Physician assistant job description template: specialty, NCCPA and state license, practice agreement, DEA and pay structure
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A physician assistant job description should name the specialty and setting, the patient volume, how the PA works with physicians under your state's rules, whether they prescribe controlled substances, the schedule and call, and the pay structure. As of October 2026, every state requires PAs to be licensed, NCCPA board certification (PA-C) follows graduation from an ARC-PA accredited program and a passed PANCE, and a DEA registration is needed in each state where a PA prescribes controlled substances. BLS reports a national median wage of $135,880 for physician assistants in May 2025.
Below are the PA seats, a copy-ready template, the certification, license, prescribing and overtime lines with sources, screening questions and scorecard rows, and the mistakes that bring in the wrong applicants. For the call itself, use physician assistant screening questions; if you will hire either a PA or an NP, compare the nurse practitioner job description template.
Not legal advice. The certification, license, prescribing and overtime points below were checked against NCCPA, the Minnesota Statutes, the Oregon Medical Board, the PA Licensure Compact, the DEA, 29 CFR 541.301 on Cornell's Legal Information Institute, the Department of Labor and BLS as of October 2026. PA practice rules are set by each state and change often; confirm them with the state board and counsel before posting.
Name the seat: which PA job is it?
| Seat | What the work looks like | Must-have that separates it |
|---|---|---|
| Primary care or urgent care | Scheduled visits and chronic disease follow-up, or walk-in acute care, sometimes without a physician on site | Visit volume you expect; procedures the clinic offers, such as laceration repair |
| Emergency medicine | Fast track or main department, shifts including nights | Recent emergency experience at your acuity; procedures with dates |
| Hospital medicine | Rounding, admissions, discharges and cross-cover, often nights | Census and admissions per shift handled recently |
| Surgical specialty | First assisting in the OR, pre- and post-operative clinic, rounding, call | The service line, cases per week and the split between OR and clinic |
| Psychiatry or another clinic specialty | Evaluations and medication management, often telehealth; or a procedural clinic such as dermatology | Specialty experience or a training plan with a ramp-up schedule |
Then settle the numbers with the medical director: visits per day or census once ramped, the ramp-up schedule, documentation time in the template, call and weekend coverage, telehealth share, and how long credentialing and payer enrollment take. Those numbers, not "two years of experience," decide the level.
The physician assistant job description template
Physician Assistant [/ Physician Associate in Oregon] —
[Specialty], [Clinic / Emergency Department / Hospital Medicine /
Surgery], [Full-Time / Part-Time / PRN]
[Organization], [city, state] — [On-site / Hybrid with telehealth]
Pay: $[min]–$[max] per [year / hour / shift], plus [productivity
bonus with what is counted and when it pays, call pay, CME
allowance $N]. [Benefits summary, if required.]
[Exempt / Nonexempt, after review.]
SUMMARY
You will see [patient population] in [setting], about [N visits a
day / a census of N] once ramped, with [N] weeks of ramp-up. You
will work with [N] physicians and [N] other PAs or NPs and report
to [medical director / lead APP]. Practice arrangement: [practice
agreement / collaboration / supervision] with [physician or role],
reviewed [how often], as [state] law requires.
WHAT YOU WILL DO
- Take histories, examine patients, and order and interpret tests.
- Diagnose and treat [conditions or visit types]; perform
[procedures].
- Prescribe medications [including / not including] controlled
substances.
- Document in [EHR] with [N] minutes of documentation time built
into each session; manage results and refills for [your panel /
the shared pool].
- [Hospital: round, admit, discharge, hand off at (time).]
[Surgery: first assist in (cases).]
- [Call: (frequency), phone / in person.]
YOU MUST HAVE
- Graduation from an ARC-PA accredited PA program and current
NCCPA certification (PA-C) [or PANCE scheduled before start].
- Active [state] PA license [or eligible, with licensure before
start].
- [DEA registration for [state], or able to obtain before start.]
- [N] [months / years] of PA experience in [setting], or a new-
graduate track: [mentoring and ramp-up].
- Current [BLS / ACLS / PALS / ATLS].
- Ability to perform the duties above, including [standing for
procedures / long shifts], with or without reasonable
accommodation.
NICE TO HAVE
- An NCCPA Certificate of Added Qualifications in [specialty].
- Experience with [EHR], [procedures], [telehealth].
If you meet the must-haves and none of these, please apply.
FIXED CONDITIONS
- Credentialing and payer enrollment take about [N] weeks; start
dates depend on them.
- Offer subject to license and certification verification, an
HHS-OIG exclusion list check and [background check, health
screening] as required by law.
[EEO STATEMENT]
Need an adjustment to apply or interview? Contact [address].Certification, licensing, prescribing and classification
What the work is. BLS says PAs take histories, examine patients, order and interpret tests, diagnose illnesses and injuries, provide treatment and prescribe medication; a master's degree is the typical entry-level education, all states and the District of Columbia require a license, and schedules may include nights, weekends, holidays and on-call work (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, last modified August 27, 2026).
NCCPA certification. To sit for the PANCE, a candidate must graduate from an entry-level PA program accredited by ARC-PA; they can test as early as seven days after completing the program, and passing grants NCCPA board certification and the right to use PA-C while certification stays current (NCCPA, becoming certified). Maintenance runs in a 10-year process of five two-year cycles: 100 CME credits logged in each cycle, a maintenance fee due by December 31 of the expiration year, and a passed PANRE or PANRE-LA by the end of year 10 (NCCPA maintenance). NCCPA's voluntary Certificates of Added Qualifications cover specialties including emergency medicine, hospital medicine, orthopaedic surgery, dermatology and psychiatry; list one as a plus, not a must.
