Physician Assistant (PA-C), Urgent Care & Occupational Health
Healthcare Headhunters recruits healthcare professionals for employers. No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
This is what we do all day: recruit healthcare professionals.
Hiring a PA-C for urgent care and occupational health means finding someone who can handle unscheduled illness visits without losing the documentation discipline that employer-directed care demands.
No postings. No stacks of resumes. No chasing. You interview a short list.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
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What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
What does an open seat cost you every week?
An open role costs you more than the recruiting fee. Someone covers the work, waits for care, or stops a service. We ask what is falling behind and who is carrying it. Use your own figures to compare the cost of waiting with the cost of hiring.
The seat is costing you every week.
Overtime, diverted patients, a stretched team and a schedule held together by favors.
The posting brought the wrong people.
Applicants arrive, but the person who has done this exact work is employed and not looking.
You are the one chasing.
Screening calls, no-shows and follow-ups land on the desk of someone with a facility to run.
What does this hire really come down to?
We recruit physician assistants for clinics combining walk-in treatment with workplace injury care, examinations, and return-to-work follow-up. Your schedule may alternate between a patient with an acute complaint and an employee whose visit needs job-specific documentation. We ask candidates how they manage both, including when they seek physician input and how they finish records before handoff.
Define the actual mix before interviewing. A clinic treating minor injuries and common illnesses needs different experience from one handling extensive occupational follow-up. Identify procedures, age groups, available diagnostics, physician access, and referral pathways.
Occupational work adds decisions beyond treating the presenting complaint. Ask how candidates separate clinical findings from assumptions about a workplace event.
What do we check before you see anyone?
Confirm current NCCPA PA-C certification and the state PA license. Ask candidates to describe their practice arrangements under applicable state supervision or collaboration rules. Compare their answers with your planned physician coverage and escalation process. Ask, “Which urgent care presentations have you managed recently, and when did you refer rather than continue the visit?”
- Look for specific examples, available diagnostics, consultation decisions, and a clear account of personal responsibility.
- Ask, “How do you document a workplace injury at the first visit?” Useful answers distinguish reported history, examination findings, job duties, and functional limitations. They also describe how incomplete information is recorded rather than guessed.
- Ask, “What happens when a walk-in patient arrives during scheduled occupational follow-ups?” Listen for communication with staff, recognition of cases needing prompt assessment, realistic visit planning, and a way to complete records without concealing delays.
- Ask, “Which procedures and employer examinations have you performed independently, and which needed additional oversight or certification?” Seek recent examples and training details. Do not treat every examination credential as a universal mandate for this combined role.
- Ask, “How do you handle a request for work clearance when the job description is vague?” Strong answers seek concrete task information, document uncertainty, and use the clinic’s review pathway. Your team completes credentialing and clinical assessment; we screen credentials, work history, and fit.
Where do we find them, and why would they move?
We look within emergency medicine, urgent care, and specialty groups for PAs whose recent duties match your service mix. Emergency medicine experience can support assessment and escalation, but does not establish familiarity with employer forms or longitudinal injury follow-up. Specialty experience may bring relevant examination or procedure skills, depending on the cases your clinic sees.
PA programs can also be a source when you can provide structured clinical oversight and onboarding. Compare rotations and supervised experience with the work assigned, not just the degree. A candidate might consider moving for a more predictable schedule, broader outpatient work, or greater continuity with injured employees. We ask about those reasons rather than assuming them.
Which mistakes stall the search?
Avoid advertising “urgent care and occupational health” without listing the visit mix. Candidates may accept expecting walk-in treatment, then discover that injury follow-ups and employer examinations fill much of the schedule. The PA may document functional restrictions, compare symptoms across follow-up visits, and communicate through approved employer channels.
Do not treat emergency department experience as proof of occupational documentation skill. Ask for a hypothetical injury record and follow-up explanation before deciding that the background covers both sides of the job.
Do not leave physician access undefined until onboarding. Discuss who reviews uncertain cases, how consultation works during clinic hours, and what happens when the usual physician is unavailable.
How would we run the search for this opening?
Tell us which visits, procedures, examinations, and follow-ups the PA will handle. We review certification, licensure, recent case exposure, and reasons for considering a move. You assess clinical practice, confirm privileges where applicable, and complete credentialing. If employer examinations are included, name the examination types rather than assuming urgent care experience covers them.
Map the clinic assignment
We also discuss clinic hours, support staff, diagnostics, physician access, and who manages employer communications.
Compare evidence from candidates
Interviews address the tasks you named, with separate questions for urgent care assessment and occupational documentation.
Complete your hiring review
Before an offer, clarify onboarding, consultation arrangements, examination credentials, and the division of duties between the PA and clinic staff.
The role and the setting
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Can urgent care experience substitute for occupational health experience?
Walk-in care alone does not establish experience with occupational follow-up. Ask about injury follow-ups, work-status documentation, and employer examinations; then decide which gaps your onboarding can reasonably cover. A useful answer explains documentation, confidentiality, and consultation without promising a particular work-status outcome.
Should we require prior emergency medicine experience?
Base that decision on your presentations and referral pathways. Recent urgent care experience may fit better when the assignment includes substantial scheduled occupational follow-up.
How should we assess return-to-work documentation?
Use a hypothetical case with stated job tasks and incomplete information. Ask what the PA would document, what information is missing, and when physician review would be sought.
What if we include specialized employer examinations?
List them before sourcing begins. Confirm any examination-specific certification and training separately from PA-C certification and state licensure.
Can a newly certified PA fit this clinic?
Possibly, if the assignment and available oversight support a developing clinician. Review relevant rotations, consultation access, and onboarding before assigning independent duties.
What should you send us about this role?
Send us the role, where the person will work and what needs to change with this hire. We will ask about the work, not just the title. Share any license or schedule limits that could rule someone out before we begin the search.
Share your visit mix and physician coverage with Healthcare Headhunters. We can help you compare candidates against the work your clinic actually assigns.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
What do you get at each step of the search?
Our process for every search: calibrate the seat with you, map the market, research the real people, reach out to each one personally, qualify them in live conversation, then hand you a short list with a written brief on each person and support through the offer.
Search Calibration
You get an agreed brief: the work, reporting line, credentials, schedule, and offer you can make.
Market Mapping
You get a search aimed at relevant backgrounds, including people working now who have not applied.
Professional Contact Intelligence
We check appropriate ways to reach the people identified for your search. You do not have to chase them yourself.
Persistent Personalized Outreach
We explain your actual job and follow up with people who may consider a conversation.
Live Candidate Qualification
You see people we have spoken with about the work, interest, and practical fit, not an unread resume pile.
Candidate Intelligence and Process Support
You get a written brief and support through interviews and offer discussions. You make the hiring decision.
How long will it take to see a short list?
That depends on the job, schedule, available people, and what your employer can offer. We discuss those constraints before outreach and update you as candidates respond. We do not promise a fixed shortlist date. We check the job brief before arranging interviews. Tell us which parts of the role you can change.
What if a candidate receives a counteroffer?
We ask why the person wants to move and discuss competing decisions before an offer. A counteroffer can still change their choice. Keep the duties and offer clear rather than assuming more money settles every concern. Tell us early if parts of your offer cannot change, so the candidate hears it from us first.
What are the replacement terms?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement. Ask us to walk through those terms before you sign, so you know how a replacement would work for your opening and who would start it.
What do we not do in a standard permanent search?
We do not bill standard contingency search by the hour or simply repost your job. Temporary coverage is a separate arrangement. Any retainer or different engagement must be agreed, not assumed. Tell us early if you need coverage while the permanent search runs.