For someone who is in the latter portion of his working career, it’s interesting—reinvigorating, really—to see the world through the eyes of a highly motivated Millennial who’s preparing to enter the job market.

In this case, those eyes belong to houseguest Priscilla Bryant, from Mountain Home, Idaho, who is staying with my wife Kathleen and I while completing a five-week clinical rotation—the last of eight she says are required as part of her studies to become a certified physician assistant.

Priscilla is a good friend and former classmate of a niece of mine, in the Idaho State University Department of Physician Assistant Studies, who also is wrapping up her education to become a physician assistant and has accepted a job in Wenatchee. 

Priscilla turns 27 this week, having been born the same year that I joined the Journal, after 10 years as a reporter with the Spokane Daily Chronicle and The Spokesman-Review. She’s bright, spunky, and confident, yet also beset by the anxieties that all young people face as they prepare to enter the job market.

She’s due to complete her studies and exams shortly, and—without a job secured yet, unlike my niece—has been sending out dozens of resumes and reaching out to potential employers in numerous cities that fit her desired lifestyle. 

Though she’d never been to Spokane until arriving here for her clinical rotation in the Rockwood OB/GYN Center, she likes the area and would be thrilled to find a position here. With an interview lined up this week, the chances of that look promising. Long term, she’d prefer to work in a dermatology practice, but she understands that she might need to gain experience in other areas of medicine before earning a position in her chosen specialty.

The stresses of job hunting have caused her mood to shift wildly, depending on the day, which isn’t surprising for someone her age burdened with a mountain of college debt to pay off. Her career prospects, though, look exciting from my perspective.

Various news media reports, and data from a recently released annual report by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, suggest that physician assistants—now numbering about 109,000 in the U.S.—increasingly are being called upon to fill in gaps created by a worsening nationwide doctor shortage. The massive wave of new patients seeking care now that they have health insurance under the Affordable Care Act no doubt is contributing to that heightened demand. The commission report also indicates that a large number of physician assistants are entering specialty fields.

Unlike many of her less well-educated peers, Priscilla is likely to be offered a starting salary approaching six figures, not including signing bonuses and other financial inducements that seem to be a standard part of the PA hiring process.

Millennials are portrayed stereotypically as being lazy, entitled, and unreliable, with little career motivation. Our gracious houseguest, it’s satisfying to say, demonstrates clearly that not all stereotypes are accurate.