writing strength

[cineshin]

I am wondering what kind of writing or writing ability is needed as a physician assistant

Please answer the following questions.

 

`- what knids of writing did you do regularly once you become a PA?

- Do you think those tasks are the same from one setting to another, or do they vary?

- Who are the readers of most of the work?

- what are some of the special writing/ reading problems associated with your field? what can be done about those problems?

 

Thank you!

 

This will help me a lot.

[SocialMedicine]

hmm maybe give some background as to why you are asking this question. PAs must be excellent communicators but not necessarily writers. You write medical notes. Which are often objective findings and a plan .... not much literary style involved. Most PA students will write a research thesis. This involved command of language and the ability to formulate ideas. If you didnt consider yourself a strong writer PA could still be an option.

[sk732]

I've had to write my patient notes obviously, I do write referral letters as well as other letters and memos related to my practice. I've also had to write statements for legal issues involving patients and when I was in the military, write quarterly and annual personnel assessments.

 

SK

[Febrifuge]

I pride myself on using proper grammar and spelling in all my notes; I don't think this makes me terribly unusual, but there are plenty of notes that are just terrible, and often this will confuse an issue rather than make it clearer. I work Urgent Care, so I see many patients who have little contact with our system. If my note is going to be the only information we have on a patient until they come back in a year, I'd like it to be thorough and easy to read.

 

I spend more time on History than a lot of my peers, for that reason. The Objective stuff is quick and abbreviated, the Subjective flows well so even if it's a little "long" it isn't too much. I don't include what I would consider extraneous details, but of course you'd need perfect predictive power to know what is and isn't going to be important later.