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I take this to show what we've known for decades. What most people consider medical "emergencies" aren't in fact medical emergencies, otherwise they'd still be coming in.

yup. along the lines of couldn't hurt, might help: get enough sleep stay hydrated. with water. not booze(well, not too much...) take your vitamins every day, especially vit C as it might help( there is a study on IV vit C right now) don't smoke. smokers do poorly with this. get some exercise when you can. this is not the time to get fat and sloppy. there is plenty of pizza and donuts at work right now. don't eat all of it. moderation my friends...trying to get back to my ideal body wt. I think I function better there. if you are a dude with facial hair, shave it off for better PPE fit. I did and now look 12. When my shadow is visible there will not be 6 more weeks of covid. it's like ground hog day for viruses. be safe, but don't be overly paranoid. If any of us get this it probably won't be from the pump at the gas station. mental health is important. I am using one of those sleep sound apps to help get to sleep quickly now. some meditation sometimes too.

I am an Anesthesiologist and had some thoughts about the PA profession and was asking myself why PAs were not involved in the anesthesia profession save for the AAs that are practicing in a limited amount of states and to get the AAs licensed in all 50 states would take a huge legislative battle. My question to the group is: Do you think there would be interest in graduating and practicing PAs to enter a 12-18 month intensive anesthesia (residency) training program to supplement the CRNA staff. Training PAs vs (trying to get AAs licensed in every single state) would be a lot easier since PAs are licensed in all 50 states. My thoughts would be the Large Academic anesthesia residency programs could take this on. Certainly it would be only available to qualified PAs who have a solid interest in the profession . The job description would be identical to the current AAs and Crnas. What are your thoughts?

no...no...no...you are a highly trained medical provider with a specific skill set. You are being asked to put yourself and your family at risk...no. You MUST be paid.

Still think it's mass hysteria that the media is "fueling" over coronavirus? When I started this thread I was somewhat ridiculed for "over-hyping" CV-19 and the risks we were all getting ready to take. Well guess what...that time is now here, and as providers are starting to get sick and some are dying, this thread seems a lot more relevant. What a difference a few weeks makes.....

They need to pay you.

It perplexes me that people who are anti-vax (and even many among us as medical providers) don't really know the history of how vaccination came about, the role of Jenner, how people were re-infected with smallpox to prove that cowpox vaccination was actually protective, and the role of ethics in all of this. Semantics are just that - semantics - to try to dissuade one from an overwhelming argument. This is what my 5 yo son used to try to do. Vaccination at its core is all about cause and effect - eliminate the cause and there can be no effect. But to try and use "Koch's" postulates against anyone as a means to disprove the efficacy of vaccination is, well, absurd. Rev - thanks for blocking JMPA; strikes me as one who thinks Zenos Paradoxes are the only way to see the world around them... G

The responses to this thread are certainly interesting... and run the gambit of what one would expect. It is not unreasonable to think of oneself in times like this when those who are supposed to provide for us have failed to do so, and in doing so, have made it impossible in some places to do our jobs - not without severe risk to ourselves. This is not a reasonable standard to which anyone can be legally held - you may have to fight with your medical boards but in the end, you are not obligated to expose yourself to harm without protective equipment as part of your job. The ED is our scene. The first principle is scene safety. If you are not safe, you just don't go in. Me being dead does no one any good. G

Why aren't the suits and bean counters right there beside the clinical staff since their failures led to the lack of PPE? Has anyone thought to ask where the grant money for "disaster preparedness" that so many health agencies and hospitals accepted went to???

Lets get the thread back on the subject of an anesthesia residency. I don’t want it turn into a RN prerequisite discussion. Some schools have tough requirements and some don’t and a lot of it isn’t needed for clinical medicine. to bring the thread back, I will say an understanding of some physic concepts are essential, but you can teach all one needs to know about physics related to the machine and physiology pretty quickly.

Wait wait wait. If I fly to HI they will make me stay for 14 days and quarantine? I might just be okay with that.

