I can't be a PA anymore

[ctPA0307]

Hey so I need advice. I've been a PA for 2 years and I can't be one any more. I have no desire to be a PA anymore. I've done outpatient and inpatient in 2 different fields. I'm ok with parts of the job but not others. I have zero confidence in my abilities as a practitioner/decision making/etc., which isn't helpful in any aspect. However I really don't know what I can do with a PA degree. Any advice would be appreciated. 

[DizzyJ]

"those that can't do, teach".  Do you want to teach at all?

But seriously, with only trying 2 different fields of all the possibilities, it would be a shame to throw away all the time and money you spent to become a PA. 

What are the parts of the job you don't like?  It would be helpful for us to know in order to provide some more specific suggestions. 

Also, have you considered doing a residency?

[8404PA]

Left field but I remember seeing a PA in occupational therapy at the VA and all she did was sign off on paperwork. 

[SERENITY NOW]

So you don't enjoy being a PA because you're not confident in your abilities and medical decision making?  I'm 2 years out and still don't know a ton as well, and I'd agree that not knowing things and feeling inadequate does lead to stress and burnout.  However, the takeaway I get from that realization is that I need to learn more, to study more, to find mentors to continue helping me grow, etc .... not to give up!  I'm sure you knew that learning medicine wouldn't be a walk in the park... its incredibly challenging, but that makes it all the more fulfilling once things finally start to click after all of that hard work.   

[ctPA0307]

I can do paperwork. I'm fine doing "nonsense work". 

 I can't teach either.

I really don't feel comfortable providing medical advice to people because I don't feel that I'm qualified. 

So I'm really stuck

[ALC0313]

The thing about PA training is it's pretty specific to that role. You could certainly transition to education or hospital administration but those would likely require additional degrees.

I've always wondered if any PA's end up doing what some nurses do when they're tired of direct patient care, like case manager or quality control.

Can you give us more details about why you're unhappy with being a PA?

[ctPA0307]

I would be ok with writing notes and other paper work and doing things like that for the docs but I don't want to give any medical advice

[camoman1234]

11 minutes ago, ctalbot0521 said:

I can do paperwork. I'm fine doing "nonsense work". 

 I can't teach either.

I really don't feel comfortable providing medical advice to people because I don't feel that I'm qualified. 

So I'm really stuck

Please elaborate on what you mean by "I don't feet comfortable providing medical advice to people because I don't feel that I'm qualified." I have been out of school a few years and hit a wall last year with medicine which for me is multifactorial (insurance companies running the show and telling me how to treatment and what to Rx, lack of management at my office, staff issues, lack of good equipment, lack of reimbursement from insurance companies, more paperwork and codes from medicare, backlash from corp. monsters about referrals, etc and the list goes on. I have thought a million times about leaving medicine, but am sticking it out a little longer and see what happens.  

[ctPA0307]

I don't feel that I can give medical advice because I'm not knowledgeable/intelligent/informed enough. I'm not qualified. I feel inadequate every day I go to work. I don't know. I just don't see myself doing this for the next 5-10 years.  

[EMEDPA]

go back and do a residency...

[ctPA0307]

27 minutes ago, EMEDPA said:

go back and do a residency...

Listen I'm a terrible PA and I should not be practicing medicine

[Acebecker]

So you've said you don't mind doing paperwork.  Start there - is there any room in your practice for someone who fills out paperwork for patients?  I mean, there are a million face-to-face visits required for walkers, wheelchairs, CPAP, etc.

Is there anything about medicine that you *do* like?  What made you go to PA school in the first place?  Maybe start there and work your way up.....

[sk732]

3 minutes ago, ctalbot0521 said:

Listen I'm a terrible PA and I should not be practicing medicine

Don't make some of us go Army/Navy/FMF all over you and tell you to stop the self pity stuff - glass half full says you passed your certification exam, so therefore can't be (a) stupid and (b) unknowledgeable about medicine.  We've all had days/months where we've been wondering "WTF am I doing to myself?'...time for you to do what you'd tell a patient to do and sit down and analyze why you're an allegedly terrible PA?  Is it because you work for dolts that engage in ego gratification through breaking yours down?  Are you just plain old depressed and or charcoal, needing to seek out some therapy and or life coaching?  Do you just need to find a niche for yourself within the domain of medicine?

Basic primary care stuff here - start a diary.  Write in it daily, at the end of the week make a summary and look at what you're saying to yourself and how you're saying it - is it the work or is it you?  If it's you, come up with a mantra, write it down, and say it to yourself several times a day.  If it's work, talk to your boss or someone you trust or start looking for something somewhere else.  Make a list of things you're good at and interested in, what you're willing to learn/relearn and put into practice.  For instance - if you're in primary care and are interested in sports injuries, start looking for someone who might be interested in mentoring you, courses you can take, etc.  Get good at it and then tell your bosses, "Hey, I hate this other stuff, but am good/great at dealing with day to day MSK problems and am willing to take all that stuff off your hands."  At least then you'll start feeling better about yourself, since work won't be work anymore, it'll be something fun and interesting instead.  

Myamoto Musashi said/wrote that it takes "1,000 days to forge the spirit, 10,000 to polish it"...you're not even a 1000 days in yet.

SK

[rpackelly]

What did your faculty think about you as a student?  Did this uncertainty happen suddenly following a mishap or mistake?  What kind of feedback did you get from your docs?  If this is really the case it would likely help you to talk with someone, like a professional, about it.  We all have suffered from “imposter syndrome” at times, even the best docs.  If you have an anxiety disorder or persistent low self esteem, or very thin skin as we say, medicine can be a rough gig but you could work on it.  

