If you love the idea of working directly with patients but aren’t quite sure you want to become a surgeon, consider becoming a neurosurgery physician assistant (PA).
Physician assistants work alongside doctors to treat and manage illness, but they generally don’t perform surgery or prescribe medications like their Medical Doctors counterparts do.
So what does it take to become a PA? And how much money can you expect to make once you get your license?
Let’s look at what makes physician assistants one of the most promising jobs in health care and how much money physician assistants can earn.
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Neurosurgery PA Salary & Outlook
The salary of a neurosurgery physician assistant will vary depending on their place of employment and the type of work they are assigned.
However, according to Empower Physician Recruiters, PAs in the United States can expect an average salary of $95,480 annually.
Additionally, the Occupational Outlook Handbook estimates that salaries for those in this position may increase to 11%.
Neurosurgeon’s PA salaries vary significantly from region to region and company to company.
Factors such as cost of living and job openings play into this income significantly.
Factors that contribute to the neurosurgery physician assistant’s salary
Several factors contribute to the neurosurgery physician assistant’s salary.
These factors include their work type, experience and level of specialization, and geographic location.
A neurosurgery PA’s salary can vary greatly depending on these factors, but generally, the average salary ranges from $75K-$100K.
Neurosurgical PAs who demonstrate proficiency in anesthesiology and familiarity with complex cases may be eligible for more lucrative salaries.
Educational Qualifications
Qualifications for certification as a neurosurgical PA include:
- An undergraduate degree with coursework related to anatomy, physiology, biology, microbiology, chemistry, psychology, and physical assessment.
- Three years of experience as a surgical PA within the past five years.
Although some hospitals require further education, many hospitals will offer this training.
Experience as a certified CRNA or an RN will also help me become a certified neurosurgical PA.
These qualifications usually result in an annual salary of between $60K-80K.
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Experience
What you will make at different levels of experience:
As your career progresses, you can expect your responsibilities to grow and your salary to increase.
If you have just graduated from school, you might make around $60-70K per year working at medium-sized hospitals with 80% patient contact time.
The responsibilities here could include taking vital signs and assisting surgeons during surgeries, which will require about 40 hours per week.
As you gain more experience, you can look forward to making a higher income.
For instance, if you had three years of experience as a surgical PA, your salary could go up to $80-90K per year working in large hospitals with less than 50% patient contact time.
You would likely spend most of your time performing tasks such as suturing and inserting chest tubes.
Also, operating equipment like endoscopes and telemetry devices, maintaining sterile environments while performing routine tests, analyzing laboratory data, and more.
Tips on How to Increase Your Neurosurgery Pa Salary
You can take several steps to improve your neurosurgery physician assistant salary.
Firstly, continue to work with your current employer – in this case, a neurosurgeon.
Regular reviews with the boss to ensure you’re meeting expectations and timelines.
Secondly, be active in the community and attend local or national conferences.
This increases exposure to different industries and potential employers while also helping you learn new things that can contribute to your company.
And finally, find mentors and take their advice on how they navigated the industry when starting.
Also, ask them what they would do differently now that they have more experience.
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Conclusion
If you’ve read through all this, you might be convinced that becoming a physician assistant is a good career path.
You could attend med school, but if the debt scares you away or the extreme competitiveness of medicine makes you anxious, don’t fret.
There are probably plenty of other high-earning jobs in the healthcare field with easier access to start and grow your career.
For example, you can become a licensed mental health counselor, certified dental assistant, or anesthesiologist, and the list goes on and on.