We check every program in our residency directory against information published by the program itself. When a program does not publish a detail, we tell you that too.
Reliable information about postgraduate PA residencies and fellowships is surprisingly difficult to find. There is no single official directory, no Match Day, and no NRMP. One website may list 80 programs, another 130, and another simply "over 100." Most do not tell you when anyone last checked the information.
That is why we built our own directory.
PA School Finder now tracks more than 250 postgraduate PA residency and fellowship programs across 40+ states. We verify the directory every week so applicants can see which programs still exist, what they offer, and where the published information has gaps.
Browse the PA residency directory
You can search the directory in two ways:
- Use the PA Residency Match tool to filter programs by specialty, state, and length. This is the best place to begin if you already have a general idea of what you want.
- Open the full residency directory to browse every program on a map. This view is useful when you are still considering different specialties or locations.
What is a PA residency?
A postgraduate PA residency is usually a paid, 12-month training program completed after PA school. It focuses on one specialty at one institution. Some programs use the word "fellowship" instead, but the two terms are used interchangeably and do not describe different types of training.
You are an employee rather than a student. The program pays a salary, provides benefits, and awards a certificate when you finish. It does not lead to another degree, and you do not need a residency to practice as a PA.
Do you need a PA residency?
No. A residency is optional, and most practicing PAs never completed one. I did not either. You can become licensed and employed after passing the PANCE without adding another year of formal training. By the tenth year of your career, employers are unlikely to ask whether you completed a residency.
The financial tradeoff deserves more attention than it usually gets. Most residencies pay a stipend, but that stipend is lower than a typical first-year PA salary. Among programs that publish compensation in our directory, the current median is in the mid-$70,000s. The directory displays the current figure because stipends change as programs update their information.
The difference between that stipend and the salary you could earn in a regular PA position is the true cost of the residency. Before applying, ask whether the program will help you reach a specific job or specialty that would otherwise be difficult to enter.
When a residency may be worth it
- A residency can provide a direct route into a high-acuity specialty such as emergency medicine, critical care, cardiothoracic surgery, or neonatology. Employers in these fields are often less comfortable training a brand-new graduate from the beginning, which is also why many residencies concentrate in these specialties.
- For an experienced PA changing specialties, a structured year may offer a clearer path from an area such as family practice into surgery.
- Academic PA positions and program director roles increasingly favor applicants who have completed postgraduate training.
- Some people learn best with a formal curriculum, a program director, protected training time, and regular rounds. Choosing that structure is a reasonable professional decision, not a sign that you are unprepared.
A residency may make less sense if you want to work in primary care, already have a strong job offer with meaningful mentorship, or need to begin earning a full PA salary because of student loans. You can take the job and specialize later. Thousands of PAs have built their careers that way.
What the directory tracks
When a program publishes the information, our directory records its specialty, city and state, program length, positions per year, stipend, benefits, credential awarded, application deadline, start date, eligibility requirements, and a direct link to the program's own page.
We also make missing information visible rather than filling it with assumptions.
A blank stipend field means the program has not published a stipend. It does not mean the program pays $0. We do not convert an hourly rate into an estimated annual salary. If a health system publishes one stipend for six fellowships, we label the amount as shared instead of assigning it to a single program. If a program page still displays a deadline from two years ago, we leave the field blank rather than changing the year ourselves.
We leave those fields blank because the program's published information does not support a reliable answer.
Where PA residency programs are located
Emergency medicine is the largest specialty in the directory. Critical care and trauma come next, followed by primary and urgent care, then surgery.
The geographic distribution is uneven. Pennsylvania and North Carolina have the largest concentrations, while several states have no programs at all. When a state has none, the directory says so directly.
The Department of Veterans Affairs also operates a national network of PA residencies in emergency medicine, primary care, mental health, and geriatrics. These programs are located at VA facilities in cities including Brooklyn, Wichita, and Albuquerque. They are designed specifically for PAs, pay well, and are missing from nearly every other online list. They are included in ours.
How to evaluate a PA residency program
- Confirm whether the published stipend is annual. Some programs list a monthly amount or an hourly rate. A figure such as "$4,500" means something very different depending on the time period it covers. Our directory labels the format when the program provides it.
- Check the year attached to the application deadline. Hospital websites frequently remain online after their dates have expired. If a deadline looks unusual, contact the program before building your application schedule around it.
- Verify that PAs are eligible. Many programs use labels such as "APP fellowship" or "advanced practice fellowship" even though they accept nurse practitioners only. We have rejected several programs that initially appeared PA-friendly, including an "Assistant Residency" that turned out to be for athletic trainers. Every listing in our directory includes a PA eligibility statement quoted from the program's own website.
- Put accreditation in context. Only 17 postgraduate programs in the country hold ARC-PA accreditation. Unlike PA school accreditation, a postgraduate program's lack of accreditation is normal and is not automatically a warning sign.
How the directory stays current
Each week, an automated process reconciles the directory with four national sources: ARC-PA, the accreditor; APPAP, the association; CAPP, the second accreditor; and the VA's roster.
We also revisit a rotating quarter of the programs on their own websites, test every outbound link, and flag expired application deadlines. This process checks each program directly rather than relying only on national lists.
The directory maintains a separate list of health systems we have not yet reviewed. Some of the strongest programs we have found appear on no national roster at all. We discovered them by searching hospital websites individually. Continuing that work is how we find new programs and prevent the directory from becoming outdated.
Is a PA residency right for you?
A residency makes sense when it gives you a practical route into a specialty or role that would otherwise be difficult to reach. Fear that you are not ready to practice is a much weaker reason. Most PAs begin their careers without postgraduate training, and you may be more prepared than you think.
If you decide to pursue a residency, you should be able to find out what each program pays, when its application is due, and whether it accepts PAs. That is the purpose of this directory.
If you know of a program we are missing or notice information that looks wrong, please tell us. A directory this specific stays accurate when the people using it point out changes.
Thanks for reading,
Stephen Pasquini, PA-C
