winterallsummer Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Is it possible to work two full time jobs as a PA? How stressful would this be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAdaddy Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 2 full time jobs, as a door greater at wal mart would be stressful. I know several PAs with 2 jobs (maybe a M-F position and a weekend gig at the ER or quick care) but none with 80 hour commitments at 2 seperate employers. JD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted December 6, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 6, 2011 I worked 2 full time pa jobs while taking 1 class/semester for 2 years when I was thinking about going back to medschool. this was before kids. pay and benefits were great. schedule was atrocious with frequently getting off work at one place at 2 am and being back at another at 7 am. now I work 1 full time job and 2 per diem jobs, have kids, and am pursuing a doctorate. the schedule is much more sane now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted December 6, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 6, 2011 did it for 3 months - way uncomfortable - great $$ but really unenjoyable only way I can see it working would be single, young, no kids, no family,(no clue) and a fair amount of speed (legal or illegal) and a diminished need for sleep and friends (however i was making about 130k right out of school...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted December 6, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 6, 2011 longs shifts help as well. I worked 12 shifts at one place and 10 at another to be considered full time at both with full pay and benefits. I also do fairly well on 5-6 hrs of sleep/night for extended periods of time so that helps.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
physasst Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 longs shifts help as well. I worked 12 shifts at one place and 10 at another to be considered full time at both with full pay and benefits.I also do fairly well on 5-6 hrs of sleep/night for extended periods of time so that helps.... Yeah, I did something similar when I worked about 40 hours per week all through PA school, including the second year. It pretty much sucked. I rarely sleep more than 6 hours, and most of the time I only sleep for about 4-5 hours. Sleep is predominately a waste of time. Every once in a while I'll sleep in a little late and get about 8 hours....and then I feel like cr*p......I'm actually MORE tired if I sleep 8 hours than if I sleep 5, although I've never understood that. You can do it, but it really depends on YOU, and how you can handle 2 full time jobs...No one else can answer that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andersenpa Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 You have one life and at the end you're not going to say to yourself "gee I wish I had worked more"..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted December 6, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 6, 2011 You have one life and at the end you're not going to say to yourself "gee I wish I had worked more"..... very true. I cut way back when I started my new program...all the way down to just full time.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAdaddy Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 You have one life and at the end you're not going to say to yourself "gee I wish I had worked more"..... Bravo !!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LIPPER Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 I did a regular I.M. job during the week, and I.D. Every other weekend. The weekend consisted of 12-hr days.... After 3 yrs I couldn't take any more. The money was great, but came at a very high cost. If you want to test yourself then for it, otherwise IMHO it's not worth it. ESPECIALLY if you have family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HopefulPA Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Sure it can be done. Some places consider 36 hours FT and provide benefits. So if you got a job that you worked 3-12s you would still have 1 day off a week. But the more difficult thing is coordinating between 2 FT jobs. What happens when your employers schedule you on the same days? FT employers expect you to work their schedule. PT employers are a little more flexible in working around your FT job. So yea it is doable and but what good is making a ton of money if you never have time to enjoy it. Consider your quality of over life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterallsummer Posted December 8, 2011 Author Share Posted December 8, 2011 Well, I thought I might attempt either 2 FT jobs or 1 FT and 1 PT or PRN job for the first 1-2 years after I graduate. Not only would I rack up a lot of medical knowledge, but I would make back a lot of money to pay off my massive loans. Maybe one job Mon-Wed, 3 12's, and then a PT job weekend, 2 12's. This still gives me Thurs/Fri as a "weekend" and I could make maybe 120K, putting half or more of that to loans for a year or two! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted December 8, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 8, 2011 60 hrs/week you better make more than 120. job #1 will have benefits. say 40-45/hr job #2 no benefits so higher hourly rate. say 50-60/hr do the math. $140,800/yr for 40/hr at job 1 (40 hrs/week) and 50/hr at job 2 (24 hrs/week) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacam Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Hi this is a question regarding NPI. DO we use one NPI for credentialing at two different hospitals. I'm unsure thaks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primadonna22274 Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 You get one NPI that follows you wherever you go. Memorize it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted December 9, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 9, 2011 You get one NPI that follows you wherever you go. Memorize it. I just carry it on a card in my pocket with all my other important numbers, medicare upin, passwords, etc. (yes, if I lose the card I'm screwed but I do have them all written down elsewhere as well). working at 4 facilities for 3 groups involves lots of different codes, passwords, access pins, dictation log ins, etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andersenpa Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 I just carry it on a card in my pocket with all my other important numbers, medicare upin, passwords, etc. (yes, if I lose the card I'm screwed but I do have them all written down elsewhere as well). working at 4 facilities for 3 groups involves lots of different codes, passwords, access pins, dictation log ins, etc Ditto- I keep all my data- NPI/UPIN/state license/NCCPA logins etc in a locked file on my phone. Easy access. