Locum Tenens Physician Assistant

What these providers cover

Patients across primary care, surgical, emergency and specialty settings.

What the shift actually looks like

Clinical work across primary, surgical, emergency or specialty settings, with supervision arrangements defined by state law and facility policy.

Credentials and certifications

Typically required

NCCPA certification; state PA license; DEA

Typical workload

Setting-dependent

What to specify when you send the req

Specialty experience, procedures, first-assist expectations and supervision arrangement.

Why this role is hard to fill

The PA compact has been enacted but is not issuing privileges, so every state is still a separate license application.

What candidates ask before accepting

Answering these in the req itself shortens the process considerably, because they are the questions that otherwise surface at offer stage and cause declines: Supervision arrangement, first-assist expectations, procedures permitted and specialty-specific onboarding.

Contract or permanent?

Locums stabilises the schedule so a permanent search can run on merit rather than desperation. Hiring a permanent physician while critically short-staffed is how facilities end up with a bad twelve-month hire. Locum-to-perm is common and low risk.

Licensure

Physicians and advanced practice providers are licensed in all 50 states. The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact is widely described as portability and is not — it is an expedited route to obtaining several separate state licenses, each still issued and regulated independently. The physician assistant compact has been enacted but is not yet issuing privileges. Privileging, which runs on your medical staff committee calendar, is usually the binding constraint rather than licensure.

How we work this req

Every candidate is spoken to before you see them, with licensure for your state, certifications and unit-specific competency confirmed before submittal. We screen to the credential the unit actually needs rather than the title on the posting. Rates sit inside the ranges on our published cost breakdown.