New Grad Navigator
An exclusive Fellow member benefit for PAs graduating in 2026
You made it through PA school. But your first year as a PA is a whole different type of education.
School taught you medicine. Nobody taught you what it actually feels like to be a PA. New Grad Navigator is the missing piece: a community built for exactly this moment.
Start your first year with New Grad Navigator by your side. The program launches August 2026.
For Fellow members, this is included at no additional cost. Not a member? Get 50% off Fellow membership with code NEWGRAD.
Here’s what’s in your corner.
Most PAs spend years building what New Grad Navigator gives you in one.
PA-Led Presentations
Mentorship
Your Professional Home Base
Here’s what’s in it for you.
Everything you’ve been looking for in one place.
Confidence & Readiness
Build the clinical confidence your patients need.
Mentorship & Guidance
Stop wondering. Start asking someone who’s been there.
Community & Belonging
Build a network that shows up for you beyond year one.
Career & Growth
Become the kind of PA you want to be — for yourself and your patients.
Learning & CME
Earn up to 15 AAPA Category 1 CME credits and keep up to date.*
Get PA-led education designed for new PAs.
Live sessions, practical insights, and CME credit* along the way.
The New PA Playbook: Professional Identity, Career Strategy, and Workplace Success
Set your foundation as you learn to navigate the emotional transition from student to clinician, establish yourself professionally, integrate into your healthcare team, and build resilience.
Speakers: Clay W. Walker, MSPA, PA-C, CPAAPA and Daniel P. Champigny, MPAS, PA-C
Vital Financial Principles for New Graduates
Get your finances in order before your first paycheck with practical guidance on budgeting, evaluating compensation packages, building an emergency fund, and establishing long-term wealth habits.
Speaker: Tracy Bingaman, MSPAS, PA-C
From Paperwork to Practice: Credentialing and Onboarding
Navigate the systems behind your first days at work with this walkthrough of credentialing, onboarding, and workplace integration. Learn how to build relationships with your healthcare team and establish sustainable practices from the start.
Speaker: Kim Ketchersid, MMSc, PA-C
Documentation, Billing, and Reimbursement: A Primer for New PAs
Master the essentials and best practices of clinical documentation. Understand how documentation serves to help communication, malpractice protection, and appropriate payment.
Speakers: Sondra DePalma, DHSc, PA-C, DFAAPA and Joe Ciavarro, DMSc, MBA, PA-C, DFAAPA
Confidence, Complexity, and the Power of Asking
Address imposter syndrome head-on. Learn strategies for managing complex patients, making decisions under uncertainty, and knowing when and how to ask for help in ways that protect your patients and your reputation.
Speaker: Clinton Billhorn, PA-C, CAQ-HM
Mastering Difficult Patient Conversations: Communication, Conflict, and Boundaries
Develop critical communication skills you weren’t taught in school. Learn structured approaches for managing emotionally charged conversations, de-escalating conflict, and setting professional boundaries with patients.
Speaker: Whitney Dailey, DMSc, MHS, PA-C
More Than Medicine: How Social Determinants of Health Shape Outcomes
Explore how social, structural, and systemic factors influence health outcomes. Develop practical screening and intervention strategies for addressing social determinants in your clinical setting.
Speaker: Katie Ganser, MS, MPAS
Growing Your Professional Voice
Identify your clinical niche, explore quality improvement, and discover how to contribute to evidence-based practice. This session equips you to grow beyond your job description and shape your career intentionally.
Speaker: Jen Vonderau, MMS, PA-C
Sustaining Your Career: Burnout, Wellness, and Building Resilience
Reflect on year one and build sustainable practices. Examine burnout from an evidence-based perspective, explore work-system factors, and begin to develop an individualized wellness plan for the long term.
Speaker: Courtney A. Corboy, PA-C
Career Growth and Opportunities: Beyond Your First Year
A panel of PA leaders discusses diverse career pathways, from clinical advancement to leadership, advocacy, education, and beyond. Leave with concrete next steps for year two and beyond.
Panel Moderator: Jennifer M. Kolb, DMSc, PA-C, DFAAPA
Panelists: Jonathan Baker, PA-C, DFAAPA and Kevin N. Williams, MS, MPAS, PA-C
Meet The Speakers
New Grad Navigator Frequently Asked Questions
New Grad Navigator is open to recent PA graduates. Active AAPA Fellow membership is required for the duration of the program.
As an exclusive benefit, New Grad Navigator is free to AAPA Fellow members.
When you register for the New Grad Navigator, you’ll have the option to join AAPA as a Fellow member using code NEWGRAD for 50% off.
Yes! New Grad Navigator is not a job placement program. It is designed to support you through your first year in practice regardless of your employment status.
Sessions are recorded and available on demand in AAPA’s Learning Central so you can learn when it’s convenient for you.
- Connections with a cohort of peers and an experienced PA mentor
- Access to the Navigator alumni network, a permanent professional community of PAs who entered practice together
- Earn up to 15 AAPA Category 1 CME credits.*
- A program completion certificate
Start your first year with New Grad Navigator behind you.
*This program is not yet approved for CME credit. An application for 15 AAPA Category 1 CME credits is planned through the AAPA Review Panel. The final number of approved credits is pending.