This is the PA-specific playbook Advanced Practice Recruiters runs for hiring managers. APR is the nation's first dedicated APP recruiting firm (founded 2006), placing PAs in all 50 states. The PA-specific levers — supervision model, procedural credentials, fellowship status, OTP eligibility, call structure — are different enough from NP recruiting that the search needs to be designed differently from the start.
PAs are educated as generalists and specialize through experience, fellowship, and CAQ. The strongest PA hires are the ones whose actual subspecialty practice matches your role — surgical PA into surgical roles, EM PA into EM roles, derm PA into derm roles. Generalist sourcing wastes time and depresses retention.
Confirm your state's supervision model (OTP, collaborative, required) and how that maps to your practice agreement, ratios, chart-cosignature, and prescribing. See PA Supervision by State.
PA total comp is highly sensitive to call, productivity, and procedural credentials. See the 2026 PA Salary Guide for current ranges.
For surgical, interventional, EM, GI, and aesthetics roles, verify procedural credentials, first-assist eligibility, fellowship status, and case volume — not just NCCPA and state license.
Surgical and EM PA candidates routinely hold multiple offers. Time-to-hire is the second-largest driver of close rate after subspecialty match.
Stay engaged through state license, DEA, malpractice, hospital privileging (for surgical/inpatient), payer enrollment, and start-date logistics.