Today, I was invited back to ACPHS for a student open house where I could talk to prospective ACP-er's and maybe even future PA students. I love talking to these kinds of students because there is so much ahead of them. They can really make their dreams come true if they work and study hard. So many of them have great questions and would simply like to know what life is like on campus and how the classes are.
One of the questions that resonated with me after meeting a high school student was about job placement for PA's. This student had so many great questions but this one really made me think. Another health care technician informed this student that the PA job pool would be saturated by the time he/she would become one (in about 6-7 years). This got me thinking... is this true? What are the statistics? What are the true facts? Where should I look to find this information. I mean, it doesn't really affect me because I know the job placement in 1.5 years for me will still be really good.... but what about all these other upcoming students? All those students I am trying to help become PA's... what is their future? Will they be able to get a job as a PA if they are competing with all these other students? There are so many new programs to become a PA, what if it does become saturated?
That's when I decided to look up the projected growth of the career through the government's Bureau of Labor Statistics. On this website I was not shocked to find the information that student was given was highly inaccurate. Actually, that information was contradictory to what the government has projected for PA's. Below I screen-shotted some information. One thing that really intrigued me was that the job outlook (in 7 years, ironically) was 38% and then in parentheses they stated (much faster than average). If this does not completely display the need for PA's in the United States, I don't know what else would. However, I will acknowledge that this data looks to be projected from 2012 (which was 3 years ago). Maybe this health technician was thinking about the change from 2012 to now where there are many more PA programs and the career is booming. In defense of that argument I would then slightly agree that becoming a PA is going to be harder, however, it is not because of the availability of jobs but more about getting accepted into such a competitive program.
**DISCLAIMER**I don't mean to sound rude or upset about this question. I am actually happy that this student brought this up because it made me find information and statistics about my future career.
I try very hard to be non-biased in my views and evaluations on this blog, so please do not take this entry as a biased view....but to me, if the government's Bureau of Labor is acknowledging the growth of the career, then it must be statistically significant.
If you are interested in this topic or about the future for PA's, click the link below to find more information and even the home to the screenshots below.
One of the questions that resonated with me after meeting a high school student was about job placement for PA's. This student had so many great questions but this one really made me think. Another health care technician informed this student that the PA job pool would be saturated by the time he/she would become one (in about 6-7 years). This got me thinking... is this true? What are the statistics? What are the true facts? Where should I look to find this information. I mean, it doesn't really affect me because I know the job placement in 1.5 years for me will still be really good.... but what about all these other upcoming students? All those students I am trying to help become PA's... what is their future? Will they be able to get a job as a PA if they are competing with all these other students? There are so many new programs to become a PA, what if it does become saturated?
That's when I decided to look up the projected growth of the career through the government's Bureau of Labor Statistics. On this website I was not shocked to find the information that student was given was highly inaccurate. Actually, that information was contradictory to what the government has projected for PA's. Below I screen-shotted some information. One thing that really intrigued me was that the job outlook (in 7 years, ironically) was 38% and then in parentheses they stated (much faster than average). If this does not completely display the need for PA's in the United States, I don't know what else would. However, I will acknowledge that this data looks to be projected from 2012 (which was 3 years ago). Maybe this health technician was thinking about the change from 2012 to now where there are many more PA programs and the career is booming. In defense of that argument I would then slightly agree that becoming a PA is going to be harder, however, it is not because of the availability of jobs but more about getting accepted into such a competitive program.
**DISCLAIMER**I don't mean to sound rude or upset about this question. I am actually happy that this student brought this up because it made me find information and statistics about my future career.
I try very hard to be non-biased in my views and evaluations on this blog, so please do not take this entry as a biased view....but to me, if the government's Bureau of Labor is acknowledging the growth of the career, then it must be statistically significant.
If you are interested in this topic or about the future for PA's, click the link below to find more information and even the home to the screenshots below.