MedicalRecruiting.com runs a dedicated physician assistant recruiting division placing PA-Cs across primary care, hospital medicine, emergency medicine, surgical specialties, dermatology, orthopedics, cardiology, and behavioral health into permanent positions in all 50 states. Since 2006 our physician assistant recruiters have helped hospitals, surgical groups, dermatology platforms, urgent care chains, orthopedic practices, oncology groups, and academic medical centers source, screen, and hire NCCPA-certified PAs — on a contingency-only fee model that means employers pay nothing until a placed PA accepts and starts. We maintain an active candidate network of more than 60,000 physician assistants across every specialty, ranging from new-graduate PAs entering primary care to deeply experienced surgical PAs first-assisting in cardiothoracic, neurosurgery, and orthopedic OR cases. Whether you need a single PA for a community urgent care or a multi-PA derm platform buildout, our recruiters bring nearly two decades of PA-specific specialty knowledge to every search.
Physician assistant recruiting demands real specialty fluency. A surgical PA first-assisting in cardiothoracic cases needs different vetting than a dermatology PA running her own derm clinic, who in turn needs different vetting than an EM PA covering Level II trauma in a busy community ED. Our physician assistant recruiters are organized by clinical setting — primary care, surgical, emergency/urgent care, dermatology, orthopedic, and specialty clinic — so the recruiter handling your search actually understands the day-one competencies, supervision and collaborative practice model, procedural autonomy, and compensation benchmarks for the specific role. That focus is why dermatology platforms, orthopedic groups, and surgical practices bring repeat PA searches back to MedicalRecruiting.com instead of rotating through generalist contingency firms.
Our PA placement process is intake-first and structured. We start with a 30-minute call to capture must-haves: scope of practice, supervision ratio and supervising-physician availability, OR and procedural time, on-call burden, productivity model (base + bonus, RVU thresholds, citizenship), sign-on, relocation, CME budget, malpractice coverage, EMR, and any state-specific scope or collaborative practice constraints. We translate that intake into a written search profile our recruiters work against. Within 7-14 days our physician assistant recruiters deliver a slate of NCCPA-certified candidates whose specialty experience, licensure, procedural skills, and compensation expectations match the role.
After the slate is delivered our physician assistant recruiters stay engaged through every step: scheduling and prepping candidates for interviews, gathering structured interview feedback, running reference checks with prior supervising physicians, navigating offer negotiations, coordinating background and credentialing handoff to the medical staff office, and supporting onboarding through the start date. We also handle the harder conversations — counter-offers from current employers, competing offers from derm or surgical platforms, family relocation hesitations, OR-time guarantees — so nothing surprises the employer in the final week before signing. Every PA placement carries a 90-day retention guarantee: if a placed PA departs within 90 days, we re-run the search at no additional fee.
Our physician assistant recruiters work on a standard contingency model — typically 15-25% of first-year base compensation, billed only on a successful start. No upfront retainers, no engagement fees, no monthly minimums, no charges for resumes that don't convert. For high-volume employers — dermatology platforms, orthopedic groups, urgent care chains, surgical practices — we offer volume discounts, exclusive search rebates, and dedicated principal recruiter assignment to keep PA pipelines full quarter over quarter. Our model aligns our incentives directly with employer outcomes: we get paid when you hire, not when we send a resume, which is why employers can engage our PA recruiters with zero upfront financial risk and evaluate our pipeline against any incumbent firm head-to-head.
Our physician assistant recruiters operate on a contingency-fee model — typically 15% to 25% of the PA's first-year base compensation, billed only when a placed PA accepts an offer and starts in the role. There are no upfront fees, no retainer charges, no monthly minimums, and no cost for candidates who don't get hired. The exact percentage depends on the specialty, geography, and seniority of the role: high-volume primary care, urgent care, and emergency medicine PA searches typically come in at the lower end of the range, while specialty searches — surgical PA, dermatology PA, orthopedic PA, and senior procedural PA roles — sit at the upper end given the smaller experienced-candidate pool. For employers running multiple concurrent PA searches we offer volume pricing, exclusive search rebates, and a 90-day replacement guarantee on every placement at no additional cost.
Average time-to-fill depends on specialty, geography, and the comprehensiveness of the offer package. Primary care, urgent care, and emergency medicine PA roles in metro markets typically fill in 30-60 days from intake call to signed offer. Surgical PA, dermatology PA, orthopedic PA, and other subspecialty PA searches typically take 60-90 days due to the smaller experienced-candidate pool and the procedural, first-assist, and OR-time competencies required. Rural and underserved markets typically add 15-30 days. Our physician assistant recruiters provide a weekly pipeline update with active candidates, interview status, and offers in flight, so employers always know exactly where every search stands.
We recruit physician assistants across every major clinical setting: primary care (Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, FQHC, Geriatrics), emergency medicine (ED, freestanding ED, fast-track), urgent care and retail clinic, hospitalist (inpatient, surgical co-management, observation), all surgical specialties (general, cardiothoracic, vascular, neurosurgery, orthopedic, plastic, trauma, bariatric, surgical oncology) — including first-assist and OR coverage, dermatology (medical, surgical, and cosmetic — biopsies, excisions, biologics, injectables, laser), and medical subspecialties including cardiology, gastroenterology, pulmonology / critical care, oncology, psychiatry and behavioral health, pain management, OB/GYN, urology, and ENT.
Yes — telehealth PA placement is a growing segment of our practice, particularly for primary care, dermatology (teledermatology), behavioral health, urgent care, and chronic disease management programs for Medicare Advantage and value-based care populations. We maintain an active candidate pool of NCCPA-certified PAs with multi-state licensure, asynchronous chronic-care experience, and direct-to-consumer telehealth platform familiarity for both employed W-2 and 1099 contractor models. We work with the major DTC telehealth platforms, payer-driven virtual care lines, and traditional health systems building hybrid in-person/virtual PA teams.
Physician assistant recruiters — like MedicalRecruiting.com — focus on permanent direct-hire placement with deep specialty matching, contract negotiation, and long-term cultural fit. The placed PA becomes a W-2 employee of the hiring organization, with the recruiter paid a one-time contingency fee at start. PA staffing agencies (locum tenens / per diem / 1099 contract) provide short-term contract coverage to bridge vacancies, leaves of absence, parental leave, sabbaticals, or seasonal demand spikes; the PA remains an agency contractor and the agency bills the employer an ongoing hourly or daily rate, plus malpractice and any travel. Most healthcare employers ultimately need both, but they are distinct services with very different fee structures, different candidate pools, different credentialing workflows, and different downstream cost profiles.