JMann

My GPA in PA school was like 3.5 or so. I did have 9-10 yrs of experience as a paramedic before school so that definitely helps. Getting the interview is the hard part. Once you get an interview, it's all about personality fit. Definitely use your Iowa connections if you apply there!

Interesting. Kind of counterintuitive. Initially, you would think larger blade for more square inches to move more tongue out of the way. Really does make the viewing window smaller though. Good tip!

Good reminder. Always gotta examine with fresh eyes and as little bias as possible to avoid this situation! Very humbling.

When I certified there, it didn't take long. Maybe 4-6 weeks. Wasn't too bad. If you think TN is frustrating, you should apply to Florida...

I was thinking PE from the start... Interesting case. Sucks though!

This sounds similar to the Baylor program in Houston. Like others have said, if there are not rotations outside of the ED, move along. Unless you were planning to work at this place anyway, then get an actual job with better pay!

I had a 6 month gap between graduation and residency and wrestled with this question as well. I decided against working and just spent the time being a stay at home dad and getting our house ready to sell. I did have a job lined up before grad, but figured I would end up working approx. 1-2 months after credentialing and HR orientation and whatnot. I figured with the difficulty and time suck that residency is, my time would be better spent investing with my family. I would absolutely do it that way again. I do have to explain that 6 month gap on every credentialing process, but that's no big deal.

This is huge!! Have great references. Really strong experience can overcome "okay" letters, but that's the minority. You need good recs! If you don't have big EMS or ED experience prior to school, then take extra ED rotations to show your commitment. These residency spots are limited and programs aren't going to award them to someone that's not committed to EM. Be willing to relocate for residency. Apply broadly, say 5-10 programs, but do your homework and know why you are applying to each one. Also, search this forum as this question has been addressed here several times and you may find other advice that way.

Awesome! A swan?! Didn't even think about getting to do that while I was there. Of course I didn't want to do a MICU elective rotation either... You'll likely need that if you do the ICU coverage. Don't worry, wilderness medicine won't be nearly the hours and is much more fun. I'll prolly be helping out with that one.

I seem to need a refill on my popcorn for this discussion... I'm for improved supervision rules and removing barriers to PA practice. I'm not opposed to independent practice, but I'm not sure what opening that can of worms will bring down the road. Guess it can't be worse than what we have now and falling behind NPs further.

In my experience with 1099, though somewhat limited compared to many of you, the pay rate is not usually worth it in many areas of the country. For instance, there is one place I work solo coverage at a critical access as a 1099. Rate is $75/hr (low for 1099, but on par for the area). I usually do 24 hr shifts and withhold 32ish% for the man. That sucks! Doing that same work at 1.5x that rate would make it worth it, but then they could just pay more FM providers and not have to worry about having someone on call when I'm there... Got a new part time W2 gig starting early next year. Same solo, rural, critical access coverage. Same rate. Don't have to deal with the headache of quarterly fillings and that nonsense. I'm looking forward to that!

Ha! Guess it depends on the gig. Everyone is different!

To do over again (aka the "what if" game)... If doing PA over again, I would do it the same way. Public, local program (1st year of program which was a mess!) followed by EM residency. But, if I was really doing it over again, I would have listened to my undergrad advisor and taken that human gross anatomy class in the summer, gotten the same EMS experience and then gone to med school and residency trained in EM for the same reasons EMED mentioned previously. I work at a few critical access places and have the same constraints on traumas and other scenarios as mentioned. If you really want to work the full breadth of EM, go to med school. I tell folks interested in the way I've done PA school and residency this all the time. PA is fine for half-way or fast track stuff, but to really do full breadth EM unencumbered, go to med school! To really do it over again, I would probably join the Air Force, or one of the other branches, get pilot experience and later become a pilot for FedEx or do it privately for executives.

This is the crux of all the above hypotheticals. Work hard and you'll succeed. That being said, I was a medic and had to work to overcome some of the bad habits SHU-CH mentioned earlier. Given my background, I think all PA school students should have significant medical experience like RN, PA, RT etc. But that is my experience and bias and I'll own it... In my class, I had the most experience hours by a long ways. There were several 21-22 yo recent college grads who should have been in med school, but they chose PA school instead. They are doing fine with their shadowing and MA experience before school. It seems that selecting quality applicants regardless of experience is a tough job. A job I don't want! I work in EM and chose to do a residency. Does everyone need to do that? Not yet, but I do agree with earlier comments regarding that being the wave of the future in certain specialties. This could be argued to death and funding will be the deciding factor. I can see a future in hospitalist medicine and EM, especially as budgets get tighter and medicaid reimbursement lowers, where physicians are simply the "supervisors" of the workforce and PAs and NPs are doing the "work."

I did my last recert on these with a similar company who also have the "for life" option. I was skeptical of the site not being around that long, but perhaps that's just me being paranoid... I went with the two year option and will reassess next time. I guess if you get 2-3 recerts at the price they have on the site then you haven't lost anything.