Physician assistant phone screen questions: PA-C, state license, DEA, practice agreement and pay
On this page
- What do you need from the client before the call?
- How should a 20-minute physician assistant phone screen run?
- Which knockout questions come first?
- How do you check PA-C, license, DEA and the compact?
- How do you get a shift snapshot in five minutes?
- How do you test motivation on a PA phone screen?
- What did they sign, and does it block the move?
- How do you ask about pay without asking salary history?
- When should you advance a physician assistant?
- What should you not ask a physician assistant on a phone screen?
- Questions people ask
A physician assistant phone screen is a 20 to 25 minute recruiter call that settles whether the PA can be certified, licensed, credentialed and working in this seat by the start date. Confirm current NCCPA certification (PA-C), an active license in the job's state or an application with a date, a DEA registration for that state if the role prescribes controlled substances, and that the practice agreement or supervision arrangement fits how they practice. Then get a snapshot of a recent shift, why they want to move, what they signed with their current employer, and the pay structure they need. As of November 2026 the PA Licensure Compact is not issuing privileges yet, so plan on a state license.
This page is the first-call version. The deeper bank, with seat types, procedure questions and the ways PA experience gets overstated, is in physician assistant screening questions. If the client will take either profession, the credentials and questions for nurse practitioners are in nurse practitioner screening questions, and the general call structure is in phone screen questions for recruiters.
What do you need from the client before the call?
PA placements rarely fail on clinical skill. They fail on a start date nobody tested against credentialing, a physician arrangement the PA did not expect, or call nobody mentioned. Get these facts in the intake; the physician assistant job description template shows where each belongs in the posting.
| Fact | Why the screen needs it | A usable answer (example) |
|---|---|---|
| Specialty, setting and volume | An urgent care PA and a hospitalist PA share a title and little else. | "Urgent care, adults and children, about 30 patients per provider on a weekday." |
| The physician arrangement | Decides whether the PA's expectations about autonomy fit the practice and the state. | "Collaborating physician on site three days a week, by phone the rest; chart review monthly." |
| Day-one procedures | You screen for what the seat needs, not every procedure on the resume. | "Laceration repair, incision and drainage, splinting, digital blocks." |
| Controlled substances | A DEA registration is tied to a state, so a new state means a new registration. | "Schedules II to V; DEA registration for this state before the first shift." |
| Credentialing and start date | Hospital privileges and payer enrollment set the real start date, not the offer. | "Our credentialing office asks for the application within a week of the offer." |
| Schedule, call and sites | Weekends, call and floating end placements late when nobody asked early. | "Four 10-hour shifts, one weekend in four, no overnight call, two sites." |
| Pay structure | Lets you test fit as an expectation instead of asking pay history. | "Salary plus a productivity bonus above a threshold, CME allowance, malpractice covered." |
How should a 20-minute physician assistant phone screen run?
- Opening (1 to 2 minutes). Who you are, the seat in two sentences (setting, specialty, schedule, physician arrangement), how long the call will take, and your consent line if you record.
- Knockouts (5 to 6 minutes). PA-C, state license, DEA, board actions, the arrangement, the schedule, work authorization.
- Shift snapshot (5 to 6 minutes). One recent shift, the day-one procedures, when they call the physician.
- Charting and productivity (2 to 3 minutes). The EHR, how soon charts close, how productivity was measured.
- Motivation and covenants (3 minutes). Why now, what they signed, notice and malpractice coverage.
- Pay expectations, credentialing and the next step (3 minutes). The structure and number they need, documents for credentialing, interview availability, consent to submit.
The timings are a planning example. If a knockout fails, say so kindly and end the call or move the PA to a seat that fits.
Which knockout questions come first?
| Question | What a good answer sounds like | Weak answer or red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Are you currently NCCPA certified, and when does your certification expire? | "PA-C, current through December 2028; my CME is logged for this period." Knows where they are in the cycle. | Unsure of the year, or describes a lapse "for a few months" without saying whether it was reinstated. |
| Do you hold an active license in [state]? If not, when did you apply and what is still outstanding? | A license they can name, or an application date and the one item missing. | Has not looked at the state's process for a start date six weeks away. |
| Do you hold a DEA registration for [state]? | Names the state, and knows a move to a new state needs its own registration. | "My DEA covers me anywhere." |
| Has any license, certification, registration or hospital privilege you've held been restricted, suspended, put on probation or surrendered? | A plain no, or a plain account with dates. Credentialing will find it either way. | A long pause, then "nothing formal". |
| Here you would work with [the physician arrangement]. Does that fit how you want to practice? | Clear about what they need from the physician and how often. | Expects to work with no agreement in a practice or state that requires one. |
| The schedule is [shifts, weekends, call, sites]. Can you work it as stated? | A yes to each part, or one clear exception now. | Negotiates call before hearing the rest of the role. |
| Are you legally authorized to work in the US, and will you now or in the future need visa sponsorship? | A direct answer to both parts. | None from the answer itself. Ask the same two parts of everyone. |
The authorization wording follows the Justice Department's Immigrant and Employee Rights Section FAQ, which says an employer may generally ask applicants whether they have the legal right to work in the United States and whether they will need sponsorship for an employment visa (as of November 2026).
