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Physician Assistant resume example

A resume for a Physician Assistant needs to show the work itself: provide healthcare services typically performed by a physician, under the supervision of a physician. Day to day that means work like this: make tentative diagnoses and decisions about management and treatment of patients; interpret diagnostic test results for deviations from normal. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

  • Certified Physician Assistant
  • PA-C
  • Family Practice Physician Assistant
  • PA
  • Physician's Assistant
  • Cardiology Physician Assistant
  • Emergency Medicine Physician Assistant
  • Emergency Medicine PA
  • Orthopaedic Physician Assistant
  • Orthopedic Physician Assistant
  • Surgical Critical Care Physician Assistant
  • Surgical Critical Care PA
  • Surgical Physician Assistant
  • Surgical PA
  • AAP
  • Family Medicine PA
  • Neurosurgery PA
  • Urgent Care PA

O*NET records 31 titles for this occupation in total.

What people in this job call themselves

Titles reported by people actually doing this work, which is often not the title on the job posting.

  • Certified Physician Assistant (PA-C)
  • Emergency Medicine Physician Assistant (Emergency Medicine PA)
  • Physician Assistant (PA)
  • Surgical Critical Care Physician Assistant (Surgical Critical Care PA)
  • Surgical Physician Assistant (Surgical PA)

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

  • Make tentative diagnoses and decisions about management and treatment of patients.
  • Interpret diagnostic test results for deviations from normal.
  • Prescribe therapy or medication with physician approval.
  • Obtain, compile, and record patient medical data, including health history, progress notes, and results of physical examination.
  • Examine patients to obtain information about their physical condition.
  • Administer or order diagnostic tests, such as x-ray, electrocardiogram, and laboratory tests.
  • Instruct and counsel patients about prescribed therapeutic regimens, normal growth and development, family planning, emotional problems of daily living, and health maintenance.
  • Perform therapeutic procedures, such as injections, immunizations, suturing and wound care, and infection management.
  • Visit and observe patients on hospital rounds or house calls, updating charts, ordering therapy, and reporting back to physician.
  • Provide physicians with assistance during surgery or complicated medical procedures.
  • Supervise and coordinate activities of technicians and technical assistants.
  • Order medical and laboratory supplies and equipment.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

  • Make tentative diagnoses and decisions about management and treatment of patients, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Interpret diagnostic test results for deviations from normal, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Prescribe therapy or medication with physician approval, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Obtain, compile, and record patient medical data, including health history, progress notes, and results of physical examination, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

  • ChartWare EMR
  • eClinicalWorks EHR software
  • Electronic medical record EMR software
  • Epic Systems
  • Healthcare common procedure coding system HCPCS
  • Medical condition coding software
  • Medical procedure coding software
  • MEDITECH software
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Microsoft Word
  • Patient management software
  • Patient records software for personal digital assistants PDAs

19 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

  • Anesthesia equipment
  • Anesthesia ventilators
  • Anoscopes
  • Arterial blood gas monitoring equipment
  • Arterial line catheters
  • Artery forceps
  • Aspirating needles
  • Audiometers
  • Binocular light compound microscopes
  • Blood collection needles
  • Blood collection syringes
  • Bone marrow biopsy equipment

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

  • prescribe medications
  • immunize patients

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

  1. 01Critical Thinking
  2. 02Reading Comprehension
  3. 03Active Listening
  4. 04Judgment and Decision Making
  5. 05Service Orientation
  6. 06Social Perceptiveness
  7. 07Speaking
  8. 08Writing
  9. 09Active Learning
  10. 10Complex Problem Solving

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

  • Medicine and Dentistry
  • Biology
  • English Language
  • Psychology
  • Therapy and Counseling
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Education and Training
  • Sociology and Anthropology

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

  • 81%Master's Degree
  • 14%First Professional Degree, awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.
  • 5%Bachelor's Degree

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Extensive Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Common questions

What does a Physician Assistant do?
Provide healthcare services typically performed by a physician, under the supervision of a physician. Day to day that includes work like make tentative diagnoses and decisions about management and treatment of patients and Interpret diagnostic test results for deviations from normal.
What skills should a Physician Assistant put on a resume?
O*NET rates Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Judgment and Decision Making, and Service Orientation among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Physician Assistant list?
Software recorded for this occupation includes ChartWare EMR, eClinicalWorks EHR software, Electronic medical record EMR software, Epic Systems, and Healthcare common procedure coding system HCPCS. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Physician Assistant work?
O*NET records 31 titles for this occupation, including Certified Physician Assistant, PA-C, Family Practice Physician Assistant, and PA. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Physician Assistant need?
In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 81% reported their level of education as "Master's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Physician Assistant role?
No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

  • No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
  • This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
  • Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.