State license and practice arrangement. Each state licenses PAs and sets how they work with physicians. Two examples: Minnesota requires every PA to have a practice agreement at the practice level, reviewed each year by a licensed physician in the same clinic, hospital, health system or facility, with a record kept for the board (Minn. Stat. 147A.09); Oregon changed the title to "physician associate" in statute from June 6, 2024, without changing scope of practice (Oregon Medical Board). Write the arrangement your state and practice actually use, and use Oregon's title in Oregon postings. The PA Licensure Compact lists 29 member states; a PA using a compact privilege follows the practice laws of the state where they work, so check it for the job's state before relying on it.
Prescribing. The DEA requires a practitioner to hold a separate registration in each state where they handle controlled substances, after the state authorizes them (DEA registration FAQ). If the seat involves controlled substances, say so, and say whether "able to obtain before start" is acceptable and who pays.
Exclusion list. Before the start date, check the HHS Office of Inspector General's List of Excluded Individuals/Entities; excluded people cannot be paid by federal health care programs for services they furnish.
Exempt or nonexempt. The federal rule says PAs who completed four academic years of pre-professional and professional study, graduated from an accredited PA program and are NCCPA certified generally meet the duties test for the learned professional exemption (29 CFR 541.301(e)(4)). The exemption also needs a salary or fee basis at no less than the standard level, which the Department of Labor lists as $684 a week (DOL Fact Sheet 17D; salary levels). A salaried PA is usually straightforward; an hourly or per-shift PRN PA is the case to review. State rules can be stricter.
Pay. The national median annual wage for physician assistants was $135,880 in May 2025 (BLS pay tab). It is a national median, not your range. Post the approved range, explain any productivity bonus (visits, wRVUs or collections, the threshold and when it pays), and check pay transparency laws by state.
From must-haves to screening questions and scorecard rows
| Must-have | Screening question | Scorecard competency | Evidence of a strong answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certification and license | "Is your NCCPA certification current, when is your next CME deadline, and which states are you licensed in?" | Not scored: verified with NCCPA and the board | Dates and states that match the verification |
| Volume | "In your last role, how many visits or patients a day did you see, and how long did your notes take?" | Clinical efficiency | Real numbers and a documentation habit |
| Working with physicians | "How did you work with your supervising or collaborating physician, and which cases did you bring to them?" | Collaboration and limits | Names case types and frequency; neither over- nor under-uses the physician |
| Procedures (if in scope) | "Which procedures have you done in the last 12 months, and how many of each?" | Procedural competence | A dated list with numbers, and how they were signed off |
| Prescribing | "How do you handle a request for an early refill of a controlled substance?" | Prescribing safety | Checks the state monitoring program and history, follows policy, documents |
The full screen, including verification steps, is in the physician assistant screening questions, and professional license verification for recruiters explains the board lookups and the exclusion-list check. Later clinical rounds are in the interview guide for healthcare roles.
Common mistakes in physician assistant job descriptions
"NP or PA" with one set of must-haves
The licenses, certifications and practice arrangements differ. If you accept both, write each profession's lines.
No practice arrangement
Candidates want to know who the physician is, how often they review the PA's work and whether one is on site. Write it in your state's terms.
A CAQ as a requirement
Certificates of Added Qualifications are voluntary. Requiring one shrinks the pool without changing what the PA may legally do.
Hiding volume, ramp-up and call
Experienced PAs compare visits per day, documentation time and call. New graduates need to see a real ramp-up plan.
Credentialing time left out
Privileges and payer enrollment can delay the start by weeks. Say so, so candidates can plan their notice.
Before you publish
- Specialty, setting, volume, ramp-up and call are in the title and summary.
- The practice arrangement matches current state law, with Oregon's title where it applies.
- Certification, license, DEA and CAQ lines are accurate, with "able to obtain" where acceptable.
- Credentialing time and the exclusion-list check are stated.
- Pay structure is reviewed for exempt status; the range, bonus terms, EEO statement and accommodation contact close the posting.
Questions people ask
What should a physician assistant job description include?
Name the specialty and setting, the patient volume or census once ramped, the supervising or collaborating physician arrangement your state and practice use, whether the PA prescribes controlled substances, the schedule and call, the certification and state license required, credentialing time, and the pay range with any productivity bonus explained.
What certification does a physician assistant need?
PAs take NCCPA's PANCE after graduating from an entry-level PA program accredited by ARC-PA; passing it grants board certification and the PA-C designation while certification stays current. As of October 2026, keeping it current means logging 100 CME credits in each two-year period and passing PANRE or PANRE-LA by the end of a 10-year cycle. Every state also requires a license.
Are physician assistants exempt from overtime?
Usually, when salaried. The federal rule says PAs who completed four academic years of pre-professional and professional study, graduated from an accredited PA program and are NCCPA certified generally meet the learned professional duties test. They must also be paid on a salary or fee basis of at least $684 a week, so hourly or per-shift PAs are the case to review with counsel.
Can a physician assistant work in another state under a compact?
Only where the PA Licensure Compact applies. As of October 2026 the compact's site lists 29 member states, and a PA using a compact privilege must follow the practice laws of the state where they work. Check the compact site and the state board for the job's state before relying on it; otherwise the PA needs that state's license.