Guest ronm77 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Hello, Please indulge me with your advice regarding my employability. I graduated in 1995 and worked for 6 months in a busy ED and then one year with a general surgeon. I resigned my surgical PA position for family reasons. My wife was left with managing our resaurant business and it was causing her alot of stress. As my salary as a PA was not enough to support our family it seemed the logical decision to retrun to the restaurant business. While the business has supported our family, I regret the decision to leave the PA profession daily. I am considering two paths. 1. Take a refresher course, pass the certification exam and find a position in family practice. This leads to my most pressing question; How employable is a 49 yo PA with essentially the same medical qualifications as a new graduate minus the recent clinical experience they have? 2. I am also considering an offered admission to an accelerated BSN program at a rather high $$ cost. Essentially I want to live the remainder of my working life in a rewarding, meaningful field where I feel I am making a difference in peoples lives. I am not so certain that nursing would allow me that but am quite confident that returning to PA work would. Your input is greatly appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmj11 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 You may need to get you feet wet in a not-so-desirous job . . . such as a prison. After a year there, then you’re back in the game. Of course you would have to take a good review course and recertify first. I wouldn’t give up on the profession yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted January 6, 2009 Moderator Share Posted January 6, 2009 there are a few states where you can practice if you have passed pance once.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradtPA Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Also, check with your state licensing board to see what additional requirements you might have, such as a reentry agreement.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caine Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Take a refresher course, buy 2-3 texts to prepare for recertification, dedicate good time study, and take the test. Next look into a postgraduate residency most pay over 45K I think this will prepare you very well for getting back into the profession. I do not know if there is a Primary care residency but you may consider EM or hospitalist as these will bring you up to speed on how to provide pt care. You may even get lucky finding work with a doc that loves to train. I think the main difference is that you have been out of the PA WORLD for a good while, and there are tons of new grads and others with good deal of experience around so you really have to sell your self well. I really feel a residency will boost your resume a lot. Do not spend all that $$$ to get an accelerated BSN. Sometimes having a plan B is not good as good as it appears as it (plan B) may cause a drift in the original plan. Best of luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kittryn Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Next look into a postgraduate residency most pay over 45K I think this will prepare you very well for getting back into the profession. I do not know if there is a Primary care residency but you may consider EM or hospitalist as these will bring you up to speed on how to provide pt care. You may even get lucky finding work with a doc that loves to train. I think the main difference is that you have been out of the PA WORLD for a good while, and there are tons of new grads and others with good deal of experience around so you really have to sell your self well. I really feel a residency will boost your resume a lot. Best of luck I think your suggestion for a residency is well-meaning -- but the original problem this poster had was in leaving his wife to run the family restaurant alone. I am afraid a residency would basically accomplish the same end, as nice as it would be to be able to do one. I don't know what the answer is, but I struggle to find the right schedule so I have time for my family. I work PT but the pressure is always on more, more, MORE (and not neccessarily with extra $$ being part of the equation!!). my ideal job would be 6 hrs/day (7a-1p or 8a-2p, for example), 4 days/wk; or 2-1/2 days/wk (7-3 for 2 days and 4 hrs a 3rd morning) -- but the best I've been able to do so far is 2-10 hr days/wk where I get hammered from 8a-6p. I live in a city where there are TONS of big teaching hospitals and tons of jobs, but no one wants to deal with a fine-tuned schedule -- they just want the PA THERE 10-12 hrs/day, 5 days/wk. definitely not what I bargained for!! I have not been too happy with this aspect of the profession, which is one of the main reasons I entered it -- I was told that I could work PT, make my own hrs, be completely flexible, spend time with pts that the drs didn't have time to give...SO not true. where I live, PAs are permanent residents. I wonder if it would be different in a smaller town, or is it the same everywhere? -- anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASun Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Reentery is a Catch-22 I am a non-practicing PA. I passed my boards years ago. I am not licenses. I've kept up with my CMEs and just took the Pathway II. Recently I went before the Medical Board in my state. The reality is : A. The Board has not means to deal with PA reentry. B. Physicians have been accommodated but the Board would not elaborate