Cideous

Not sure I would even apply to another state unless I had a license in it first. That's the very first question they are going to ask...do you have a license in X state. Most are not going to hire you and then wait around for you to get a license. It's a bit of a catch 22. And yet another new grad who can't find a job. I'm counting the clock until the inevitable, "every thing is ok with our field" comments start to pour in. Everything is not ok for these new grads.

I don't think you guys understand just how hard it is for new grads to get jobs now a days especially in oversaturated markets. It's bad. I think whatever they need to do to get their foot in the door is what they need to do. Who are we to judge unless we all pony up and start paying their school loans for them..........

ROFL......"Nothing with Ass in it". So much truth.

Bob, I'd like to comment on this article and make a larger point. A direct quote from what you wrote in the article: "Ignorance of potential drug complications demonstrates apathy and lack of concern for your patient. What can you do to protect yourself from a judgement that has the ability of destroying your career?" -"....A judgement that has the ability to destroy your career...." This is not hyperbole. That one snippet really sums up for me everything that is wrong with being a provider in medicine. Like the epicenter of a nuclear blast, if you have a lapse of insight or incomplete comprehensive knowledge concerning the infinite number of drug to drug interactions and BOOM! The blast is ignited. The mushroom cloud moves ever outwards vaporizing finances, mental health, family relationships, wrecking credit, increasing risk for addiction and even wipeout the ability to get a job moving forward. That is what destroying your career really means. But malpractice lawsuits don't just stop with your career. They have the real possibility of ruining your entire life. It's a hell of a thing what we do. All I keep thinking is, there but by the grace of God go I...

Assistants vs Practitioners I wonder where he got the idea that more supervision is required for PA's. *cough*.......

No way.

That is exactly my point in this thread. Do not start. Ever. If you do, it will be your demise sooner or later.

PA, about 8 years into a corporoate urgent care career. She was a good provider who stayed very close to the the standard of care. Single, but in a relationship, otherwise unremarkable. When she was fired on the spot it was a shock to us all. Turns out she was a heroin addict who would spend 45 minutes in the bathroom only taking a little black bag in with her. She would shoot up, then return and see patients. "The only thing that tipped the clinic staff off was the amount of time she spent in the bathroom. The clinic medical director struggled with the option of sending her to rehab, but in the end, decided to just cut her loose. No help, no follow up...just gone. They were worried about google and yelp reviews and liability should the general public find out. I can't say that I blame them but ouch, that must not of been an easy call. The cautionary tale is this: If you take mind altering meds, they will affect your work. If you take these meds, they will eventually catch up with you and destroy your career as it did hers. Don't start with them....ever. Find another way. Let this be a cautionary tale. We are all human and none of us are immune to addiction. What/who is your cautionary tale?

Yup, and I still stand by that post. It's more accurate now than even 6 months ago when I wrote it. I hate it, and I wish it wasn't true.

You're exactly right. It's why I feel a responsibility to drag, nag, beg and if need be, electroshock colleagues my age into giving new pa's a fighting chance, instead of floundering in the past simply trying to run out the clock for their retirement.

Call it what you like, but having been in this field for 26 years I can tell you without equivocation that it is my generation and those a little older then me that have been fighting a name change since the 90's. It is only now that NP's are lapping us legislatively that some of the older folks are *starting* to come to their senses. On average the VAST majority of PA's out for 10 years or less including those in school are 100% behind a name change, and not just adding "Associate" where "Assistant" was. These people are the future of this field, and it is high time for us to stop working to impede them with 1990 views of what a PA use to be.

Everyone else out there without 20 years experience will be struggling to get jobs vs NP's who have full independence. It's not just about us, I have 26 years of experience, it's about the thousands of PA's with 0-5 years experience and those still in School. Without quick and massive changes to supervision, NP's are leaving us in the dust.

Good grief.

I love how they only mention replacing them with Nurse Practitioners..... We are losing the battle folks....I'm telling you....LOSING THE BATTLE.

Infinitely more expensive to become a PA. The number one reason being...You can work virtually full-time and go to online NP school. I have worked with multiple RN's who have done exactly that.