Cardiology as a PA - S

[Empowred]

Hello,

Currently in my 2 nd year PA school  doing rotation # 6  in cardiology with a physician in  CA.  Its been one week and mostly I have been just shadowing him. The day starts with rotations at hospital , coming back to the clinic, he lets me see few patients by myself ( May be the number will increase as days goes by) and then again rounding in the hospital around lunch time with finishing in the clinic. He does cardiac catheterizations on Wednesdays ( which I watch & then he comes & explains which artery he put stent on or just did the diagnostic ) I am not doing a lot of hands on with him. Is that normal? I know it can vary from physician to physician but just wanted to get an idea what to expect. Also he has been mentioning that he is looking to hire a PA because his work load is high & when I asked in detail what would the job responsibilities , he said mostly taking care of the paperwork & discharges..( but honestly I don't have a clear idea  yet) Should I consider this an job opportunity ?  Also how do  find out what would be the responsibilities of PA he is planning to hire ? This is still my 1st week in the rotation. I am interested in practicing in cardiology but wanted to make sure this is the right job for me. Any input is highly appreciated. Thank you.

[beattie228]

Hey Empowered,

 

Your rotation experiences can vary from service to service as I'm sure you've seen with having completed a couple of rotations so far. Some services will have you doing any and all, others will be more of a hands off approach with more emphasis on rounding and learning the medical decision making of the attendings than actually getting your hands dirty. I tried to view the upside of each rotation, i.e. you may not be doing a lot of hands on at this current rotation but you are certainly learning more about the in's and out's of stenting than the rest of your classmates. 

 

In terms of job opportunity, it's best to keep your ears open for any and all possibilities. There are still a few fields you haven't been exposed to. Additionally, you're a few months away from being done with PA school and then tackling the PANCE so you've got time for the job hunting part. Based on the description of the type of work he's looking to delegate to his PA, that may not be the best position for a new PA. You'll want to find a team that views you as a contributing member of the team, not just someone who will do the "paperwork and discharges". Those are my $0.02 anyhow.

[Empowred]

Thank you so much Beattie 228 . That really helps. Yes I am looking at it as a learning opportunity rather than hands on. Thank you for taking time and responding to my question. 

[PACJD]

11 hours ago, beattie228 said:

Hey Empowered,

 

Your rotation experiences can vary from service to service as I'm sure you've seen with having completed a couple of rotations so far. Some services will have you doing any and all, others will be more of a hands off approach with more emphasis on rounding and learning the medical decision making of the attendings than actually getting your hands dirty. I tried to view the upside of each rotation, i.e. you may not be doing a lot of hands on at this current rotation but you are certainly learning more about the in's and out's of stenting than the rest of your classmates. 

 

In terms of job opportunity, it's best to keep your ears open for any and all possibilities. There are still a few fields you haven't been exposed to. Additionally, you're a few months away from being done with PA school and then tackling the PANCE so you've got time for the job hunting part. Based on the description of the type of work he's looking to delegate to his PA, that may not be the best position for a new PA. You'll want to find a team that views you as a contributing member of the team, not just someone who will do the "paperwork and discharges". Those are my $0.02 anyhow.

well stated. rotations vary from site to site, preceptor to preceptor. best thing to do is take what you can from each experience and view each day as a learning opportunity. even if it is just learning one thing really well, consider it a successful day.