LT_Oneal_PAC

Boy that sure is tempting to live in WA and have a great job with good pay. Wouldn't happen to get a pension would ya? I've got those golden handcuffs here

I've been getting more into education. How I did it was just apply broadly to positions near me. Just kept searching and applying and eventually got a "part time - temporary" position as course director for pathophysiology, which has led to me being a regular guest lecturer now on topics that I'm more of an expert in. After this I applied for a full time remote teaching position for a DMS program. They didn't want me for full time, but also made me course director for a singe course, I think really as a trial. I've seen lots of friends get teaching jobs at their alma mater if they stayed local to it. That seems to be much easier since they know you a lot better. Some relevant information about teaching: Being "part-time" but course director is grueling. It's essentially having 2 full time jobs, it just lasts for a semester. For live teaching, I was given old lectures to work off of, but if you have a perfectionist personality it is still grueling. I was spending at minimum an 8 hour day every week modifying lectures. Then I had to re-write questions based on what I taught. Writing questions and multiple choice answers that are just the right degree of difficulty and not making an error that throws students off is a bit of an undertaking. Guest lecturing is a lot better, but I've found I've rarely been given the amount of time I felt needed to adequately cover a topic, which is frustrating. Plus the pay is terrible and really only do it for the passion. Per hour worked, I really feel like I'm making elementary teacher pay. Plus managing your clinical schedule to work around the student class schedule is a real pain. For remote teaching, it sounds great on paper, but in practice is as much work as live teaching and doing a commute. For me, I found I was not nearly as good of a lecturer recording my class as I was live speaking off the cuff. Lots of time spent editing recordings. Remote teaching, at least for doctoral programs, requires a LOT of discussion assignments, which you have to moderate, further the discussion, evaluate proper citations, etc. It's like grading several essays every week, which is not an insignificant amount of time, especially when you are working full time clinically. Plus you never really get those student "ah-ha!" moments that are rewarding in live classrooms. I've decided being the course director is really not for me, at least not while working clinically full time. I do it again since it got me into guest lecture work that I enjoy, but boy was I burning the candle at both ends during that semester both live and online courses. Unexpected bonus to teaching: I learned so much from teaching pathophysiology. It made me a better clinician and a better preceptor having to go back and relearn it all to teach, basically reading all of Rubin's Pathology.

I know your area intimately. You could easily pull down 150k at a rural ED in that area, and probably 190k+ after residency with some leg work. That’s not going to happen at your bigger hospitals in your area, but rural solo EDs will see your value. Also could easily pull more than this in other states, but the cost of living will probably be higher. Residency gets you the job you want wherever you want, but you’ll either sacrifice pay or autonomy still if you choose a highly desirable area like say Denver Colorado or ATL Georgia. Contact me and I can point you in some directions if you want more rural work. Doesn’t necessarily mean you have to live there. I do 24-48 hour shifts and commute to my jobs.

@TeddyRucpin if you want to remain anonymous, you should delete a lot of this info about the program. I figured out where in 2 seconds (there are few like it), and logically deduced who you are. But congrats because it is a great program!

I'm sorry that I took a hiatus and missed this post. Absolutely have been where you are at varying points in my career. I'm not going to do a diatribe about my time and make it about me, but you aren't alone. There are going to be ups and downs. Right now you are working a ton and the downs almost always come then. But I promise if you make it through, it's gonna be like in karate kid when Daniel gets fed up, then realizes he is a bad ass. Your first day in another facility, especially after some regular sleep, and it's going to be night and day. If you really don't think its for you though, then there is no shame in walking away. Something with regular sleep, scheduled patients, getting out of the grinder. Though I would encourage you to finish and try moon lighting in a rural ED. Maybe even pick up a moon light shift in residency. You might find it brings your spark back.

Chicago, IL Ascension review - bunk Colton, CA ARMC review - less bunk, but the lecture time is too short, the program is less than one year, no ICU time. Visalia, CA KHMC - possibly the least bunk. Still less than one year, but most available rotations. I find it hard to believe all the rotations listed are scheduled and likely those are the electives you can choose. If they did fit them all, it would be way to short of a rotation to be meaningful. Though I love the mix of what you get if you can have them all. Moreno Valley, CA RUHS review - absolutely bunk. 2 months of electives? Plus this is one of their objectives: Understand the role of the AP and the supervising physician in the emergency department. That is all I need to hear that you will be treated like a second class citizen with the better procedures and cases going to physician residents and not teaching you to be an independent thinker Lansing, MI Sparrow Hospital - This is a hospitalist residency, but honestly it looks the best of the bunch. I'd do this before any of the others. The simple answer is never work for a CMG. Look at how EM physicians constantly complain about the quality of education even they receive at these.

what's the name of the facility?

Congrats Paul! Just got the email. Happy for you and SEMPA!

Paul, it’s obvious you have good experience, and just as important, you have first hand experience to know what the front line PA needs to do their job and make us more marketable. 100% you have my support!

The phrase “they don’t get any more dead” comes to mind. Most of the things we do will not improve survival to hospital discharge and even less neuro intact discharge. I likely wouldn’t do it at the one hour mark, but at 53 I could be convinced up to 45 minutes with good uninterrupted CPR.

That was never a question, lol

So it appears this place pays by the credit hour for adjunct faculty. 1,020 per credit hour for the semester. I accepted the job so I’ll be teaching pathophysiology in the Fall! what? This is a thing?! Surely this I only at places where you both teach and work clinically for the same university?

I’m sorry. That’s got to be really frustrating and disappointing.

1. No idea, you’d likely have to ask the schools your applying to. It is likely to vary. If it were behavioral health, I would accept it. 2. if you’re doing BH, I think you’re in a good spot. If not, you could get a job in the ED as a social worker and this would probably look good. 3. whatever you are passionate about and can do a lot of without hating it. 4. Shadow, work with PAs to get a good LOR, work on any science GPA issues, apply broadly.

I think there are a few problems reaching PAs specifically. Those who are very passionate about our jobs are usually too busy to read very much for leisure. The other side is people who want nothing to do with medicine once they leave work. I have a friend who specifically avoids any media such as TV shows or movies that have any medicine as a central theme. Then there are just a lot of people who would probably read it, but PA is just a job and a book with a PA protagonist isn’t much of a draw. I would think trying to sell copies at conferences might be your best bet. Get a booth, sign copies, etc. I would probably check it out if I saw this.