Capstone Recruiting Advisors recruits permanent nurse practitioners and physician assistants for practices, groups, membership medicine, PE platforms and hospitals. We focus on the APPs who are hardest to find on your own: providers with several years of experience, a subspecialty skill set and a track record of seeing patients and producing revenue.
Plenty of applicants, few proven producers
The APP workforce is growing fast. More than 385,000 NPs are licensed in the U.S. (AANP), a record 12,400 PAs earned board certification for the first time in 2024 (NCCPA), and the BLS projects NP employment to grow 40% and PA employment 20% from 2024 to 2034 (Becker’s). Many organizations see a steady stream of applications for an open NP or PA role. What’s harder to find is the right one: a provider who already has the experience, skills and track record the role demands.
The other half is different. An APP with three to five years in dermatology, ENT or GI, or an established primary care APP with a full panel, is rarely looking. Those providers already have patients, procedures and a schedule, and they’re the ones who make an immediate difference to access and revenue. Nationally, about a third of APP searches were still open at the end of 2025 (AAPPR via Becker’s).
Why experience matters to the practice
- Productive from the start. An experienced APP can take a full schedule within weeks instead of months.
- More capacity for your physicians. An experienced APP extends your physicians’ reach from the start, with less time spent on training.
- Subspecialty skills you can’t teach quickly. Procedures, protocols and patient expectations in dermatology, ENT, GI, orthopedics, cardiology and oncology take years to learn.
- A track record you can check. Panel size, visit volume and production history tell you what you’re hiring.
Who we recruit: dermatology PAs and NPs · ENT APPs · GI, cardiology, orthopedic, urology and oncology APPs · surgical APPs · experienced family medicine and primary care APPs with an established panel · psychiatric NPs · urgent care and hospitalist APPs.
How we search: we learn the practice, the supervising physicians, the procedure mix and the production expectations, then go after APPs who are already doing the work, not just those applying. We often recruit APPs alongside a physician search so the team is built together.
Frequently asked questions
Do you recruit APPs at every career stage?
Yes. Where we add the most value is with experienced and subspecialty APPs, who rarely answer job postings and need to be recruited directly.
Which APP specialties do you recruit?
All of them, with most of our APP work in subspecialties such as dermatology, ENT, GI, cardiology, orthopedics and oncology, and in experienced primary care.
Why use a search firm for an APP?
Because the APPs worth hiring for a subspecialty role are usually already employed and productive. Reaching them takes direct outreach, not a job posting.
Can you recruit APPs and physicians together?
Yes. Many of our searches pair a physician with one or more APPs.
Related: Open NP roles on Health-Gigs · Open PA roles on Health-Gigs · How we work