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failing at being a PA


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I think a lot of people go into medicine assuming it is populated by kind, caring people and then get very disillusioned to find it is populated by the same aholes that infest every other profession.

 

There are a tons of opportunities to do creative stuff in medicine, you just have to find the right patient population to work with.

 

SOOO F&CKING TRUE!!! LOL!!

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First, breathe ... Second, do you have a support system (significant other and/or friends) so you can brainstorm some of your ideas off them? You mentioned you think you might have PTSD, have you considered going to a therapist/counselor? Third, forgive me for asking, but are you taking any meds, if not it may be a temporary outlet so you don't feel so overwrought. But I am curious as GetMe asked what drew you into the PA profession to begin with?    ZLLTMdv.gif

 

I do have support, friends, always in and out of therapy (did you see my name? LOL), and do use anti-depressants. I do have tools, but dealing with PTSD is a work in progress and too much pressure/too much intensity/too much stress all at once can cause real and rapid decompensation.

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You sound very type B personality which is opposite of most healthcare professionals. I think the overwhelming majority of us are type A...if you buy into the whole A/B personality thing...

Maybe see if there are any resources online for how type Bs can cope in an environment that's not really conducive to their personality type..

Just a thought

 

very intriguing suggestion

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I have a question? Why not shoot for the stars as a medical reporter? My local ABC affiliate medical reporter just left to work for HCA and before starting was found to have breast CA. She has chronicled the entire process on her Twitter feed and is at work for HCA now. I can't think of a better combination (med/journalism) to pursue this. Having a family did not appear to hold her back. I wanted to go this route out of high school but got talked into PA by a college sociology professor when no one knew what a PA was.

 

I can only imagine what possibilities would be there for you in the corporate world.

 

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T System used to be a privately owned business developed by local ED physicians and may have been the original EM template service. They later developed an electronic system which I did some consultation work on for several weeks while working still in the ED. They later sold out to a corporate entity. They used PA's in software development but may consider one for clinical onsite implementation. Google them.

 

 

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I have a question? Why not shoot for the stars as a medical reporter? My local ABC affiliate medical reporter just left to work for HCA and before starting was found to have breast CA. She has chronicled the entire process on her Twitter feed and is at work for HCA now. I can't think of a better combination (med/journalism) to pursue this. Having a family did not appear to hold her back. I wanted to go this route out of high school but got talked into PA by a college sociology professor when no one knew what a PA was. I can only imagine what possibilities would be there for you in the corporate world. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

(HCA?)

 

I would "like" your comment, but apparently there is a quota (!!!), and I have met mine for the day!!

 

working in television news (I have done this) is very high-pressure, type-A crazy, too. terrible hours. reporting appeals to me, for sure, bc it's a form of teaching which I enjoy..but again - not much differebt than PA madness..

 

writing is more my thing..thus, back to the blog!

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T System used to be a privately owned business developed by local ED physicians and may have been the original EM template service. They later developed an electronic system which I did some consultation work on for several weeks while working still in the ED. They later sold out to a corporate entity. They used PA's in software development but may consider one for clinical onsite implementation. Google them. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

awesome. thanks. I like doing that stuff, trouble shooting, making documentation better for patients, billing, etc. I could do it all day if I didn't have a 24 day pt load

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You're in New York. I would eat a .40 cal round within 3 months if I had to live in NYC.

 

Move. Tomorrow. Most of America is still full of nice, respectful, hard working people. Find a rural FP gig, put your kids in rural school (won't require metal detectors in doorways). I know it sucks to pull kids out of high school (20 year military here), but it's better than throwing away a terrific career.

 

Good chance it's not YOU that are failing as a PA, but this is simply you practicing in a toxic city.

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You've been fired five times in the last decade and mentioned that you aren't willing to study up on what you're doing.  Is it possible that some of your difficulty is related to a lack of continuing education?  Are you struggling with the academic side of medicine at all or is it strictly personality conflicts?  Something clearly has to change.  Getting out of clinical work as others have suggested may be the key if that's the issue.  If not, palliative care would be a great job since you're interested in it, but you may have to move if you can't find a job there.  Your options will be to grin and bear it until your daughter graduates HS or to go ahead and move.  Have you considered locums at all?  Maybe having more frequent changes of scenery would be helpful.

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You're in New York. I would eat a .40 cal round within 3 months if I had to live in NYC.

 

Move. Tomorrow. Most of America is still full of nice, respectful, hard working people. Find a rural FP gig, put your kids in rural school (won't require metal detectors in doorways). I know it sucks to pull kids out of high school (20 year military here), but it's better than throwing away a terrific career.

 

Good chance it's not YOU that are failing as a PA, but this is simply you practicing in a toxic city.

 

I'd throw away a terrific career before I'd throw away a terrific kid. she's very happy and well-adjusted and I wouldn't do that to her. she'd end up on drugs if she had to live in middle 'murka. me, maybe. in 3 years. I was born in milwaukee so I probably wouldn't have as much of an anaphylactic shock as she would...

 

thanks for the thought but sorry; not an option. 

 

I'm actually not in nyc anymore; I'm in boston, which is probably worse. more world-class hospitals per capita than maybe anywhere else in the world. you've heard of MGH? Most Greatest Hospital? or as some call it, Massive Genitals Hospital?

 

my first vision of myself as a PA was providing house calls on horseback on a remote frontier, LOL. I am a big sky grrl, no doubt...

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You've been fired five times in the last decade and mentioned that you aren't willing to study up on what you're doing.  Is it possible that some of your difficulty is related to a lack of continuing education?  Are you struggling with the academic side of medicine at all or is it strictly personality conflicts?  Something clearly has to change.  Getting out of clinical work as others have suggested may be the key if that's the issue.  If not, palliative care would be a great job since you're interested in it, but you may have to move if you can't find a job there.  Your options will be to grin and bear it until your daughter graduates HS or to go ahead and move.  Have you considered locums at all?  Maybe having more frequent changes of scenery would be helpful.

 

I do and always have read up on stuff I need to. I'm just not so willing to do it outside work hours bc I have a life that I love, and I work to live it, not the other way around. it is possible that this is my fatal flaw. but I did look up the type B personality and I am most definitely this. I think it might be what pisses off attendings or cranky moonlighters. I'm an excellent provider, but I am def more hawkeye than major burns. so it may be a combination of the two.

 

I think in all honesty that a big part of the problem is that I made this decision on a purely pragmatic ($$) basis; ie,  what could I do that would require the least amount of time schooling (ie, removed from the income-generating stream of life), and provide the most bang for my buck once completed. the answer was physician assistant.

 

I remember someone once saying, "never make a career decision based on money". they couldn't have been more right.

 

the fact that I care so much about my patients, and feel so conscious-stricken at wasting $$ and time on something that I don't love or thrive in, is what has kept me continually trying to make it work.

 

maybe I would be happier in another part of the country; maybe I do need to call it a day and make a career change. I wouldn't have the opportunity to know which for 3 more years, bc of my kid.

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