How to hire a clinical physician assistant

How to hire a clinical physician assistant, step by step

Here's a step-by-step clinical physician assistant hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a clinical physician assistant job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new clinical physician assistant
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a clinical physician assistant do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the clinical physician assistant you need to hire. Certain clinical physician assistant roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a clinical physician assistant to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a clinical physician assistant that fits the bill.

   The following list breaks down different types of clinical physician assistants and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Clinical Physician Assistant	Description	Hourly rate
   Clinical Physician Assistant	Physician assistants, also known as PAs, practice medicine on teams with physicians, surgeons, and other healthcare workers. They examine, diagnose, and treat patients.	$40-121
   Staff Nurse	Staff nurses are registered nurses who are usually assigned to work in a care home, a company, or in a clinical setting. They advise the physical assessments of patients, employees, and residents... Show more	$20-52
   Registered Nurse	The primary responsibilities of a registered nurse involve caring for a variety of patients, from ill and injured to those who are healthy and wanting to stay that way. Nurses have different specialization and work with particular patients, such as newborn babies or those who are suffering from particular medical conditions... Show more	$21-56

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Primary Care
   • Medical Care
   • Family Medicine
   • Urgent Care
   • Diagnostic Tests
   • Physical Exams
   • Internal Medicine
   • Family Practice
   • Emergency Medicine
   • Laboratory Tests
   • Medical History
   • Acute Care
   • Patient Education

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Implement and manage cardiology internship college course.
   • Work closely with patients to manage their depression and anxiety beginning with initial diagnosis to med-initiation and follow-up care.
   • Complete nursing assessments, complete care plans, perform ADL's, utilize lifts, alarms and transfer patients safely.
   • Care for multiple patients in a fast pace setting and provide total care including all treatments, medications and ADL's.
   • Perform tracheostomy care and suctioning for ventilator dependent patients.
   • Provide physical therapy services in the inpatient rehabilitation unit and oncology floor.

   More clinical physician assistant duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the clinical physician assistant job description is a good way to get more applicants. A clinical physician assistant salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a clinical physician assistant in Missouri may be lower than in Minnesota, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level clinical physician assistant. Additionally, a clinical physician assistant with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average clinical physician assistant salary

   $145,549yearly

   $69.98 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level clinical physician assistant salary

   $84,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 20, 2026

   Average clinical physician assistant salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Minnesota	$205,747	$99
   2	Vermont	$187,521	$90
   3	Massachusetts	$185,301	$89
   4	North Carolina	$163,030	$78
   5	New York	$162,681	$78
   6	Michigan	$160,299	$77
   7	Arizona	$155,235	$75
   8	California	$153,979	$74
   9	Ohio	$153,631	$74
   10	Illinois	$151,419	$73
   11	Pennsylvania	$148,009	$71
   12	Washington	$147,509	$71
   13	Iowa	$146,123	$70
   14	South Dakota	$141,084	$68
   15	Indiana	$140,074	$67
   16	Oregon	$139,810	$67
   17	Texas	$134,869	$65
   18	Utah	$133,915	$64
   19	Missouri	$125,164	$60
   20	Florida	$123,289	$59

   Average clinical physician assistant salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Central Ohio Primary Care	$239,406	$115.10	14
   2	Mayo Clinic	$224,422	$107.90	186
   3	Billings Clinic	$213,501	$102.64	14
   4	Grand Itasca Clinic & Hospital	$204,288	$98.22	9
   5	Eli Lilly and Company	$203,626	$97.90	18
   6	Fairview Health Services	$199,370	$95.85	67
   7	Bristol-Myers Squibb	$197,980	$95.18	69
   8	Lawrence Memorial Hospital	$197,145	$94.78	2
   9	HealthPartners	$196,607	$94.52	46
   10	Allegheny Health Network	$194,727	$93.62	1
   11	Stanford Health Care	$192,839	$92.71	102
   12	Froedtert Hospital	$191,009	$91.83	35
   13	Mercy Corps	$190,373	$91.53	26
   14	Unm Medical Group, Inc.	$189,989	$91.34	8
   15	UTMB HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS	$189,895	$91.30	101
   16	Mid-Columbia Medical Center	$189,099	$90.91
   17	Northwell Health	$188,001	$90.39	172
   18	St. Tammany Health System	$184,913	$88.90	2
   19	Columbia University in the City of New York	$182,521	$87.75	56
   20	Northwestern Medicine	$182,434	$87.71	134

4. Writing a clinical physician assistant job description

   A good clinical physician assistant job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a clinical physician assistant job description:

   Clinical physician assistant job description example

   This position earns competitive compensation plus a full benefits package including 401(k) with match and 3 weeks of PTO! We also offer opportunities for growth , as well as a great team atmosphere that empowers you to seek better ways to deliver service and take ownership of outcomes in providing quality service and support.

   Required Knowledge and Experience

   • Florida APRN or PA License & Board Certification

   Required Skills and Abilities

   To perform this job successfully, an individual should have strong computer skills and knowledge of EMR systems; Athena knowledge preferred but not required. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, walk, climb and balance. The employee is occasionally required to sit and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.

   Please review the full job description for more details about this exciting opportunity.

   ABOUT MILLENNIUM PHYSICIAN GROUP

   Formed in 2008, Millennium Physician Group has grown into one of the largest comprehensive primary care practices with more than 400 health care providers located throughout Florida. With corporate headquarters in Fort Myers, Florida, Millennium Physician Group consists of primary care offices, Imaging Centers, Lab Services and Wellness Programs. You can also find various programs, such as weight management and smoking cessation, led by Millennium Physician Group doctors.

   If you are interested in joining an organization that puts an emphasis on team work and family, then Millennium Physician Group is the right choice.

   Millennium Physician Group is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and a Drug Free Workplace. Additionally, Millennium is proud to join the nearly 3,000 health system and physician groups who have gone completely Tobacco Free.

   ARE YOU READY TO JOIN OUR PRIMARY CARE TEAM? If you feel that you would be right for this APRN/PA position, please click the link to apply today. We look forward to meeting you!

   
   
   Job Posted by ApplicantPro
   

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right clinical physician assistant for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with clinical physician assistants they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit clinical physician assistants who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your clinical physician assistant job on Zippia to find and attract quality clinical physician assistant candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting clinical physician assistants requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new clinical physician assistant

   Once you've decided on a perfect clinical physician assistant candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new clinical physician assistant. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a clinical physician assistant?