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andersenpa Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Well, I thought I might attempt either 2 FT jobs or 1 FT and 1 PT or PRN job for the first 1-2 years after I graduate. Not only would I rack up a lot of medical knowledge, but I would make back a lot of money to pay off my massive loans. Maybe one job Mon-Wed, 3 12's, and then a PT job weekend, 2 12's. This still gives me Thurs/Fri as a "weekend" and I could make maybe 120K, putting half or more of that to loans for a year or two! 5 12s per week. Good luck with that! As a first job situation out of school you are running a high risk of burnout and diminished returns on either job. My advice- start with one gig and master IT before tackling another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
physasst Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Ditto- I keep all my data- NPI/UPIN/state license/NCCPA logins etc in a locked file on my phone. Easy access. Yep, I keep all of them on a thumb drive. It's also on my hard drive at my main job, but I keep a small thumb drive with everything on it in my work bag. I'd do my phone, but I can barely figure the darn thing out. I'm getting old.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterallsummer Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 Does this sound reasonable: a three 12's a week full time job (say MTW 12 12 12), and a weekend or Fri/Sat part time job (12 and 12 over weekend). That's maybe 130K, 110K after uncle sam, and if I can live on 40K, in two years I could raise 140K towards my loans. If I end up taking out 210K, that'd leave me only 70K in debt. I could switch to just three shifts a week, and pay that off reasonably in 4-5 years. That'd be two years of 60 hours a week, but like others have pointed out in other threads, it will be similar to my year of rotations in aspect of stress and work, and I would learn a lot. Also to those discussing memorizing the number... just email it to yourself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted December 9, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 9, 2011 50-55 hrs/week is sustainable. 60+ really isn't if you want any kind of life. I worked 72 hrs/week one summer to pay of a bunch of debt. it was miserable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adjk1229 Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 In my mind you're working your @$$ off in PA school so life can be a little less stressful for you in the long run (I'm currently an aid working as many hours as I can on all different shifts to pay bills) and I'm looking forward to not having to kill myself like this anymore... But that's just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
physasst Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 50-55 hrs/week is sustainable. 60+ really isn't if you want any kind of life.I worked 72 hrs/week one summer to pay of a bunch of debt. it was miserable. Yeah, when I first got out of PA school, I took a job in Neurosurgery.....in order to "get me up to speed", I was assigned to take every other night call, plus work 6 am until.....whenever. I was averaging over 90 hours per week easily. This was way before the residency hour restrictions. The senior residents loved it, cause I took first call on everything. ED, floor, etc. This was at a BIG academic teaching hospital. I have mixed feelings. Sure, I had no life...I worked, barely slept, drank as much caffeine as I could, and was basically a zombie on my nights off. BUT, and here's the but part. I learned more in that 8 months than at any other time in my PA career. During the day learning was impossible. The attendings were all there, and they were more interested in the most esoteric stuff, and discussing the most advanced concepts. They also had very little patience for teaching the basics...so, you were basically holding retractors, closing, and doing floor scut, or worse stuck in clinic just doing brief H&P's. BUT, at night, everything changed. The attendings were gone. The chiefs, seniors, and other residents were actually interested in teaching. You got to see and work up consults completely. I remember going on a regular basis with one of the chiefs to the radiology room (again, way before electronic films) and we would spend 1-2 hours per night (when able) going over spine and cranial CT's and MRI's. He would pick interesting pathologies, and I would have to try and figure it out. The he would patiently explain everything. Plus doing endless LP's at 2-3 in the morning, or managing an unresponsive patient at 4 am when you are barely responsive yourself can be a real learning opportunity. It was the best learning experience I ever had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterallsummer Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 Physasst - this would be ideal for me! So you think working nights at a teaching hospital is the best learning environment? I know it would make life miserable, but I worked 80+ hours doing jobs I hated and I survived it. I know I can do something I love while learning and stick it out for 1-2 years. Then the rest of my life I won't have to worry about student loans. I am a fairly young guy with no family so it sounds reasonable to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted December 9, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 9, 2011 working 1 on 1 with a good teacher is key wherever that might be. I found my best learning environment is as double coverage at a rural facility seeing every other pt that comes in the door. stuff I am not up to speed on the docs are always happy to help out with. very few available consultants so we do a lot of the ortho, ob, etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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