| Course | PA 604 PA Prof Prac Seminar VI |
|---|---|
| Week | 2 |
| Paper type | Job offer comparison memo |
| Length | About 640 words, 4 pages |
| Format | Memo with APA 7 citations |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PA 604 Week 2
Memorandum
To: My own file, with a copy to my faculty advisor
From: New graduate PA
Date: November 6, 2026
Re: Two offers compared: rural family clinic and urban urgent care group, both in Minnesota
Rows Before Numbers
I chose the rows before I looked at either offer's figures, so that the comparison would be set by what matters to me rather than by what each employer chose to emphasize. The rows are: base pay, how any productivity pay is measured, who pays for liability coverage and of what type, protected time for documentation, continuing education allowance and days, paid time off, call and weekend duty, the restrictive covenant, notice period and support in the first months.
The Comparison
Table 1
The Two Offers on the Same Terms
| Term | Rural family clinic | Urban urgent care group |
|---|---|---|
| Base pay | $118,000 | $112,000 plus productivity |
| Productivity element | None in year one | Bonus above 3.2 patients per hour, measured monthly |
| Liability coverage | Occurrence policy, employer paid | Claims-made, employer paid; tail coverage not stated |
| Documentation time | 30 minutes protected daily | Not stated |
| CME allowance | $2,000 and 3 days | $1,500 and 2 days |
| Paid time off | 20 days | 15 days plus holidays |
| Call and weekends | One weekend in six, phone call only | Two weekend shifts a month, on site |
| Restrictive covenant | None | 15-mile, 2-year noncompete clause |
| Notice period | 60 days either side | 90 days employee, 30 days employer |
| First-month support | Physician on site daily; schedule starts at 12 patients | Not stated |
Note. Note. Figures are from the written offers dated October 28 and November 2. "Not stated" means the written offer is silent.
An Empty Cell Is a Finding
Three cells for the urgent care group are empty: documentation time, tail coverage and first-month support. An empty cell is not a neutral fact. A claims-made policy without tail coverage would leave me to buy coverage for past work if I leave, which can cost a large share of a year's premium. I have asked the recruiter in writing for all three.
Same Size of Week
The rural clinic expects 36 patient hours a week plus documentation time; the urgent care group schedules four 10-hour shifts and two weekend shifts a month. Converted to hours a year, the urgent care job is about 8 percent longer, so the hourly base is closer than the annual figures suggest. Productivity pay could close or widen the gap.
If the urgent care group's productivity bonus pays out in a typical month, the gap reverses. I cannot estimate how often that would happen without their past data, which I have also asked for.
What the Clinician Buys Back
The noncompete clause in the urgent care offer would, on its face, keep me out of urgent care within fifteen miles for two years. Minnesota made covenants not to compete void for agreements signed from mid-2023 onward, keeping such clauses only when someone sells a business or winds up a partnership or company (Minnesota Legislature, 2023). Whether the clause could ever be enforced against me is a question for an employment lawyer, not for this memo; I would ask for it to be removed in any case, because a contract should not carry a term the statute's text declares void.
Name the Missing Answer
Until the urgent care group answers the three questions above, the comparison is incomplete. On current information the rural clinic offers more protection in the first year. Liability coverage and documentation time are the deciding rows; pay is close once hours are counted.
Where Supervision Fits
Both employers state that a physician will be available, which matters because Minnesota requires a new PA to complete 2,080 hours in a setting where I collaborate with physicians. The rural clinic is a clinic attached to a small hospital; I have asked the board whether that setting qualifies as integrated (Minnesota Legislature, 2025).
References
Minnesota Legislature. (2023). Minnesota Statutes, section 181.988: Covenants not to compete void in employment agreements. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/181.988
Minnesota Legislature. (2025). Minnesota Statutes, chapter 147A: Physician assistants. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/147A
The Chamberlain PA 604 Week 2 instructions
The second week asks for a memo comparing two offers, mostly a table with prose around it. Choose the rows before you look at the numbers, so the comparison reflects what matters rather than what each employer emphasized. Typical rows include base pay, how any productivity pay is measured, who pays for liability coverage and of what type, protected documentation time, continuing education support, paid time off, call duties, restrictive covenants and notice periods. Treat an empty cell as a finding and say what you will ask. Convert the offers to the same size of working week before comparing pay. Explain any term the clinician would have to buy back, such as tail coverage. End by naming the answers still missing, and make a recommendation conditional on them where the course asks for one.
