whoRyou Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 One issue I would like to get all your opinions on is dealing with the potential problem of repetition. Nature of life seems very repetitious. You get up, take a shower, go to work, work, go home, and start all over the next day. Do you ever become bored of doing the same procedures over and over, and become very intellectually unsatisfied. If you had a chance would you it all over again? So, what do all think about this especially if you all have already been practicing for a few years. I have NOT started PA school, but I could NEVER see myself getting bored because it seems there would be always something new and exciting to do. I am NOT looking for negativity here, just wondering if life becomes where you lose your passion and motivation. WE all need motivations from time to time, I believe in taking risks. Follow your intuition. I don't believe in just making the safe and easy choices because you’re afraid of what might happen. If you do, nothing good will ever happen. I am challenging myself. I need to move out of my comfort zone and stepping up to what I have always wanted to do. I need to stop being paralyzed and go for it! When you continuously worry about something, you quickly stop taking measures to improve yourself and before you know it you are convinced that it is true and cannot be changed. The floor is yours ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGoLong Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Do you ever become bored of doing the same procedures over and over, and become very intellectually unsatisfied. If you had a chance would you it all over again? I don’t become bored, but I do get overwhelmed by the sheer humanity at times. There are many kinds of PA positions. You can always be in one place with different supervisors (like in an ER), always within arm’s length of your SP and doing procedures (as in surgery), and mostly on your own in one or more places. My job is the latter. I am generally seeing patients in offices or in the hospital by myself, or with a student. When the pressure is on you to make decisions, you don’t often get bored. With my personality, I think being in one office all of the time going from room 1 to room 2 to .... would get old. I drive about 20 miles a day between various hospitals and our office and that changes things up for me too. I catch some fresh air, sun, and sports radio on my journeys. I have had many jobs in my life and they can be divided (for me anyway) into process and project jobs. Project jobs are probably the least boring because you are always doing something different, though your problem attack style is often similar. Process jobs involve people flowing through and you have transactions with them. These jobs have the capacity for becoming boring, unless you can relate to the people, enjoy trying to solve problems for them, and get new problems now and then, hidden in the steady flow. That’s pretty much what happens for me. There is definitely pressure to see more and more people in less and less time, and that tends to be fodder for burnout. In addition, there is considerable paperwork that is always there to be done, in addition to your clinical job. I would do this again but I think that it is important for prospective PAs to spend time with PAs who have those different kinds of job (one place with changing supervisors, one place with the same supervisor, on your own a lot, etc). It would help you decide if the career is for you and what kind of PA position you might like to have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paula Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 I've never been bored. Frustrated at times, from the system, insurance companies, CMS, government requirements, pharmacy paperwork and the patients. Just today was talking about how as a PA I have realized I cannot "save" anyone from their own destructive behaviors. They have to figure it out themselves. Each patient presents their own challenges and I find it very interesting to put the puzzle pieces together. I look at complicated patients or those with strange symptoms as a medical mystery game and I am the detective. I like doing procedures but don't have much opportunity to suture or splint since I'm in FP and not in the UC/ER anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHU-CH Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 I encourage students to really reflect on finding a specialty that suits their personality well. I started out in open heart which was absolutely fascinating. But after a while I realized I was going to be doing the same thing tomorrow and next week and next month and next year. I would not say it was boring, but I was a little too ADHD for the specialty so I switched over to emergency medicine and found a better fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GetMeOuttaThisMess Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Yep, I got bored, and it hasn't been because of a particular setting/practice arena. My last position wasn't challenging in the least so it should have been a nice coast into retirement but the clientele for the most part don't do what you tell them to, until it's too late, and then they want you to fix it (lack of self responsibility as Paula said so eloquently). I think it was primadonna, as well as myself, that have commented on the fact that we both get bored and need changes of pace. Based on Paula's response above I don't believe it was her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corpsman2PA Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 I'm kind of a mix of it all. I HAVE to do the same routine outside of work. Shave at night, go to bed, wake up shower, coffee, breakfast, coffee, news, coffee...work...home, shave, bed. But (and I'm only a student) I have noticed that I do like variety during the day to day while at work. Some of my rotations I felt like I as going insane seeing the same CC or body parts over and over and over. I learned pretty quickly that specializing isn't my cup of tea. Not that there isn't any variety within specialties, because there is, I just need more variety from patient to patient and presentation to presentation. I'm doing UC right now, and I love seeing a pneumonia in one room, a rib fx in another, and a lac in the next. It makes me happy, motivated, and content with work. That means a lot in my opinion, and I don't even have ADD! Some of my preceptors in the past however, are complete opposite. They love being specialized, it is what gives them contentment, happiness, job satisfaction, etc. What's most interesting about my discovery as a student, is that I THOUGHT I wanted to be specialized. This isn't to say that seeing 20 "coughs and colds" a day wouldn't get boring. I just like the potential of having something vastly different in the next room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoRyou Posted March 25, 2014 Author Share Posted March 25, 2014 I've never been bored. Frustrated at times, from the system, insurance companies, CMS, government requirements, pharmacy paperwork and the patients. Just today was talking about how as a PA I have realized I cannot "save" anyone from their own destructive behaviors. They have to figure it out themselves. Each patient presents their own challenges and I find it very interesting to put the puzzle pieces together. I look at complicated patients or those with strange symptoms as a medical mystery game and I am the detective. I like doing procedures but don't have much opportunity to suture or splint since I'm in FP and not in the UC/ER anymore. Paula: I can so relate to what you said. If you recall I have a degree a psychology and talking about being frustrated with destructive patients. It is like OMG please tell me they didn't say that or think that or do that! As far as being a detective, well since that is what I do that in my real life I think I should fit in nicely as a PA don't you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyblu Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 This is why I love the ER. It can make you want to bash your head (or someone else's) against the wall, but it's never boring. Just at the moment I'm wanting to stick a hot poker in my eye to get out of seeing the obvious drug seeker who's next on the rack, an ambulance calls in with a crazy case or (true story) a man walks in holding a towel to his belly and turns out to eviscerate right there in front of me and I have to shove my hand into his abdomen to hold his guts in. Sometimes tedious, often frustrating, regularly heartbreaking, frequently exhausting, but never, ever boring! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted March 26, 2014 Moderator Share Posted March 26, 2014 Agree with SB above. EM has enough variety that boredom is not a concern as long as you can leave the fast track. Fast track every day would make me change specialties....after 40 pts who all have a URI, back pain, UTI, OM, Vag d/c, STD, or an abscess I'm ready to leave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paula Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 @Corpsman2PA So sorry you have to shave twice a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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