We should start a running memorial for our people. Actually, AAPA should. Someone want to propose that on Huddle?

This might be unpopular opinion in the medical world since we are all supposed to have hearts of an angel, but I'd probably leave. If I am being asked to do something that places an unnecessary level of risk for myself and subsequently my family, then I'm out. Sorry.

If I went to work tomorrow and my charge nurse told me we have no more respirators/mask/PPE...I would refuse to take an assignment and I would clock out and not return...with my resignation effective immediately emailed. When all is said and done, if I contracted COVID and died, then what? I'll just be another memory. That's it. No legacy. The CEO will continue to sit pretty - well and alive with his/her family. Me? 6 ft under.

I think that is a valid point. I'm in the middle of this mess working at a UC that is testing 25-30 people a day in addition to the people going to the drive through in the parking lot outside the front door. This thing is very real but given the high variability of symptoms including people who are infected and have little to no symptoms you are probably right. The near hysteria surrounding it and the media constantly fanning the flames of paranoia makes rational discussion hard sometimes. Over hype or not we have to deal with what is actually happening.

Thanks, kind of like I thought. I would be curious to hear from anyone in one of the hot spots: NYC, New Orleans, CT, or the big cities in CA. The evening news is showing images of long entrance lines, crowds, and even a bit of chaos. Even in my city they are kind of giving the impression that we are really busy. I'm not implying some sort of conspiracy, just how the imagery doesn't match reality.

I'm withholding most of my opinion these days because I get viciously attacked for them. I will say that I feel the numbers of confirmed covid cases are a small fraction of the actual number of people on the planet who have been exposed/infected, in which case I feel the mortality rate compared to infected persons is dramatically lower than it's being portrayed.

I am a paramedic/firefighter in south florida. We are doing our best to not transport individuals to the ER who really don't need to be there. We always try to do this, however, we are taking a bit of a harder stance now. I'm sure that is one reason why the volume of patients is decreasing.

Understood. I guess it's just us childless folks and EMEDPA who have to step up if shiet REALLY hits the fan when everyone else decides not to show up... It's really an unfortunate situation we've all been put in as healthcare professionals...

There's no cap, you just have to see what they expect and what the job involves. I work anywhere from 35 to 50 hours at my ortho job.

I would grab the ppe I have been saving in my car and go to work.

So article on MSN about Germany where there fatality rate is 0.74% Their secret? They test everyone. The more you test, the more clear the picture becomes. We are only testing the very sick, so of course our #s look bad. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/germany-has-a-remarkably-low-coronavirus-death-rate-—-thanks-largely-to-mass-testing-but-also-culture-luck-and-an-impressive-healthcare-system/ar-BB11PpiJ?li=BBnb7Kz

Folks need to look at the article in the Dallas Morning News about a privately owned UC organization who started COVID-19 testing without training of the staff or providing PPE. Comments allegedly from the staff and a PA are pretty damning. Not surprised at all with a privately owned setup (translation: $$$ as the primary motivation).

I got the email. I think it is for managing covid tents in the parking lots of NYC hospitals. 12 hr shifts. 21 days on, 2 days off, repeat. no thanks.

I would think the FDA approved concept of using serum from the blood of survivors, as it contains antibodies, looks promising.

When I first graduated Medical School there were not many NP schools, and certainly NO DNP school. I had never even met a NP in medical school and that was exactly 20 years ago in the late 90s. There were PharmDs on rounds however. And there were a number of PAs that I met. Fast Forward, 20 years there are over 400 NP schools granting DNP and you see how much legislative progress they have made. Same thing for this concept, there is no reason that there shouldnt be at least 50-75 PA (Anesthesia) programs across the country supporting their physician colleagues in anesthesia with the right support. And I agree, lets stay away from bashing CRNAs and AAs and nurses..

