How To Become A Surgical Physician Assistant: What It Is and Career Path

What is a surgical physician assistant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Surgical physician assistants are ighly skilled clinicians who have didactic and clinical training to function in all areas of the peri-operative environment, including pre-admission, testing, intra-operative first assisting, PACU care, SICU care, step-down unit, outpatient clinic, office practice, and even home care. They are trained to provide diagnostic, therapeutic, surgical, and preventative maintenance under a physician's or surgeon's supervision.

They need to take courses in basic health sciences and clinical medicine the first year, with the second year focusing on clinical experiences in a series of core and elective rotations, which takes approximately two years to complete. Successful applicants to PA programs need to have an average of 4.5 years of healthcare experience.

A surgical physician assistant makes on average $189,957 per year or $91.33 per hour.

ScoreSurgical Physician AssistantUS Average

Salary

9.0

Avg. Salary $153,482

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

9.9

Growth Rate 28%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.35%

Asian 11.39%

Black or African American 5.43%

Hispanic or Latino 11.90%

Unknown 3.78%

White 67.15%

Gender

female 60.53%

male 39.47%

Age - 37

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 37

Stress Level

9.9

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

10.0

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.6

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a surgical physician assistant

Explore surgical physician assistant education requirements

Most common surgical physician assistant degrees

Bachelor's

42.3 %

Master's

33.0 %

Associate

8.5 %

Start to develop specific surgical physician assistant skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	28.62%
Patient Care	12.22%
Diagnostic Tests	5.78%
Physical Examinations	4.50%
Surgical Procedures	3.34%

Complete relevant surgical physician assistant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New surgical physician assistants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a surgical physician assistant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real surgical physician assistant resumes.

Research surgical physician assistant duties and responsibilities

Manage s/p cardiac bypass in recovery unit, ICU and step down units.
Work closely with patients to manage their depression and anxiety beginning with initial diagnosis to med-initiation and follow-up care.
Certify CPR and basic first aid instructor trainer.
Perform debridement, incision and drainage, wind VAC, ostomy care.

Prepare your surgical physician assistant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your surgical physician assistant resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a surgical physician assistant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Surgical Physician Assistant Resume templates

Build a professional Surgical Physician Assistant resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Surgical Physician Assistant resume.

Apply for surgical physician assistant jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a surgical physician assistant job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

Average surgical physician assistant salary

The average Surgical Physician Assistant salary in the United States is $153,482 per year or $74 per hour. Surgical physician assistant salaries range between $89,000 and $264,000 per year.

Average Surgical Physician Assistant Salary

$153,482 Yearly

$73.79 hourly

How do surgical physician assistants rate their job?