Pt logging for every rotation including behavioral health.

[Empowred]

Dear fellow PA students,

 

Currently finished my 4th rotation in EM and on a week summer break. My question is how imp & detailed the pt logging's have to be? I am lagging behind as some days are really tiring & with a toddler at home I get no time even in the weekends. Although some clinical coordinator's are very particular about logging them regularly, mine is not. My question is do these logging's really help you to land in your dream job or are they for some research purpose? How detailed should they be? Do you include diagnostic codes for every pt you see?  Any input is highly appreciated. Thank you.

[Lyndhurst]

Not sure how helpful they will be in getting a job. Our clinical faculty tell us they might be, but I have yet to have that confirmed by any preceptors. My gut says it is more for the programs benefit than ours. As the year has gone on I have logged less and less. I make sure to log enough patients and procedures but that's it. We are required to log an ICD for each patient so that is what I do.

 

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[UGoLong]

You log your patients for several reasons, not the least of which is that ARC-PA -- which certifies programs -- wants it done to insure that students are getting the patient contacts that are required. If you don't, the program is supposed to adjust where students are sent, etc. And if they don't deal with problems, they can lose their accreditation. For example, you need pre-op, post-op, and inter-op cases. You need cases of a variety of genders, ages, etc. 

 

Being able to say that you've dealt with 2000 patients in the following situations may be helpful in the job search.

 

It ain't fun, but do it and do it as accurately as you can.

[rev ronin]

I did mine pretty fastidiously.  I got a data dump in Excel format at graduation.  I submitted it as part of credentialing for my first position, and haven't needed it or kept up with any such thing since.  In retrospect, I probably spent 1-2 hours per night looking up the ICD-9 (this was 2011-12) codes, CPT codes, etc. and entering everything in.  I gather others did a far less fastidious job than I and came out OK too.

[MT2PA]

This likely varies by program.  Like UGoLong said, the biggest thing is you must log patients to meet ARC standards.  After that, it's a school thing.

 

We were told to really focus on procedures - apparently that's where it can help you get jobs.  If you can prove that you actually did X foley tubes, # NG tubes, intubations, etc etc....you might get hired over someone who just....watched those things happen.  

 

We have minimums to meet (ARC) but after that I just log interesting cases.  At some point repeating fairly generic information about diagnosing back strain just doesn't feel...worth my time.

[wookie]

I needed to provide documentation on what procedures I've done in order for credentialing at my hospital. Towards the end of my clinicals, I got lazier about logging every single patient but I made sure to log every procedure I've done unsupervised, supervised, assisted with, or observed. I just went to the website and printed the summary report which I'm glad was such a breeze.

[gbrothers98]

As a new grad, logging is important for employment and credentialing. You may be asked to provide these logs post grad and having robust evidence of your pt contacts will only help. This may be applicable for your first few positions dependent upon how long you are out if school and job change frequency. If you pursue a CAQ after graduation, a log of procedures and conditions will aid your application. First and foremost, meet the expectations your program requires you to log. My next recommendations would be to strive to log one patient for every clinical hour at a minimum. Aim for quality logging. No need to log every URI you saw in fast track. Log every procedure particularly if your goal is to be employed in a procedure heavy area of medicine. Log the cardinal conditions particular to the specific rotation eg. Chest pain in EM or DUB in Womens Health. If there is a specific area of medicine you are aiming for, see and log as many conditions that are applicable to that area. The clinical software should have a mobile version to use on the go, if not you need a notebook or you can spend 15 minutes on Google Forms and create your own. Finally, your level of participation in cases needs to be high. Observing was for your pre PA school days. The more you experience patient care from chief complaint to diagnosis & plan, the more developed as a clinician you will become.

While it is very easy to view pt logging as a pain and something that may only benefit the program, it actually is a record of your learning through the clinical phase. While you have your transcript and diploma, actually showing what you did to earn those is what makes you a PA.

Good luck.

George