Orthopedic Physician Assistant Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Orthopedic Physician Assistant resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
As an orthopedic physician assistant, you’ll work alongside orthopedic surgeons in a variety of settings—from private offices to hospitals to sports clinics. Orthopedic surgeons specialize in treating bone, muscle, and joint injuries, so you’ll likely see a variety of patients with problems like arthritis, fractures, sprains and strains, osteomyelitis, and more. You’ll perform physical exams, take X-rays, assist with surgery, write prescriptions, and more.
Because orthopedic medicine is such a specialized field, employers tend to look for candidates with experience or training specifically in orthopedics. If you’re a recent graduate or have been working in another field for awhile, you may need to beef up your resume with some relevant experience before applying.
Follow these tips and resume example to write a compelling orthopedic physician assistant resume that will get you noticed by recruiters.
How to Write an Orthopedic Physician Assistant Resume
Here’s how to write an resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
When you’re writing your bullet points, it’s important to focus on the results of your work. So rather than saying you “provided care to patients,” you could say that you “provided care to patients in a large orthopedic clinic, resulting in a 98% satisfaction rate among patients.”
The second bullet point is much stronger because it provides specific details about the project and the outcome. And it also includes a quantifiable result—98% satisfaction rate!
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you apply for a job as an orthopedic physician assistant, your resume is likely to be scanned by an applicant tracking system (ATS) for certain keywords. This program looks for certain terms related to the job, like “orthopedics” and “surgery” in order to determine whether your skills are a match for the position. If your resume doesn’t have enough of the right terms, the ATS might discard your application.
The best way to make sure you have enough of the right keywords on your resume is to think about which skills and qualities are most important for the job you’re applying to and then use those words throughout your document. You can also use this list of common orthopedic physician assistant keywords as a starting point:
- Orthopedics
- Physical Therapy
- Manual Therapy
- Sports Medicine
- Sports Injuries
- Physiotherapy
- Orthopedic Manipulation
- Acute Care
- Healthcare
- Rehabilitation
- Medicine
- Rehabilitation Therapy
- Pediatrics
- Patient Safety
- Pediatrics Rehabilitation
- Primary Care
- Hospitals
- Acute Care Medicine
- Arthroscopy
- Surgery
- Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
- Intermittent Positive Pressure Breathing (IPPB)
- Electronic Medical Record (EMR)
- Orthopedic Surgery
- Health Education
- Chiropractic
- Clinical Research
- Home Care
- Medical Assisting
- Hospitals
Showcase Your Technical Skills
As an orthopedic physician assistant, you will need to be proficient in the use of various software programs and systems in order to effectively do your job. This might include experience with electronic health records (EHR) systems, medical billing and coding software, and patient scheduling software. Additionally, you will need to be familiar with orthopedic-specific software programs, such as those used for imaging and diagnostics.
Some of the most commonly used software programs and systems in the orthopedic field include: Cerner, Epic, McKesson, and Meditech.