cody_71 Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 I am applying to PA schools right now and have been thinking about where I want to end up in my career. One area that I have always been interested in is primary care. I have never worked in this field but know how important it is in determining a patient's medical outcome. I was wondering if any primary care PAs can give me a run-down of their role in the primary care team. I would also like to know how much autonomy you have in dictating the care plan of the patient. One last thing I was wondering is how the job market is for primary care PAs. Any information that can be offered would be greatly appriciated and would help cast some light on this field for me. Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbellin Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 I’ll offer to comment on this. I’ve been doing primary care for the last fourteen years. I think whether you choose primary care or another specialty you’ll find a difference in practice responsibilities and thus you career satisfaction dependent upon location of your job. If you’re looking for a 9-5 no call experience then my best guess is that city life is for you in any specialty. My practice is in a rural area and responsibility is limited only by state law. I do in the clinic virtually everything a doc does and in the hospital everything (including admitting and discharging patients) with the exception of surgeries, stress tests, and endoscopies. Rural primary care offers the variety that keeps the day interesting and diverse. It can vary from derm to ortho to cardiac to peds within an hour. Add rural inpatient medicine to it and it gets more interesting and challenging. I might add that none of this comes without the merit badge of stress. I might sound like a recruiting commercial but I can’t imagine doing anything else, but then again I might be crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted September 21, 2011 Moderator Share Posted September 21, 2011 Having worked in Internal Med / Primary care fro 5 years I ventured out to the subspeciality world..... Did internventional Rad, Chronic Pain, ER as full time, and also did per diem in Physiatry and Ortho - have been back in primary care/IM for about a year now as I love it. No where else (except maybe ER - but who wants to work at 4am and weekends?) do you get to so profoundly affect the care of your patients - you do everything you can, then refer - but oh yeah you gotta know who to refer to because if you send them to ortho you get and ortho answer or renal gets a renal answer...... by deciding who gets refered and who they are refered to you have HUGE affect on your patients. Money and hours stick but would not change it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cody_71 Posted September 23, 2011 Author Share Posted September 23, 2011 Thank You for enlightning me on this field. This will definitely help inform my decision on where I want to end up in my career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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