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New Grad Navigator

An exclusive Fellow member benefit for PAs graduating in Spring/Summer 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 a cohort behind you. New Grad Navigator launches July 2026. Apply by June 30 to join the inaugural class.

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

Hear monthly from a PA who has navigated your exact situation in a live session. Topics are tailored to the choices and issues you’re facing, from starting out in your first job to clinical confidence and sustainable practice. Sessions are recorded and available on demand, so your schedule is never a barrier.

Small-Group Mentorship

Your cohort is a safe space, a career sounding board, and a source of real accountability. Guided by an experienced PA mentor and built around a tight-knit group of peers navigating the same year, it’s the space where you can be honest about what’s hard and strategic about what’s next.

Your Professional Home Base

Your network doesn’t have to start from scratch. This community is where your professional network begins and where it keeps growing. You’ll have a dedicated space in the AAPA Community to have guided discussions with PA experts; a curated resource library; and peers who will be valuable relationships long after your experience ends.

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.*

 

Here’s what you’ll get month by month.

This 14-month program is built around the real arc of your first year, not a textbook version of it.

Applications due: June 30, 2026
Cohort launch: July 2026
Program duration: 14 months

Month 1: From Student to Professional

Navigating the transition and tackling PANCE, licensure, job searching, and the emotional landscape of becoming a PA.

Month 2: Financial Wellness for New PAs

Compensation packages, loan repayment, budgeting, and planning for the long term.

Month 3: Your First Job

Onboarding, credentialing, building workplace relationships, and setting yourself up early.

Month 4: Behind the Chart

Documentation essentials, billing and coding basics, and the defensive documentation practices that protect you and your patients.

Month 5: Building Clinical Confidence

Managing uncertainty, recognizing your limits, and working through imposter syndrome.

Month 6: When the Conversation Gets Hard

Mastering patient communication, difficult news, conflict resolution, and setting boundaries with patients.

Months 7–13: Community, Growth, and Sustainability

Bimonthly sessions on social determinants of health, finding your clinical niche, quality improvement, and building a practice and a career you can sustain.

Month 14: Beyond Year One: Cohort Graduation

Career paths, leadership, advocacy, and the roads ahead, featuring a panel of PAs who have built careers beyond the exam room. Closes with cohort graduation and your transition into the Navigator alumni network.

You’ve been where they are. Now you can be who you needed.

AAPA is currently seeking PA mentors to help lead new PAs to success. Learn more about the commitment, eligibility, and responsibilities, and then sign up to support the next generation of your profession.

Become a Mentor

New Grad Navigator Frequently Asked Questions

Who can participate?

New Grad Navigator is open to PA graduates from the spring and summer 2026 class. Active AAPA Fellow membership is required for the duration of the program.

When does the New Grad Navigator start?

The inaugural class launches in July 2026. Apply by June 30 to be a part of this cohort.

How much does it cost?

As an exclusive benefit, New Grad Navigator is free to AAPA Fellow members.

I’m not a Fellow member. How do I join?

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.

I already have a job lined up. Can I still participate?

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.

Do I have to attend every session?

Full participation is how you get the most out of the program and it is required to earn CME credit. If CME is not your priority, full participation is still strongly encouraged.

Can I earn CME if I can’t attend the live sessions?

Yes. Sessions are recorded and available on demand in AAPA’s Learning Central.

What do I get for completing the program?
  • 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 a cohort 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.