Did not read the whole thread, but in answer to the OP I think this is a great idea. Early on, a few PAs actually did this. Shep Stone at Norwalk was allowed to fill an empty MD anesthesia residency slot has been doing operative anesthesia for over 30 years at this point. https://pahx.org/assistants/stone-shepard-b/ I met him a few years ago. Impressive dude. I think those drawn to this would already have some prior intubation/airway experience for the most part: paramedics, RTs, etc.

honestly maybe this is the start of the decline of the mega hospitals (or I can hope)

Congrats!! That gives me hope [emoji4][emoji4] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

https://wapa.memberclicks.net/assets/documents/032720 Gov proclamation DA 20-32 - COVID-19 DOH Healthcare Worker Licensing (tmp) (003).pdf

I believe it is this staffing company. https://www.facebook.com/pg/KrucialStaffing/

I got off the waitlist today! I'm so so so excited!!!

My experience is that when I took an RN-prerequisite "Intro to Organic and Biochemistry" at the local community college it didn't count towards my PA school admission requirements. It did, however, equip me to succeed at the UNE distance learning OChem course (!) later. I had no idea OChem was even a recommended elective in a BSN program, so I'm sure you're not alone.

Im sorry to offend, didnt mean to and it was not meant to denigrate nursing. There is really no need for BSN to have Organic Chemistry but i could be wrong. At any rate, can you please post the curriculum for BSN when you got it or just tell me the school so i can review it.. Thanks

My interview were the traditional questions! Tell me about yourself. Tell me about a patient. Where do you see yourself in 5 years. Questions like that!

I lasted about 2 days on Huddle, I support AAPA but Huddle is a controlled joke..... nope not for me I unenrolled and left after my 2 or 3 post got deleted by the mods for "legal reasons" crock o crap (and I strongly support AAPA and donate to the PAC every month but the Huddle is a total joke, they should close it and send people here)

Greetings, advocates!! I have some very exciting news. This afternoon, Congress passed, and the president signed, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or the “CARES Act” (H.R. 748), the COVID-19 emergency legislation. Included in the CARES Act was the Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act (S. 296/H.R. 2150), the legislation you advocated for during LAS in March (and, for many of you, that you’ve advocated for years). Now, once the provisions go into effect, PAs will be permitted to order home healthcare services for Medicare patients (in a manner consistent with state law). This is a HUGE win for PAs and your patients, especially those in rural and underserved areas, and it is due in no small part to the work you all did during LAS and which so many of you have put in over the years, reaching out to your legislators, sharing your stories, and building strong relationships with them, all of which helped members of Congress understand the problem and help us find a solution. You and thousands of PAs across the country have worked on this issue for literally decades, and it is so exciting to see our – YOUR – efforts pay off. As I always say, grassroots advocacy works, and we have to just keep chipping away, until we achieve victory, like this one today. Several legislators were key to today’s victory, including Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) whom you heard speak at LAS, the lead sponsor and champion for the home health legislation, as well as the other original sponsors, Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Representative Earl “Buddy” Carter (R-GA). If you have a moment to thank them via email, phone call, or tweet, please do. Medicare beneficiaries across the nation will benefit from improved access to home health services and improved continuity of care, particularly patients living in rural and other medically underserved communities, not to mention the importance right now of freeing up critically-needed hospital beds for patients suffering from COVID-19. The CARES Act also takes actions to bolster our nation’s healthcare response, including more than $1.6 billion for the Strategic National Stockpile to procure pharmaceuticals, personal protective equipment (PPE), and other medical supplies, which can be distributed to state and local health agencies in areas with shortages, and includes provisions AAPA supported to expand access to telehealth. Please read AAPA’s full summary of the legislation here. Please continue to be advocates for the profession; we still have much work to do at the state and federal levels. Stay connected by joining GAIN (AAPA’s grassroots network), contributing to PA PAC, and reading AAPA’s advocacy news updates. Again, many thanks for your advocacy work, and congratulations. Stay safe and well… Fondly, Kristin Kristin Butterfield, MA Director, Grassroots and Political Advocacy American Academy of PAs 571-319-4340 kbutterfield@aapa.org www.aapa.org

...and don't even get me started on cell phones... Imagine where that thing has been and what surfaces you put it down on... And now that thing is being put up to your face and near mouth.