 

I did know know someone who felt like this persistently who went to work for the office of the medical examiner in NYC......they do forensic death investigations and are great at it.    I know a couple of others who work for some of the better known EMR platforms training clinicians.  No foul there, they just found they didn’t like the responsibilities of an autonomous clinician.  One step up would be a job doing physicals for commercial drivers licenses, etc.  depending on the roots of the problem different solutions could present themselves.  

 

 

I wont ask where you went to school but it you thought that it was sketchy in terms of teaching, a residency might be in order.  

[Guest ral]

Sorry you feel that way.  

Let me put one thing into perspective:  NOBODY gets through PA school by winging it.  You obviously have enough snap to have completed the program, and went on to certification.  Sometimes hard to pat yourself on the back but, you are far from unintelligent.  

Without getting personal, take a look at what's happening in other areas of your life.  We tend to suck at accepting a little outside help once in a while.

[LKPAC]

2 hours ago, ctalbot0521 said:

Listen I'm a terrible PA and I should not be practicing medicine

I believe that you're terrible, assuming you are actually a PA and not a spammer.  Cut your losses, get out.  You obviously don't have what it takes to help people in medicine.  It takes drive, determination, and the ability to learn beyond what school teaches.  This goes for MDs, RNs, etc too.  Some people just don't have it.  I hope you're young and have time to find another field.  Start over.

Maybe a drug rep.

[EMEDPA]

ouch...although I was worrying about the spammer issue as well....was waiting for "when you think about it all PAs are terrible" or something similar...

[quietmedic]

I was there once.  There are non-clinical jobs as a PA, but you should know, when I was 2 years out, I also didn't know diddly-squat. It took until a lucky job in year 5 for me to start really having a chance to learn and prove myself.  There is a lot you can do in the meantime...start reading text books, literally, in the area you want to practice in...medical podcasts...pretend you are taking the PANCE again and study when you can, it will build your knowledge.   As well, start taking jobs that are leading in the direction you think you might want to go.  Use every patient you see in your practice as a chance to read up all about what they had on UpToDate.  There's still a lot you can do.

While PA residencies are very far and few between, there is something that can help you if ever go in that direction...or, even if you don't, I highly recommend it:  Therapy. Don't take that the wrong way.  Unless I am reading this wrong, there's a lot of anxiety/self-doubt/confidence/hopelessness issues you are struggling with, and as someone not unfamiliar, don't underestimate what working through some of these issues could do to positively influence  and reframe your professional life.  We're not all meant to go this alone.

[EMEDPA]

residencies are a lot more available now than they used to be. there are probably over 100 now and very few folks actually apply to them. But, agree with your other recommendations.

[quietmedic]

19 minutes ago, EMEDPA said:

residencies are a lot more available now than they used to be. there are probably over 100 now and very few folks actually apply to them. But, agree with your other recommendations.

Thanks.  About the residencies, well...applied to two a few years ago in a specialty I wanted to transition to.   Group-interviewed for one. There were about 10 candidates...nine were fresh meat, recent grads, barely out of teenagehood, and then there was me...I did not get the res.  Seems all the ones in my area (big PA-heavy city) want the young and  impressionable, even a few years experience was apparently a big negative...but that was a few years ago, so who knows. Just reminiscing.

[Anachronist]

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

If you made it through a program, and you made it through the PANCE, you are "qualified." There is a reason a PA is a dependant practitioner, you should have a MD to fall back on. Finding a MD you can work well with is important as well. Doubt and fear can drive us to better ourselves if we chose to take them by the horns and make then companions rather than masters. 

And a residency sounds like a very good idea to increase your knowledge and confidence.

[fishbum]

21 minutes ago, Anachronist said:

There is a reason a PA is a dependant practitioner, you should have a MD to fall back on. 

This is really bad reasoning. I don't care what your title is, a professional takes ALL of the responsibility for his/her work...rather than counting on someone else to pick up his/her slack. 

I love that quote, though.

[EMEDPA]

agree with above. don't depend on someone else to catch your errors. take responsibility and pride in your own work. right out of school having doubts and running things by a more seasoned clinician is appropriate and nl. a few years out you should only rarely be consulting within your own specialty.

[ctPA0307]

4 hours ago, LKPAC said:

I believe that you're terrible, assuming you are actually a PA and not a spammer.  Cut your losses, get out.  You obviously don't have what it takes to help people in medicine.  It takes drive, determination, and the ability to learn beyond what school teaches.  This goes for MDs, RNs, etc too.  Some people just don't have it.  I hope you're young and have time to find another field.  Start over.

Maybe a drug rep.

Ok, not a spammer. Calm down. I stated that I'm terrible because it's just a fact. I know I should get out however I'm not sure how to do that. It would be really dumb to leave a job with no back up. I don't know where to go from here; that's why I asked for advice. 

[TheLastStone]

30 minutes ago, ctalbot0521 said:

Ok, not a spammer. Calm down. I stated that I'm terrible because it's just a fact. I know I should get out however I'm not sure how to do that. It would be really dumb to leave a job with no back up. I don't know where to go from here; that's why I asked for advice. 

As someone who is a pre-PA you don't have to weigh my advice as heavily, but I'm 27 and I like to think I have some seasoning and experience with life. You know that personal statement you wrote? The interview? All of the studying and why you told yourself you wouldn't give up when things were hard, and then passed the PANCE? Those reasons are what you need to remember right now. Why did you want to become a PA? What made you want to do this? PA's don't know everything, but neither do doctors! They work at it; it takes years to get that niche. It's obviously your decision in the end but I hope that you think about this more. Never make a permanent decision based on temporary feelings. I wish you the best with whatever you choose.