Resume guide · Job Zone 5

Physician Assistantsresume guide.

Provide healthcare services typically performed by a physician, under the supervision of a physician. A strong Physician Assistants resume shows critical thinking, reading comprehension and active listening, and names the tools you have worked with, such as Epic Systems, Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Office software.

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01Also called

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Cardiology Physician AssistantCertified Physician Assistant (PA-C)Emergency Medicine Physician Assistant (Emergency Medicine PA)Family Practice Physician AssistantOrthopaedic Physician AssistantOrthopedic Physician AssistantPhysician Assistant (PA)Physician's AssistantSurgical Critical Care Physician Assistant (Surgical Critical Care PA)Surgical Physician Assistant (Surgical PA)

02Skills employers expect

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Importance is how much the skill matters to the job; level is how much of it the job demands. Both are worth naming on the resume, in this order.

SkillImportanceLevel
Critical ThinkingVery highAdvanced
Reading ComprehensionVery highAdvanced
Active ListeningVery highAdvanced
Judgment and Decision MakingVery highAdvanced
Service OrientationVery highAdvanced
Social PerceptivenessVery highAdvanced
SpeakingVery highAdvanced
WritingVery highAdvanced
Active LearningHighAdvanced
Complex Problem SolvingHighAdvanced

03Knowledge areas

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

04Common responsibilities

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Ordered by importance. Each one is a bullet waiting for a result and a number.

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

05Software and tools

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17 tools across 8 categories. The six largest categories are below; Hot marks a hot technology, In demand a tool employers ask for most often.

Medical software10
  • Epic SystemsHotIn demand
  • MEDITECH softwareHot
  • eClinicalWorks EHR softwareHot
  • Patient management softwareIn demand
  • Medical procedure coding software
  • Healthcare common procedure coding system HCPCS
  • Medical condition coding software
  • Electronic medical record EMR software
  • ChartWare EMR
  • Teleradiology systems
+ 5 more
Electronic mail software1
Internet browser software1
Office suite software1
Spreadsheet software1
Storage media loading software1
  • Patient records software for personal digital assistants PDAs
Video conferencing software1
  • Teleconferencing software
Word processing software1

06Education and preparation

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Typical education
Master's Degree
81% of surveyed workers. Others report 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 (14%) and Bachelor's Degree (5%).
Preparation level
Job Zone 5 · Extensive preparation
Usually a graduate degree and extensive related experience.

07Putting it on your resume

ResumeXRays guidance
BEE · How to show it

Lead with what you built. For a Job Zone 5 role, hiring managers and parsers both look for outcomes before credentials. Put two or three results at the top of each job entry, with the scale or effect stated plainly.

List the software you have actually used. Employers scan for Epic Systems, Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Office software. Put the ones you know in a skills line, spelled the way the vendor spells them.

Show reading comprehension and active listening, not just critical thinking. Reading comprehension and active listening rank close to critical thinking for this occupation. One bullet per role that shows a decision, a tradeoff or a result covers them.

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