How do you check PA-C, license, DEA and the compact?
Write down what the candidate says on the call, then check each item yourself before you submit. Your check is a pre-screen; the employer's credentialing team still does primary-source verification. Details below are from each source's own site, as of November 2026.
| Item | Where to check | What to note on the screen |
|---|---|---|
| PA-C certification | NCCPA's verification tool | NCCPA's maintenance page describes a 10-year process in five two-year cycles: 100 CME credits and the maintenance fee by December 31 of the expiration year, and a pass on PANRE or the longitudinal PANRE-LA by the end of year 10. |
| State license | The medical board or PA board for the job's state | Status, expiration and any discipline, plus the supervision or collaboration rules the state sets. The screening page gives two state examples. |
| DEA registration | The candidate's registration certificate, then credentialing | The DEA's registration FAQ says a practitioner needs a separate DEA registration in each state. |
| NPI | NPPES NPI Registry | That the name and taxonomy match the resume. |
| Federal exclusions | OIG exclusions search | The HHS Office of Inspector General says health care entities should routinely check the list for new hires, because excluded people cannot be paid by federal health care programs for the care they furnish. |
The compact. The PA Licensure Compact reported 30 member states in its October 29, 2026 newsletter, after Pennsylvania's HB 1961 was enacted on October 22, and its FAQ says compact privileges are projected to be available in early 2027. Until then, a PA moving states needs that state's license. When privileges arrive, the FAQ says the PA must keep NCCPA certification current and follow each privilege state's scope of practice and any required supervision agreement.
New graduates. NCCPA's certification page says the earliest a graduate of an ARC-PA accredited program can take the PANCE is seven days after program completion, and that the PA-C marks come only after passing it. Ask for the completion date, the exam date and the license plan, and let the client decide whether the start date holds.
How do you get a shift snapshot in five minutes?
On a first call you only need to know whether the candidate's recent work looks like this seat. Four questions do it; the full procedure bank belongs in the screening page or the clinic's interview.
- "Walk me through your last full shift: how many patients, which complaints, and what you handled yourself." Good: a number, a mix and an order ("28 patients, mostly respiratory and minor injuries; two sent to the ED"). Weak: a description of the clinic, not the shift.
- "Of [the client's day-one procedures], which have you done in the last six months, and about how often?" Good: a yes or no to each, with frequency. Weak: yes to everything, with no recent dates.
- "When did you last call your physician about a patient, and why that one?" Good: a specific case and what made it outside their comfort. Weak: never calls, or calls about every patient.
- "How many charts were still open at the end of your last week?" Good: an honest number and how they keep up. Weak: routinely days behind, which holds up billing.
Write the answers in the candidate's words. If the PA is placed, the 30-60-90 day plan for physician assistants picks up from here: credentialing, templates, the first chart reviews and a full schedule.
How do you test motivation on a PA phone screen?
| Question | What a good answer sounds like | Weak answer or red flag |
|---|---|---|
| What has you open to a move right now? | A specific push or pull: the schedule, a specialty they want, more procedures, a physician relationship that changed. | Only complaints about the practice, or the same problem this seat has. |
| Why this specialty or setting? | Something concrete about the patients, the pace or the team. | No idea which practice this is, for an applicant. |
| If your practice offered more to stay, would you? | "No", with a reason. | "Probably, if they matched it." That is counteroffer risk; tell the client. |
| Where else are you interviewing, and how far along? | Settings and stages, names optional. | "Nowhere", then an offer deadline appears next week. |
What did they sign, and does it block the move?
Ask early, because a covenant can end a placement after weeks of credentialing: "Did you sign a non-compete, a patient non-solicitation clause or a notice period, and would you share the agreement with the client's counsel?" Then ask: "Is your malpractice policy claims-made or occurrence, and who pays for tail coverage if you leave?" Do not interpret the answer for the candidate; non-compete questions for candidates covers what to ask and what to pass to counsel.
State law varies and has changed for clinicians. In Texas, for example, SB 1318 (effective September 1, 2025, for covenants entered into or renewed from that date) makes a physician assistant's non-compete enforceable only if it offers a buyout no greater than the PA's total annual salary and wages, ends within one year, covers no more than a five-mile radius, and is clearly and conspicuously in writing. The Texas non-compete page and the other state pages cover the rest. There is no federal ban: the FTC voted on September 5, 2025 to drop its appeals and accept the vacatur of its 2024 rule, and on September 10, 2025 its chairman sent warning letters urging large healthcare employers and staffing firms to review their noncompetes. This is general information, not legal advice.
