Looking for Advanced Practitioners?
NP-career.com and PA-career.com can help
by Tom Broxterman
NP-career.com and PA-career.com are online databases and job boards for anyone looking for Advanced Practitioners. Our database has been carefully developed to help physician recruiters find the Advanced Practitioner Providers (APP) candidates that they need. It was created by the founders of PhysicianCareer.com, who have over 30 years of experience in the medical and recruitment industry.
Nurse Practitioners (NPs) and Physician Assistants (PAs) are included in the group of professionals called Advanced Practice Providers, or APPs. Also included in the group are Nurse Anesthetists (CRNA), nurse-midwives (CNA), and clinical nurse specialists.
A recent AAMC study predicted the shortage of physicians will reach 130,000 by 2033. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants are rapidly becoming an important aspect of medical care in response to this need.
NPs and PAs emerged as an occupation in the 1960’s to alleviate shortages in the primary care physician workforce, and they are still doing it over 60 years later. Today, the educational requirements are much higher, with NPs having completed a master’s or doctoral degree program. Both NPs and PAs have 1000 to 2000 clinical hours in order to complete their training. Upon completion, they can choose to pursue specialized training.
NPs and PAs can do a lot of the same things a physician does, such as conduct physical exams, order lab work, x-rays and other tests, deliver babies, and help patients manage chronic conditions. Many of them have patient care backgrounds, so some patients say that the APPs relate to them on a different level than their physician. They develop comfortable relationships with their patients quickly and easily.
Those assets are valuable because the physician shortage will not be overcome in a few years. Two contributing factors are population growth and an aging population. It is estimated that 33,000 additional physicians will be needed in the next 10 years due to population growth alone. Another 10,000 physicians will be needed to serve the aging population.
To further complicate things, one in three practicing physicians in the US is over the age of 65 and close to retirement.
The need for NPs and PAs is great as many have helped respond to the primary care demand. Years ago, rural healthcare facilities seemed to dominate the NP and PA recruitment industry, but now even metropolis-based medical centers are recognizing their impact - and NP-career.com and PA-career.com is the place to find candidates for those needs.