Certificates of Added Qualification (CAQ) Exams for Physician Assistants

Specialty Certificates of Added Qualifications (CAQ) Exams

CAQ exams for physician assistants are utilized for one purpose: to receive recognition for having obtained advanced clinical training and skills in your specialty. Since September of 2011, these exams have been given by the NCCPA just like the PANCE, and awarded to those who perform exceptionally. The CAQ emphasizes that PAs are grounded first in generalist medicine and then pursue additional qualifications in specialites. It serves as excellent documentation of knowledge, training, and experience in specialty practice. It also helps to avoid the confusion of any new PA “certification” program or any new specialty certification designation, as this credential is achieved in addition to the PA-C. According to Janet Lanthrop, old CEO of NCCPA, there were two desires in producing this exam: to have documentation to show hiring physicians that PAs were knowledgeable in specialty areas and to give hiring physicians assurance that the PA had experience in the specialty to come in at a certain level of acuity than your typical newly hired PA.

2013 AAPA Salary Report Review

The 2013 American Academy of Physician Assistants Salary Report, A Review

It's important to stay updated on the salary of a PA, specifically PAs in the field you plan to go into. This can have positive or negative effects on your future and could eventually enable you to single out the speciality, subspecialty, or practice setting you choose for yourself. This salary report also helps PAs ready to go into practice negotiate the best compensation package, hourly rates, salary rate, bonus packages, productivity measures, and benefits packages available. But this salary report isn't all about salary, it also talks about schools, coursework, and other information about becoming a PA you might find useful along your journey. Remember, this is just a review, so I'll just highlight a few that I think are cool and important, but if you want to see more, you'll need to purchase a membership. Lets get started!

The first part of the Salary Report is on PA Facts - this is basic information not regarding salary you might find useful.

Table 1. Table featured in AAPA Annual Survey 2013. This
particular table features the area of medicine and surgery
PAs work in by percentage. 

1. The average PA program takes 26 months to complete; nearly all award master's degrees
2. 93,000 certified PAs work in every medical and surgical setting across the country
1. 37.5% practice in a hospital setting
2. 38.1% work in a  group practice or solo physician office
3. 24.4% work in community health centers, freestanding surgical facilities, nursing homes, school or college based facilities, industrial settings, or correctional institutions
3. Each year, a PA treats around 3,500 patients
4. A PA writes approximately 2,600-5,200 prescriptions each year. [That's about 50-100/week!]

Salary Report

This report was collected by a voluntary survey released online to AAPA members and non-members between March-July 2013. An astonishing 18,000 PAs responded, reporting valuable information about those working more than 32 hours/week for their primary clinical employer. The information is also presented in such a way that divides PAs into two categories: PAs with a base salary only and PAs with bonuses in addition to their base salary.