How do you ask about pay without asking salary history?
Many states and cities bar employers and their agents from asking about current or past pay, as of November 2026; the list is in salary history ban states. Ask what the PA needs from this role instead.
| Ask this | Not this |
|---|---|
| "What base salary or hourly rate do you need for this move?" | "What are you making now?" |
| "This seat pays [range] plus [productivity bonus, CME allowance]. Does that structure work for you?" | "Send me your last contract so I can beat it." |
| "Would you rather have a higher base or a productivity bonus?" | "How much did your RVU bonus pay last year?" |
| "What else has to be in the offer: schedule, call, CME, malpractice?" | "What raise did you get this year?" |
If the candidate volunteers a number, leave it out of your notes and the submittal and record the expectation instead. Check the law where the job is located.
When should you advance a physician assistant?
Knockouts (all must be yes)
- Current PA-C, verified with NCCPA, or a new graduate whose exam and license dates fit the start date the client accepts.
- An active license in the job's state, or an application the client's timeline can absorb.
- DEA registration for the state, if the role prescribes controlled substances, or a plan the client accepts.
- No undisclosed board action, and not on the OIG exclusion list.
- The physician arrangement and the schedule, including call, work as stated.
- Work authorization answered, and sponsorship needs known.
| Area | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Specialty match | Different setting and patients | Adjacent setting | Same setting, similar volume and acuity |
| Procedure recency | Training only | Some day-one procedures, not recently | Day-one procedures done in the last six months |
| Judgment on escalation | Never or always calls | Reasonable when prompted | Specific case, clear threshold |
| Charting | Routinely days behind | Same day most days | Same day, with a habit that keeps it there |
| Start readiness | Covenant or license unknown | One open item with a date | Covenant reviewed, license and DEA in hand |
An example rule to agree with the client: advance when every knockout passes, specialty match and procedure recency score at least 2, and two other areas score 3. Hold when one fact, such as a license application or a covenant review, can be settled in days. Decline when a knockout fails. Track license and DEA expirations from day one; professional license verification covers how to record what you checked.
What should you not ask a physician assistant on a phone screen?
The EEOC says pre-employment inquiries should be limited to what is needed to judge whether someone is qualified, and its guidance on pre-employment questions allows asking whether a candidate can perform the job's functions, with or without reasonable accommodation, but not disability-related questions before an offer.
| Do not ask | Ask instead |
|---|---|
| "Do you have kids who make weekend call hard?" | "The seat takes one weekend in four. Can you work that schedule?" |
| "Any health issues that would make 12-hour shifts tough?" | "Shifts are 12 hours, mostly on your feet. Can you do that, with or without accommodation?" |
| "When did you finish PA school?" | "How many years have you practiced as a PA in this specialty?" |
| "Where are you from originally?" | The two-part work authorization question, asked of everyone. |
| "Have you ever been sued, or have you used drugs?" | Nothing on the screen. Malpractice and substance use questions belong on the credentialing application, in the wording the employer's counsel approved. |
If you run provider screens back to back, a question guide that keeps the certification, license and DEA questions pinned until they are asked stops any from being skipped. If you take the calls through your computer, Interview Signal does that from the job description and writes the notes while you listen, with no bot in the call.
Questions people ask
What should I ask a physician assistant on a phone screen?
Start with the knockouts: whether they are currently NCCPA certified (PA-C) and until when, whether they hold a license in the job's state or when they applied, whether they have a DEA registration for that state if the role prescribes controlled substances, and whether the practice agreement and schedule fit. Then ask them to walk through their last full shift, which of the clinic's day-one procedures they have done recently, why they want to move, what they signed with their current employer, and the pay structure they need.
Can a physician assistant use the PA Licensure Compact to start in a new state?
Not yet. As of November 2026 the PA Licensure Compact lists 30 member states, but its FAQ says compact privileges are projected to be available in early 2027, so a PA still needs a license in the job's state. Once privileges are issued, a PA using one must keep NCCPA certification current and follow the practice laws and any supervision agreement of the state where they work.
Can a new graduate physician assistant be submitted before passing the PANCE?
You can screen them, but be clear about timing. NCCPA says the earliest a graduate of an ARC-PA accredited program can take the PANCE is seven days after program completion, and the PA-C credential comes only after passing it. The state license comes after that, so ask for the program completion date, the PANCE date and the license plan, and let the client decide whether the start date works.
How long should a physician assistant phone screen take?
Plan on 20 to 25 minutes. Use the first five or six minutes for the certification, license, DEA, practice agreement and schedule knockouts, about ten minutes for a snapshot of a recent shift and charting, and the rest for motivation, covenants, pay expectations and the credentialing timeline.