on the specifics. C. Board members were not aware of the Pathway III had to describe the process and in the end it was dismissed as a "take home test" and evidently did not meet their "standards" for clinical competency...This despite having several PAs present! I got the impression they didn't accept that the Pathway carried the same weight as passing the PANRE. D. I asked for specific requirements for competency from the board. There are none. CATCH-22 I cannot practice without a license. I cannot license without exposure to clinical medicine to achieve competency. A passing score on the Pathway II is NOT enough for the Board. It remains MY burden to prove my clinical competency...the Board was not concerned about HOW I achieve competency...evidently NOT in that state. I asked for a provisional license with a specific delegation agreement so that I could do more than observe and I could be eligible for malpractice insurance. I presented several models for reentry including AMA standards and provided the board with a sample delegation agreement since this state does not require delegation agreements. The last was a program in Colorado. I explained it was suggested but not endorsed by the AAPA. The program www.cpepdoc.org was not design for PA but MDs (98%). It has no governing body, it is not accredited by any medical organization as a measure of their ability to provide clinical competency. This article reviews course on page against other programs. http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/education/schools/school-of-medicine/gme-cme/cme/upload/Aug09MSB.pdf I checked with Drexel last year and they will not service PAs in the reentry program. Short of moving to another state or taking this course.....I am out of options today. Has anyone been enrolled in the CPEP or any reentry training specifically PA oriented? Any other suggestions?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted October 8, 2010 Moderator Share Posted October 8, 2010 did not NCCPA.net just put up an article on this topic?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marilynpac Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 It doesn't hurt to bring it to the forum either..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted October 9, 2010 Moderator Share Posted October 9, 2010 not criticizing, instead trying this is from NCCPA Lost Certification? print We're glad that you are interested in regaining or reinstating your certification! If you meet certain requirements, you may be able to have your certification reinstated. If you do not meet the requirements for reinstatement, you can regain certification by passing an exam. Both options are described below. Reinstatement Procedures: You may qualify for reinstatement if the reason your certification lapsed was because you did not log all CME hours or submit all payments. This option does not apply to PAs who did not finish earning the required CME hours before Dec. 31 of the certification expiration year or did not pass a recertification exam by the end of their six-year cycle. The reinstatement fee is $250 minus any certification maintenance fees that were already paid by Dec. 31 of the certification expiration year. All outstanding CME hours and payments have to be submitted within six months after certification lapses (this will always be June 30 of the year after your certification lapses). Regaining Procedures: To be eligible to attempt to regain certification via PANRE, you must log 300 hours of CME earned during the six-year period ending on the day you submit your application and payment. Also, 100 of those hours have to be earned during the last two years leading up to the submission of the application and payment. At least 150 of the total required CME hours must be Category I with 50 of them being earned within the last two years from the submission of the application and payment. Physician Assistants with an expired certification cannot log CME online and will be required to submit any additional required CME to NCCPA on a CME Logging for Regaining Form included in the CME Regaining Package. Your CME hours will not be reviewed and processed until you have applied online for a recertification exam. No CME hours are required to take the PANCE exam to attempt to regain certification; just submit the online application and payment. You can apply and pay for either exam online at your personal identification record NCCPA: Lost PA Certification | Regain PA Cetification not sure if it helps.... I would think that once you get your NCCPA card you are all set??? yes no?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marilynpac Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 No, if you've been out for so many yrs and away from the technology you're going to have to find someone that you can job shadow to get your "PA" back on. You're going to be seeing this more with new grads too. That's why I suggested putting up a thread about billing and coding to teach the new grads how to do it. It will make them more attractive as a new job applicant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coloradopa Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 not criticizing, instead trying this is from NCCPA Lost Certification? print We're glad that you are interested in regaining or reinstating your certification! If you meet certain requirements, you may be able to have your certification reinstated. If you do not meet the requirements for reinstatement, you can regain certification by passing an exam. Both options are described below. Reinstatement Procedures: You may qualify for reinstatement