Any advice for new grads going into ortho?

[SedRate]

Do any PAs out there have any advice for new grads starting out in surgery (specifically ortho and ortho trauma)?

[cc56]

Pay attention and try to remember each surgeons preferences.  I learned working in a larger company that there are many "correct" ways to do things.  3 hand surgeons 3 similar, but slightly different ways to do things.  good luck, I hope you enjoy it.

[Fernwood]

I would highly recommend that all new grads go out and work in primary care or internal medicine for at least a year before going into orthopedic sub specialty. In orthopedics you rarely delve deeply into medicine and in so must have a very good understanding of the basics of primary care and internal medicine. I know that new grads do not want to hear this but coming out of a two year PA program is not extensive experience. Years ago the average PA had previous experience as a navy corpsman , army medic, paramedic or other healthcare field, today's graduates have more often gone straight from an undergraduate degree to PA school, with some type of brief medical related internship. I have worked with a major university mentoring their "pre-physician assistant" program students in there senior year. While the students were very bright they had no patient interaction skills and were ill prepared to jump into an accelerated PA program and be expected to be up and running in 2 years.

This is simply one man's opinion but I think the PA profession has strayed from its origin as a step in career advancement for those with prior healthcare experience. While most all new grads go on to be fine PAs the profession often times get a bit of a black eye when ill prepared new grads leave a less than ideal impression on physicians and other healthcare providers.

[acozadd]

If the goal is to work in Orthopedics, then spending time in primary care would not be adequate preparation. In fact, you would likely learn bad habits which would set you back of your ultimate goal in regard to Ortho. If you work in trauma, or even general orthopedics, you will see a high volume of fractures. These can be difficult as a new grad. You'll need to know 1) what is acceptable alignment in an adult/child 2) Can this be managed operatively vs. nonoperatively 3) If nonoperatively, how? 4) Determine follow up intervals and when to advance activities. The best thing you can do is start reading and never stop. For fractures, I like Rockwood and Green/Wilkins - fractures in adults/children. With any specialty, there is a steep learning curve and PA school will not even begin to prepare you for your daily tasks.

[SedRate]

Thank you all for your input.

 

Fernwood, I agree with your sentiment. I have found that working in ortho has made me "ortho-dumb" as I've heard others refer to it as. Although I will say that I have been able to maintain SOME basic knowledge, and that's simply due to the fact that I try to also look up non-ortho things as I go along. Doing non-ortho CMEs has also helped. However, as acozadd touched on, my goal is to work in ortho, so I didn't think starting out as a GP was the right move for me. My main concern was getting a "good" first job that would help me get on my feet as a new grad. And so far, it's been great. There is most definitely a learning curve, but that is to be expected when you don't have much pre-PA health experience as you mentioned. And now that I have some experience under my belt, I have a better idea of what I want for the rest of my career, and now it's time for contract re-negotiation. Wish me luck!

[bigdawg1986]

Working in Urgent Care was an amazing foundation builder for me personally... You solidify some primary medical knowledge but still get lots of basic orthopedic exposure.

 

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