How to hire a physician extender

How to hire a physician extender, step by step

Here's a step-by-step physician extender hiring guide:

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

What does a physician extender do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the physician extender you need to hire. Certain physician extender 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

   Hiring the perfect physician extender also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list shows salaries for various types of physician extenders.

   Type of Physician Extender	Description	Hourly rate
   Physician Extender	Physician assistants, also known as PAs, practice medicine on teams with physicians, surgeons, and other healthcare workers. They examine, diagnose, and treat patients.	$60-228
   Rehabilitation Technician	A rehabilitation technician is responsible for assisting therapists and other medical personnel on supporting the patients in their daily activities and physical therapy sessions. Rehabilitation technicians provide high-quality care services for the patients by administering medications, accompanying them on medical appointments, and ensuring the cleanliness and orderliness of all equipment and facilities to prevent hazards within the premises... Show more	$11-17
   Cardiovascular Technician	A cardiovascular technician is responsible for monitoring and administering treatment plans for patients with cardiovascular illnesses. Cardiovascular technicians operate various equipment and machinery to ensure the accuracy of diagnosis and determine the medical procedures to take... Show more	$20-43

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Patient Care
   • Medical Care
   • Rehabilitation
   • Physical Therapy
   • Clinical Care
   • Physical Examinations
   • Mental Health
   • Outpatient Clinic
   • Office Procedures
   • Diagnostic Tests
   • Surgical Procedures
   • Discharge Planning
   • Patient History

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Work closely with patients to manage their depression and anxiety beginning with initial diagnosis to med-initiation and follow-up care.
   • Render emergency medical treatment and transport patients.
   • Initial reading of EKG's.
   • Assess patients' symptoms while conducting initial injury evaluation.
   • Work in an outpatient orthopedic clinic with emphasis on physical medicine, rehabilitation of both chronic and acute orthopedic conditions.
   • Perform wound care.perform laceration repair including suturing.

   More physician extender duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your physician extender job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A physician extender salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a physician extender in Delaware may be lower than in New Mexico, and an entry-level physician extender usually earns less than a senior-level physician extender. Additionally, a physician extender with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average physician extender salary

   $244,718yearly

   $117.65 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level physician extender salary

   $125,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

   Average physician extender salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Iowa	$277,468	$133
   2	Washington	$271,536	$131
   3	California	$268,847	$129
   4	Arizona	$264,011	$127
   5	Texas	$238,603	$115
   6	Mississippi	$237,598	$114
   7	North Carolina	$229,026	$110
   8	Ohio	$212,941	$102
   9	Alabama	$211,207	$102
   10	Kentucky	$207,901	$100
   11	New Jersey	$202,703	$97
   12	New York	$198,515	$95

   Average physician extender salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	UnitedHealth Group	$342,306	$164.57	453
   2	Hanger	$259,715	$124.86
   3	Wake County	$252,366	$121.33
   4	Addiction Recovery Care	$249,883	$120.14
   5	Nationwide Children's Hospital	$248,564	$119.50	15
   6	Memorial Hospital	$247,843	$119.16	6
   7	New Bridge Medical Center	$236,914	$113.90
   8	St. John's Episcopal Hospital	$236,826	$113.86
   9	Luke & Associates	$231,007	$111.06
   10	Alliance Health	$230,050	$110.60	5
   11	Americorps	$221,304	$106.40
   12	Ohio State University Medical Center	$206,791	$99.42	1
   13	Tenet Healthcare	$197,268	$94.84	121
   14	Select Medical	$146,025	$70.20	2,768
   15	NC.gov	$112,389	$54.03	4
   16	State of Georgia: Teachers Retirement System of Georgia	$109,615	$52.70	2

4. Writing a physician extender job description

   A job description for a physician extender role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a physician extender job description:

   Physician extender job description example

   St. John’s Episcopal Hospital is the only hospital providing emergency and ambulatory care to the densely populated, culturally and economically diverse, and medically underserved populations of the Rockaways and Five Towns in southern Queens County and southwestern Nassau County, New York. Celebrating over 110 years of community care, the 257-bed facility provides people of all faiths with comprehensive preventive, diagnostic treatment and rehabilitative services, regardless of ability to pay.

   Come Grow With Us!

   Type: Part-Time

   Hours: 11:00 PM - 7:30 AM

   Shift: Nights

   Job Summary:

   The Patient Care Extender participates in a patient-focused team approach to providing direct and collaborative health care in the inpatient clinical settings, which includes the Behavioral units. Performs limited direct and inpatient care duties. The PCE acts in accordance with corporate, hospital, and all relevant regulatory policies regarding patient care as per policies and procedures. Under the direction of the RN or Physician, and in collaboration with the interdisciplinary team, the PCE performs crisis and de-escalation interventions and therapeutic observations.

   Responsibilities (including but not limited to):

   • Assists in orienting the patient and family to the patient care unit
   • Responds promptly to patient requests
   • Fulfills requests or refers needs to the appropriate resource promptly
   • Assisting patients with movement, meal time, hygiene, acting as a Safety Monitor, and keeping patient areas tidy
   • Demonstrates the appropriate ability and techniques to de-escalate a crisis situation

   Requirements:

   • High School Diploma
   • Minimum of 1 year of full-time experience in Nursing, Psych/Behavioral Health or a combination of education, training, and experience required
   • CPR/Heart Saver certification
   • Crisis Intervention Training

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find physician extenders for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your physician extender job on Zippia to find and recruit physician extender candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit physician extenders, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you 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 physician extender

   Once you have selected a candidate for the physician extender position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new physician extender. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

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 physician extender?