if the reason your certification lapsed was because you did not log all CME hours or submit all payments. This option does not apply to PAs who did not finish earning the required CME hours before Dec. 31 of the certification expiration year or did not pass a recertification exam by the end of their six-year cycle. The reinstatement fee is $250 minus any certification maintenance fees that were already paid by Dec. 31 of the certification expiration year. All outstanding CME hours and payments have to be submitted within six months after certification lapses (this will always be June 30 of the year after your certification lapses). Regaining Procedures: To be eligible to attempt to regain certification via PANRE, you must log 300 hours of CME earned during the six-year period ending on the day you submit your application and payment. Also, 100 of those hours have to be earned during the last two years leading up to the submission of the application and payment. At least 150 of the total required CME hours must be Category I with 50 of them being earned within the last two years from the submission of the application and payment. Physician Assistants with an expired certification cannot log CME online and will be required to submit any additional required CME to NCCPA on a CME Logging for Regaining Form included in the CME Regaining Package. Your CME hours will not be reviewed and processed until you have applied online for a recertification exam. No CME hours are required to take the PANCE exam to attempt to regain certification; just submit the online application and payment. You can apply and pay for either exam online at your personal identification record NCCPA: Lost PA Certification | Regain PA Cetification not sure if it helps.... I would think that once you get your NCCPA card you are all set??? yes no?? No. This was discussed at AAPA during the State BOM session. There is a lot of concern among the BOMs about medical professionals re-entering the profession. This includes physicians and PAs. Essentially if you do not practice in some form for two years its likely that you are going to have do some form of re-entry to show that you still have the skill set to practice medicine. Just like you never give up a license its important that you practice somewhere if possible (even once a month at a free clinic). This happened to a wife of one of the docs that I worked for. She was out of practice for three years raising their kids and the state would not give her a license. She ended up working with a local physician for a few months then with a letter from him was able to get a license. Another PA when I was in Colorado had a similar situation. She was able to contact a physician that she worked with and do a couple of weeks of "evaluation". Now both of these cases the PA and MD had kept up their license and CMEs. Without that it makes it even harder. For both the posters I would contact the state PA chapter. They have most likely dealt with this before and may have some solutions. David Carpenter, PA-C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marilynpac Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 Bingo!!!! Never give up that license and do those CMEs. That's your bread and butter. It's never been addressed on this forum about when a PA b/c very, very ill. That PA isn't physically able to practice. When that PA b/c well the best way for the PA to get his/her "PA" back on is to job shadow. Call your state PA assoc ask for a list of PAs that are willing to do this and contact that PA by email. If a doctor is willing that's great too. The PA shouldn't be penalized any further. Our profession is a compassionate and caring one, it shouldn't stop at our patients. There are PAs out there asking for help and this forum is an excellent place to point them in the direction where help can be found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted October 12, 2010 Moderator Share Posted October 12, 2010 I stand corrected - - and more informed (and I will never let my license lapse if at all possible!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
browndog Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 To the original poster.....for what it is worth here is my opinion on the one part of your question that I can speak to with a high degreee of intimate first hand knowledge and experience.... For the love of everything......do NOT take the BSN route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASun Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 Has anyone been enrolled in the CPEP or any reentry training specifically PA oriented? I spoke to my state senator ...he is willing to sponsor a bill that would add a provisional license to the medcial practice act. In the state I applies, MDs have been able to secure licenses but the PAs are not encouraged to do so. NCCPA - Covered. I am aware of the re-gaining under the NCCPA..I took the last Pathway II. Goal: I am seeking State by State situations or expereinces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASun Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Passed my Boards scoring very well in the tasks even had a 100% .... The State Board wants me to provide proof of my proficiency...this was evidently not what they wanted??? How do I get pracitcal expereince now?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marilynpac Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 What exactly do you mean by practical experience? Are you job shadowing? You can PM me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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