Surgical PAs

[dschelar]

Hi all,

 

I'm currently in my clinical year of PA school and have a strong interest in working in a specialty that involves time in the OR. I've done my general surgery rotation, am currently in orthopedics, and have cardiothoracic surgery setup as well. I have a few questions for those of you currently practicing in a surgery setting:

 

1). I'd like to find a job that has some time in the clinic and some time in the OR - how reasonable is this?

 

2). So far, I still don't feel like I'd be close to adequate as a first assist - how comfortable were you coming out of PA school and/or how much on-the-job training did you get? Do you find yourself competing with RNFAs a lot?

 

3). Any thoughts on some sort of surgical residency after PA school?

 

Thanks for any and all feedback!

[stellahead]

I think it's reasonable to find job doing clinic and OR. I'm five months into my first job out of PA school and I'm in clinic 2-3 days and OR 2 days a week. I have received all my surgical training (other than my one rotation) on the job. I'm finally starting to feel comfortable, but I recognize I still have tons to learn.

 

Many job postings require experience, apply anyway. There are surgeons who want untrained PAs so they can teach them their way. Make friends with equipment reps, they are in the OR with many surgeons and know who is looking to hire.

 

Also important is to find an SP who knows what an untrained PA looks like and has trained one before. And be sure you like your surgeon's energy/personality since you're going to be spending many hours in close proximity under high stress. 

[normalnancy]

Question: How much do surgical PAs get to do?

[greenmood]

Highly dependent on location and subspecialty. Most perform as first assists but the amount of responsibility varies.

[BruceBanner]

Hi all,

 

I'm currently in my clinical year of PA school and have a strong interest in working in a specialty that involves time in the OR. I've done my general surgery rotation, am currently in orthopedics, and have cardiothoracic surgery setup as well. I have a few questions for those of you currently practicing in a surgery setting:

 

1). I'd like to find a job that has some time in the clinic and some time in the OR - how reasonable is this?

 

2). So far, I still don't feel like I'd be close to adequate as a first assist - how comfortable were you coming out of PA school and/or how much on-the-job training did you get? Do you find yourself competing with RNFAs a lot?

 

3). Any thoughts on some sort of surgical residency after PA school?

 

Thanks for any and all feedback!

 

1. Many surgical jobs have this ratio but you will usually be seeing follow ups in the clinic.

 

2. You wont be---unless you do a residency. I was barely adequate as a first assist when I graduated (worked in spine for a short time). That was actually  half the reason I lost that job. Surgery is a tough place to work as a new grad---because attendings and other PAs seldom have the time and/or desire to spend getting you up to speed on prepping the OR, positioning patients the way they want them, nursing quirks, etc.

 

3. Do one if you can, and if you really think you want to do surgery. You will be far ahead of the game. 

 

 

Bottom line is PAs just do not get enough clinical time to be proficient first-assists right out of the gates. We're talking 1-3 months, MAX, in surgical rotations, and half of that time is glorified shadowing. You get no real concept of the amount of responsibilities you have on the job. Understand you will very much be an "assistant" in this role, but some people love it.

 

And this is just my personal .02, but the lifestyle sucks. Again, some people love it, but after about 2 weekends of sat + sun rounding and trauma call, I was over it.