Paigems

Thank you for the response. I wanted to also post this on the physician assistant facebook page group to get more responses, but I am concerned about losing my anonymity. I've also seen posts on there that are like like, "I see 50 patients in urgent care per day just fine, and I get all my charting done and take no work home. Very low stress." Then I wind up feeling like I am "less than" for not being able to do that too.

I left my primary care job right before the pandemic started. It was more like internal medicine. I was working 70 hrs/wk and was completely overwhelmed by the volume of work that was required of me. I have both anxiety and depression and one day before work while sitting in my car in the parking lot I experienced such severe anxiety that I could not bring myself to go into work. Instead I drove myself to a psych hospital and was evaluated. I was basically just told I had burnout. During the pandemic I've been working on my mental health. I actually participated in a partial hospitalization program and intensive outpatient program through the psych hospital. I have a psychiatrist, still going to therapy, on meds, basically doing everything I can do to get myself to a better place mentally. I am about to start working very part time for a telemedicine company that does covid screening. My plan is to do this while I continue to work on my mental health. I am now thinking about my future as a PA and what kind of jobs I would find manageable. Maybe I would have to work 3/4 time. Lack of work life balance really takes a toll on me. So does feeling like I'm rushing around the whole day (not able to drink water, go to the bathroom, work through lunch, etc.). Extremely high patient volumes is also stressful. I also think I would struggle in high stress environments like the ICU. Can anyone make any suggestions about what specialties might be a good fit for me? I'd love to work in aesthetics. I'm also very passionate about weight loss and preventative health. But really, I enjoy many fields of medicine.

I've been updating my CV and am having a hard time figuring out what to include in the descriptions for each job I've had. I've had two family medicine jobs and I feel like the descriptions are going to be totally redundant. Also, I not even totally sure what to include in the first place. I'm trying to find some examples, but am having a hard time. I'd appreciate any help.

Thanks. I honestly have no idea whether I should include it. I did not have one previously. I asked about this on a pA Facebook page and was directed to someone who I was told is a “resume/cv guru” and I decided to pay them to help me. This is what they came up with. I honestly have no idea what I’m doing lol.

I am updating my resume. I recently paid someone to help me do it and I’m not sure I’m satisfied with the outcome. Should I be using a resume or a CV? Any tips on improving this? I really want to impress potential employers.

Yes I did. I was basically told that that's just how it is. My SP comes in early, works through lunch, stays late, works on the weekend. For some reason she thinks it is sustainable. I do not. Thank you for sharing your experience. We do have ECW at my clinic. I feel like there is a lot of clicking and closing and reopening windows. Things can take a lot of time. Even with my templates I feel like I can't fly through a note because I have to open and click on so many different things. I prechart as well and I do think it really helps me. I think my biggest downfall is that I struggle to chart in the room during certain visits. I can do so pretty easily when I'm doing something like a physical or a URI, but in other situations I find it pretty difficulty. For example, I recently saw a pt. who I thought was going to be just a simple URI, but actually he had been vomiting, fainted, went to the ER, was dx w/ vasovagal syncope, and is no longer vomiting, but now has bronchitis. It was challenging to sort through that whole story and while I'm in the room I can basically just write bullet points that make sense to me, but wouldn't really make sense if I didn't go back and reorganize things. I get stressed out by being responsible for every problem. In family medicine I cannot ignore anything. I also feel stressed by sticking to a schedule when patients are late, my MAs are slow to room, etc. Also sometimes crazy things happen and I feel like the whole day gets thrown off. Today my laptop stopped working and I couldn't print a patient's labs and I got behind. I regularly get 90 page documents and I feel like I can't just skim through them. I recently found out a patient had a fistula which needed to be repaired and it would have been missed if I didn't read his records because the ordering physician missed it. I think I am also rambling at this point. Bottom line is I'm burnt out. I'm hoping I can find something better, but I'm not sure what that would be. I've been thinking maybe inpatient work would be better.

I’m a relatively new PA. I graduated a little over 2 yrs ago and I have been working in family med for about that long. I get 30 min per patent which I know is quite generous compared to a lot of places. A large percentage of my patients are 50 + and I hardly ever see children. I am always behind. Patients are always late to their appointments which really messes up the flow. I feel like the 30 minute time slots are usually enough time to see the patient and write my notes (except for combined Medicare annual wellness visits and “physicals.”) However, I don’t feel that I have enough time to review labs, documents, telephone encounters, or refill meds. I use templates and other things to get things done faster. Still I’ve been coming in early, working through lunch, staying late, working at home during the week and on the weekends. And it’s not just because I’m a slow new PA. The other PA and the MD I work with do the same. I like family medicine but I feel like I can’t sustain this. And now I’m feeling very nervous that this is just how medicine is and I picked the wrong career path. I like being a PA but I really just want to work a more reasonable number of hours. I am going to start looking for a new job soon. Any thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated.

I am in the process of applying for a Washington license. I'm filling out the application and not sure how to answer a couple things. The application asks about licenses in other states. I have a Texas license. It then asks for the credential number for that license. Is that the license number? It then asks how I received this credential and gives the choices: endorsement, examination, grandparented, reciprocal, or other. I'm not sure which one to pick. It also asks for credential type and gives the choices: temporary, permanent, or other. Again I am not sure which to pick. I tried to call and ask these questions, but was told I would not get a response for about 2 wks. Any ideas how to best answer these questions?

I just hit the one year mark at my first job. The clinic I work at is owned by three physicians that I do not work with directly. A few days ago I asked one of the owners about whether I will have a yearly review. He stated that that is not something they typically do, but that he would speak to the other two owners. I have not heard anything since then. What I am really looking for is a raise. Any advice on when I should reach out to the owners again and how I should go about asking for a raise?