PAATC Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 I am a 1st year PA student who will soon begin my clinical rotations. I have a background as an athletic trainer (5 years) and have worked in the collegiate/high school/clinic setting and have a master's degree in sports medicine. We get 2 electives and I would like to do one of them in orthopedics, but I'm struggling with what setting would be best. Should I go "outside" of my sports medicine background and do orthopedic trauma or should I stick with sports medicine? I don't know a lot about ortho trauma (setting, hours, compensation, typical day), but thought it might be good to expand on my sports medicine ortho background and see other options. Are there any ortho PA's or ortho PA/ATC's who have advice on ortho rotations? I'm not sure if I should use my connections (from my ATC background) and get a good experience with physicians who I know won't be hiring PA's, or if I should go with hospitals/groups where I don't have connections, but I know they employ PA's... I'm really struggling with how to get the best experience because I want my resume to reflect upon my passion for orthopedics. Any advice would be greatly appreciated... :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acebecker Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 Any chance you can do both? Use the general ortho position as your surgical rotation and the ortho trauma as your elective? It sounds like you want to be working in ortho; if so, this is the best thing you could do. If this is not possible, then I'd choose the ortho trauma rotation. It's not something you'll get a tone of in general ortho, but you'll get some general ortho in the ortho trauma. If that makes sense. Plus, it's definitely expanding your abilities to work in ortho trauma. Nothing wrong with the general ortho clinic rotation; perhaps if you did pick this one you could open their eyes to the benefits of having a PA/ATC. Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted July 4, 2013 Moderator Share Posted July 4, 2013 how about a family practice rotation, a good FP with lots of school exposure would be a great use for APA/ATC. Lots of challenging intellectual diversity, huge need, you get to be the 1st one to manage all the sprains and strains instead of the 2nd as people usually have been referred orthopedics. Far more rewarding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATCLATEMTB Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 My instinct is Ortho Trauma. That is what I did during school to help round out my ortho background. That being said, unless you are dead sold to be in Ortho....maybe it would be wise to use your elective in a totally different area of medicine. You will have tons of Ortho options with your background.....how about dermatology or cardiac surgery. You will have to complete family practice / internal medicine as a core rotation....so use this time to explore something of interest. My sister and I are both PA-C/ATC's......she worked in ortho trauma and now Ortho urgent care. I left the Ortho world behind and now do Adult CT surgery, with thoracic transplantation and mechanical circulatory support. Now I can still knock out a shoulder eval, but have expanded my clinical competence into man areas. Obviously the surgical area but also cardiology, Pulmonology, Critical Care, basic of immunosuppression / ID, ect. I know my response did not answer your direct question, but food for thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgdog Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 I am a 1st year PA student who will soon begin my clinical rotations. I have a background as an athletic trainer (5 years) and have worked in the collegiate/high school/clinic setting and have a master's degree in sports medicine. We get 2 electives and I would like to do one of them in orthopedics, but I'm struggling with what setting would be best. Should I go "outside" of my sports medicine background and do orthopedic trauma or should I stick with sports medicine? I don't know a lot about ortho trauma (setting, hours, compensation, typical day), but thought it might be good to expand on my sports medicine ortho background and see other options. Any advice would be greatly appreciated... :) Ortho Trauma: hospital based, all hours of the day and night, lots of surgery, lots of pathology, many many ORIFs, pretty frickin cool IMHO. (Pt's run the gamut but lower income and drunk can be typical, depending where you live and what level trauma center. One of my gigs is college town, level 2 trauma center and a two lane highway=lots of trauma.) Sports Medicine: Typically office based, normal hours, lots of scopes, (shoulders and knees) pt's are typically young and healthy. Me personally, I like hospitals, trauma, lots of action and bada$$ surgery like fx pelvis's and such. You may like the opposite. good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakasoner Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 Ortho Trauma: hospital based, all hours of the day and night, lots of surgery, lots of pathology, many many ORIFs, pretty frickin cool IMHO. (Pt's run the gamut but lower income and drunk can be typical, depending where you live and what level trauma center. One of my gigs is college town, level 2 trauma center and a two lane highway=lots of trauma.) Sports Medicine: Typically office based, normal hours, lots of scopes, (shoulders and knees) pt's are typically young and healthy. Me personally, I like hospitals, trauma, lots of action and bada$$ surgery like fx pelvis's and such. You may like the opposite. good luck I would do ortho-trauma if you want to do ortho. You will need to know how to evaluate fractures and what is stable vs not-stable, how to splint, take care of acute ruptures, dislocations, ORIFs, osteomyelitis, wound care, co-morbidities, dressings, suturing, stapling, post-op care, bracing, total joint replacements, various approaches, metal on metal vs MoP vs Ceramic prosthesis, antibiotic prophylaxis, joint injections, aspirations, labs, etc. A good rotation will just get you the tip of the iceberg. The ATC background is good, but the hospital care and surgical management is what you need to really excel as a good ortho PA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAATC Posted July 6, 2013 Author Share Posted July 6, 2013 Thank you all so much for your replies! You have great insight and I will definitely take your professional opinions into account... It sounds like ortho trauma would be the best way to go and I agree that I need more hospital-based learning and to be able to better manage the patient who isn't your typical young and healthy athlete. I'm hoping to see a lot of day to day ortho stuff in the ER and family practice setting and I know that I need to get out of my comfort zone to get the most out of my rotation experience. I'm still not set on my other elective yet, but I've considered dermatology, cardiology, or possibly another surgical specialty. Thank you again and if anyone else has advice or comments on electives I would love to hear them :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctstone1 Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Thank you all so much for your replies! You have great insight and I will definitely take your professional opinions into account... It sounds like ortho trauma would be the best way to go and I agree that I need more hospital-based learning and to be able to better manage the patient who isn't your typical young and healthy athlete. I'm hoping to see a lot of day to day ortho stuff in the ER and family practice setting and I know that I need to get out of my comfort zone to get the most out of my rotation experience. I'm still not set on my other elective yet, but I've considered dermatology, cardiology, or possibly another surgical specialty. Thank you again and if anyone else has advice or comments on electives I would love to hear them :) Did you do the ortho trauma rotation? I'm in a similar position. 1st year PA-S. ATC for 9 years (mostly in Professional sports, but also some intercollegiate time). Very intrigued by ortho trauma. We only get one elective rotation at my school, however. I would love to hear of your experiences! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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