The huddle is a terrible place to get things done. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Primary reason I will not post there anymore.

I believe I’ve answered your same question on reddit. as possibly the only person who has attended nurse anesthesia (that I left because I didn’t want to only do anesthesia any more) and a PA program, I think I can provide a lot of insight on this. first, absolutely you could take a PA straight out of school and put them in a 18 month program to create a good anesthesia clinician. I think this would make a pretty awesome clinician. i think there would be great interest. I would certainly be interested, so I could do the OR and ER at my CAH, both very low volume and hard to attract good clinicians. I mean, this would be way better than going back to school and spend even more tuition money, instead getting paid a stipend. I mean, who wouldn’t be interested. there are many problems to this. First, many states specifically prohibit PAs from performing anesthesia. This would have to be overturned and CRNAs would fight tooth and nail. You probably would have AAs fighting this too. I also worry about the intention behind this. Could you explain the reasoning? Is this a way to undermine CRNAs and have an “assistant” that you aren’t competing with? Would you allow these anesthesia trained PAs to work at CAH that don’t have anesthesiologists? Otherwise we won’t be able to compete with CRNAs and admin won’t hire us. I’m fine with competing against CRNAs, I’m not okay with being a political tool. lastly, you probably know this, you’re going to find a lot of physician pushback. Anesthesiologists in particular feel pretty burnt on CRNAs. I think you would find it difficult to have them on board

I had a beach house in south Texas reserved for July. I cancelled it. There are too many unknowns and I'm going to wait for things to settle a bit before making any plans

I question whether cruising, as an industry, will exist after the dust settles.

Wow, I didn’t realize an antibody test was becoming that readily available. I think that’s amazing. Seems logical to screen with the antibody test (provided of course you have enough) before doing confirmatory PCR testing of the RNA itself. Is the antibody test looking for both IgM and IgG, or just IgM? I’m sure here in the future we’ll all pretty much have a positive IgG test

This. Until we get a Vaccine AND an effective treatment, I would not do anything like a cruise.

I work at a rural health clinic in california as an extension of our local hospital (25 beds). our next neighboring town is 50 miles north with a 17 bed hospital. beyond that our next closest medical care is 150 miles either north or south; our first documented case locally (at the neighboring town)was Monday the 23rd; there are now 8 total (2 from our car clinic and 6 from neighboring site). two weeks ago we started a drive up clinic that is by appt only: patient calls the clinic, triaged by nursing, given a "car appt" - we started scrubbing our visits last week effective this week: no "non-essential" visits are conducted face to face. phone visits enacted and we're starting telehealth next week. our entire facility is only honoring essential visits or surgical procedures, even our lab and radiology services. Patients are very grateful for these actions thus far.

I'm there with you. It's unfortunate that we don't have the necessary supplies and yet patients still need care. If no one is willing to step up, then who's to do it? Lottery? Only single, unmarried, and/or childless folks? Young providers who are at the presumedly lowest risk? Don't even start on the fact that people are being furloughed or laid off which further decreases the workforce or the fact that ethics committees are having to develop protocols for possible ventilator allocation, aka lottery... Crazy times right now and foreseeable future. (Rhetorical questions, btw.)

I submitted mine and it was verified by the university a few weeks ago! It will be interesting to see when interviews will be conducted due to everything going on right now. Good luck everyone!!

Hey all. Just wanted to ask the current or former students of the Miami campus what the housing situation is like? Are there certain areas/apartment complexes that most students stay? How much do you pay per month in rent? Thanks for any and all responses.

I had a patient's husband say "oh, so you're just a PA?" to me last week after I introduced myself as a physician assistant. I said that wasn't how I would phrase it, but yeah I'm a PA. Then I diagnosed and treated his wife with the professionalism, empathy and thoroughness you can expect from "just" a PA. #represent