These are the ATS keywords, credentials, and software terms that recur across current physician assistant job descriptions — organized so you can scan for what your resume is missing. Placement matters as much as presence: an ATS keyword buried in a skills list ranks lower than the same term used in context inside an experience bullet.

Title variants

  • Physician Assistant
  • PA
  • PA-C
  • Physician Associate
  • Certified Physician Assistant
  • Emergency Medicine PA
  • Surgical PA
  • Hospital Medicine PA
  • Cardiology PA
  • Orthopaedic PA
  • Primary Care PA
  • Locum PA
  • Hospitalist PA
  • PA-C CAQ-EM
  • Lead PA

Credentials

  • PA-C
  • PANCE
  • NCCPA
  • CAQ-EM
  • CAQ-HM
  • CAQ-ORS
  • CAQ-CV
  • CAQ-DERM
  • CAQ-PSY
  • CSFA
  • MRCPAssoc
  • FPA
  • GMC registration
  • DEA
  • ACLS
  • ATLS
  • PALS
  • BLS
  • NRP
  • ALSO

Clinical scope

  • H&P
  • history and physical
  • differential diagnosis
  • diagnostic ordering
  • interpretation
  • EHR
  • Epic
  • Cerner
  • prior authorisation
  • referral
  • patient encounter
  • POCUS
  • point of care ultrasound
  • eFAST
  • laceration repair
  • I&D
  • incision and drainage
  • joint aspiration
  • lumbar puncture
  • intubation
  • RSI
  • central line
  • chest tube
  • thoracentesis
  • paracentesis
  • first surgical assist
  • suturing

Specialty

  • emergency medicine
  • trauma
  • STEMI
  • sepsis
  • NIHSS
  • laparoscopic
  • robotic
  • da Vinci
  • cardiology
  • echo
  • anticoagulation
  • hospital medicine
  • chronic disease management
  • HEDIS
  • orthopaedics
  • fracture
  • casting

Long-tail phrases

  • physician assistant resume
  • PA-C resume
  • physician assistant cv
  • how to write a physician assistant resume
  • physician assistant resume examples
  • PA resume 2026
  • emergency medicine PA resume
  • surgical PA resume
  • physician associate cv uk
  • physician assistant skills
  • PA-C resume template

Pasting these terms into your resume verbatim without matching context can read as keyword stuffing to a human reviewer, even if it passes the ATS. The full Physician Assistant resume guide shows where each category belongs and how to work it into real experience bullets.