How the PA 604 Week 2 example is put together
The memo is addressed to the writer's own file with a copy to a faculty advisor and dated November 6, 2026. An opening section lists the ten rows chosen before reading the offers. The table compares $118,000 with no first-year bonus against $112,000 plus a bonus above 3.2 patients an hour, an occurrence policy against claims-made with tail unstated, 30 protected minutes daily against nothing stated, CME of $2,000 and 3 days against $1,500 and 2 days, plus paid time off, call, a 15-mile noncompete, notice periods and first-month support. A section treats three blank cells as findings and reports a written request. A section converts the urgent care schedule to about 8 percent more hours. The covenant section cites Minnesota Legislature (2023) on void noncompetes and leaves enforceability to a lawyer. A closing section ties collaborative hours to chapter 147A (Minnesota Legislature, 2025).
PA 604 Week 2 rubric: what full points look like
Points in this memo depend first on the rows. A comparison built from whatever each offer highlights, with no rows chosen in advance, loses the most because the employers have set the terms. Next comes treating empty cells as zeros or ignoring them; graders expect a missing answer to be named and asked for. Comparing annual pay without adjusting for hours costs a further share. Faculty reward a clear account of liability coverage type and any tail cost the clinician would carry. Testing a restrictive covenant against the relevant state law, without overstating legal conclusions, earns credit. A recommendation stated conditionally on missing answers scores better than an unconditional one. Memo format and APA citations for any law cited close the rubric.
Common PA 604 Week 2 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Offer comparisons most often go wrong by leading with salary and ending there. Another frequent problem is overlooking the liability policy type, which can cost thousands when leaving a claims-made job. Some memos also accept a blank in an offer as if it meant the benefit exists. If you have your own offers, or your section supplies one offer and a described alternative, send the terms; a memo written for you would choose the rows first, compare both offers on the same terms, treat blanks as findings, adjust for hours and state what you still need to know. If your state has different covenant rules, the memo would cite that state's law instead.
Get a PA-604 Week 2 example written to your instructions
Send both offer documents as your section supplied them, or the assignment page if your classroom expects you to build the pair yourself, along with the rubric. A custom example memo is written to those instructions and returns inside 24-48h, the first one free, as something to read next to your own table.
More PA 604 papers and MPAS samples
- PA 604 Week 1: Outside-Support Habit Post
- PA 604 Week 3: Contract Clause Analysis
- PA 604 Week 4: Collaboration Agreement Outline
- PA 604 Week 5: Productivity Expectation Review
- PA 604 Week 6: Onboarding Plan
- PA 604 Week 7: First Quarter Goals
- PA 604 Week 8: CME and Recertification Plan
- PA 603 Week 2: Certification Requirement Brief
- PA 602 Week 2: Error Sequence Timeline
- PA 601 Week 2: Clinic Day Plan
- PA 541 Week 2: Clinical Uncertainty Statement
PA 604 Week 2 questions, answered
Does the memo have to recommend one of the two?
Some sections want a recommendation and some want only the analysis, so build to what yours published. Where one is wanted, the pattern that scores states it conditionally: this offer, unless the productivity element turns out to be counted monthly, in which case the other. A conditional answer shows the reading. An unconditional one usually hides a guess.
What if my section supplies only one offer?
Then the second gets built, and the assignment usually says how: a published range, a classmate's, or a described alternative in another setting. The example labels every constructed figure as constructed and keeps the built offer simpler than the real one, because inventing detail on both sides turns the memo into fiction with a table in it.
How do I compare a productivity element I cannot predict?
By describing how it is calculated instead of guessing the outcome. What counts toward it, what has to be passed before anything is paid, how often the count resets, and whether a slow first year carries forward are all readable from the document. A memo explaining that arithmetic scores better than one asserting a number nobody could stand behind.
Where can I find a free PA 604 Week 2 sample paper?
A complete PA 604 Week 2 memo comparing a rural clinic offer with an urgent care offer on ten preset rows, with empty cells treated as findings, is on this page.
Why does the PA 604 Week 2 sample flag the urgent care liability coverage?
The policy is claims-made and the offer says nothing about tail coverage, which could leave the PA paying for coverage of past work after leaving.