary in 6m when you establish competency and can work fully autonomously?

Surgery, nyc, yes, no (can't do surgery autonomously )

amother

Honeydew

Thu, Dec 08 2016, 9:07 am

I think that is a standard starting salary for a PA in a hospital setting in nyc. Once you get a few years experience your salary will increase. It seems like a little when you hear about OT's making $80/h but you have to realize that they are not salaried so need to pay all of their own taxes, get no benefits, and do not work a full day when they make that much money( meaning don't get paid for traveling between clients.)

I have been working 4 years and work in an outpatient hospital clinic and my salary was just raised to $50/h which is equivalent to $100000.

My fist job was in Nj in a private practice working part time ( no benefits) making $42/h. It was eventually increased to $50/h but still without benefits.

amother

Seafoam

Thu, Dec 08 2016, 11:09 am

Yeah, it does seem low to me. Ot making 80/h, speech therapist making 45/h..... thought this would be more profitable Sad

amother

Gold

Thu, Dec 08 2016, 11:19 am

I am an NP (very similar scope of practice to PA) and my first job paid $40/h, with raises every 6 months. After 3 years in that job I was making $60/h. Then I moved out of NYC to a lower cost of living area and I'm making $50/h. So I would say $44/h is a good starting salary and you can negotiate for raises down the line. Keep in mind when you start out they need to invest a lot in training you but once you have experience you're a valued employee and they won't want to lose you so fast.

amother

Seafoam

Thu, Dec 08 2016, 11:22 am

amother wrote:

Thanks for the encouragement!

amother

Ecru

Thu, Dec 08 2016, 11:38 am

My first job was in NY doing surgery. Starting salary was 85k. Overtime (automatic overtime of 7.5 hours every two week pay period for sign out time) was $60/hr making my real base salary $93.5k. I had great benefits too. Paid like $50/pay period for amazing insurance, had a month of PTO, 12 sick days, 7 holidays, 6 personal days (ok, who are we kidding--never able to actually take all that but still nice in theory), 2 weeks CME with $2500 CME allowance. So regular hourly rate was about $40.

That job didn't last long and I moved to an independent contractor job in ER making $60/hr no benefits. I did the math and realized I was making a little bit more while working only 12 days a month but it was not much more after paying more taxes.

Now I'm at the same job and making the same amount with benefits but not such great ones. We have an incentive based bonus but I don't think that's typical for surgery jobs. If you aren't particular about which type of surgery you want to work in ortho tends to pay very well.

What do your benefits look like? That can make a big difference. And once you are experiences you can go anywhere.

Good luck!

amother

Gold

Thu, Dec 08 2016, 11:56 am

amother wrote:

Having all that vacation time sounds great! I only have 12 days/year. By the time I take off for the chagim there's nothing left. Sad

amother

Ecru

Thu, Dec 08 2016, 12:06 pm

amother wrote:

Having all that vacation time sounds great! I only have 12 days/year. By the time I take off for the chagim there's nothing left. Sad

I'm guessing you'll be doing shift work? If so it's pretty easy to get Chagim off and even a vacation if you are able to manipulate your schedule right. I'm guessing you'll be working 3 days a week. Without ever working extra you can take a week off by working Sunday, Monday, Tuesday one week and Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday the next

amother

Gold

Thu, Dec 08 2016, 12:16 pm

amother wrote:

I'm not the OP. im salaried and work full time 9-5. I do get fridays off though.

amother

Ecru

Thu, Dec 08 2016, 1:13 pm

amother wrote:

I'm not the OP. im salaried and work full time 9-5. I do get fridays off though.

Is that in surgery? I think shift work is common in surgery.

Miri7

Thu, Dec 08 2016, 1:36 pm

Did you check Glassdoor.com? They have a lot of salary info on there for healthcare professionals and you can specify your area, which is helpful. Also, check with your state licensing board -there may be a listerv or something where PA's can share info like salary, benefits. Or with a professional association.

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