Jump to content

Hardest Part of a PA’s Career


Hardest Part of a PA’s Career  

74 members have voted

  1. 1. What time of your career has been the most difficult?

    • Pre-PA
      10
    • PA school
      15
    • First few years after graduation
      39
    • Changing specialties
      5
    • Day-to-day in an established specialty
      5


Recommended Posts

I'll start the fighting...

I think people's individual answer will be predicated on how they interpret "difficult."  In terms of statistics, for the vast majority of PAs that would be getting into PA school, and therefore would likely be interpreted as "Pre-PA."  In terms of daily stress, I would guess the majority would say "PA school."  In terms of imposter syndrome, then it would likely be "First few years after graduation."  Then, in terms of monotony and how well someone handles relatively the same thing day in and day out (along with the frustrations of dealing with non-medical administration) would equal "Day-to-day in an established specialty."

Lastly, the answers will also be skewed because what is happening "now" (and I don't mean the pandemic) usually seems most important and therefore each individual is likely to put an emphasis on what has occurred to them recently or currently.

  • Upvote 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

53 minutes ago, Cideous said:

Worrying about killing someone, missing something or getting sued.

Great point. Have you always been equally worried about those things, did it concern you more as a newer PA due to lack of experience, or does it worry you most now that you’ve seen all the different ways any of those things can happen?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, kidpresentable said:

Great point. Have you always been equally worried about those things, did it concern you more as a newer PA due to lack of experience, or does it worry you most now that you’ve seen all the different ways any of those things can happen?

Before you ask folks this you need to take into consideration how far they are into their career.  Stone age, we didn't get sued because we were "assistants" so take that out of the equation until about the last 20-25 years.  I never worried about killing anyone but missing something is always in the back of your mind.  That's where the experience and "gut" come in handy.  The more experienced, the more "gut" one should have.  Changing specialties (surg to cardiology to EM, when PA's weren't in the ED, to primary care was always a "two steps forward, one step back" situation.  You also need to factor in that for us dinosaurs we were the ones who entered into sub-specialties or areas such as EM whereas today, there really aren't any new frontiers left.

Edited by GetMeOuttaThisMess
  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

PA school was hard and the first year or so out was challenging, but I think changing specialties was the hardest for me. I was well-respected by staff and good at what I did. But the practice changed, I was burnt out, and I wanted more out of my career, so I switched to a new field. To go back to being treated like a new grad again plus being treated like I don't know anything and have no say despite my experience with thousands of patients has been very hard. I think the key to changing specialties is finding a good group/practice to switch to aside from the actual field itself. I definitely did not find the right one. Ya live and learn. 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Part of my answer has to do with the season of the profession in general. When I graduated in the state of Kentucky, in 1982, we were treated like pieces of crap. It was a struggle getting established. Then I ran into anti-PA pockets, such as around Houghton, Michigan in the mid 1990s where life was made hell by some doctors and nurses (who hated our profession). In the past 15 years, it has been a piece of cake, mostly related to location and changing times rather than me changing into a better PA.

Edited by jmj11
  • Like 3
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Part of my answer has to do with the season of the profession in general. When I graduated in the state of Kentucky, in 1982, we were treated like pieces of crap. It was a struggle getting established. Then I ran into anti-PA pockets, such as around Houghton, Michigan in the mid 1990s where life was made hell by some doctors and nurses (who hated our profession). In the past 15 years, it has been a piece of cake, mostly related to location and changing times rather than me changing into a better PA.

Identical story here in Texas, same time window.
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For me it has been the last several years, I am established in my profession, experienced in my field and provide (in my mind) fantastic care to my patients...but if some jerk of an attending who practices crap medicine wants something done, well guess what? It's happening.

Early on it wasn't as much of an issue as I believed in the fallacy of authority...now it's much harder on my soul

  • Upvote 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

First few years.  Maybe it's because I'm in it.  But the first time you realize you have to justify why you are beneficial to the team and aren't here for scut work...it's hard.  Still fighting with docs and a system that don't use me optimally or respect that I have any autonomy and feeling like the best option is leaving even if there are other good aspects....

It's one thing to be a pre-PA or on this forum hearing that these things happen, it's a completely different thing to LIVE it and it's disheartening.

  • Like 2
  • Upvote 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, MT2PA said:

 

It's one thing to be a pre-PA or on this forum hearing that these things happen, it's a completely different thing to LIVE it and it's disheartening.

I've been here for years saying these things.  I feel bad for new PA's, especially the ones with crap tons of debt....

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

35 minutes ago, Cideous said:

I've been here for years saying these things.  I feel bad for new PA's, especially the ones with crap tons of debt....

I don't have the debt so I have the guts to set boundaries and walk away...but I want to walk away to something better so it's not a fast process.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's just too hard to explain and I don't really feel like digging into it too much at this point.

Do I regret not going to medical school? Some days, sometimes.

Would I tell others to become PAs? Some days, sometimes.

Is it hard to be a smart person - more is it hard to be a smart woman who is not a doctor? More days than not.

Is the Art of Medicine going down the toilet? YES

Am I tired of new grads demanding what I make after nearly 30 yrs?  OH.HELL.YES

Am I a bit stir crazy with pandemic restrictions and my children? YES

Gotta go get some sunshine......

  • Like 4
  • Upvote 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderator

Certainly pre-PA. Not because any pre-PA related activity. I hated being an ICU nurse under grumpy old nurses, I was miserable in anesthesia with no friends because no one liked that I was pro-independent practice (shocker I know), I was miserable dealing with surgeons, my wife was miserable that I cared more about anesthesia school than our relationship. I tried do mission trips to help my soul, but that was depressing because I couldn’t help much in anesthesia. Then I quit to pursue general medicine, quit chasing the almighty dollar, get away from the south, and my wife says she is pregnant. Oy vey!
 

life in PA school was amazing. I chilled on the political talk, had great friends, took school a little less seriously, got hobbies outside medicine.

The first 3 years out were filled with plenty of anxiety. I worried plenty about making the right decisions, especially since I was pretty much independent in the military. I left everyday worried, but then I would call all the people back that I had worried I had made a poor decision and they kept doing great. Most were even really grateful. Attendings gave me lots of compliments on my work, so I guess it all balanced out.

residency was tough. Probably the second worse time. I had just left the military where I had spent a year away from my family. My daughter was acting out, didn’t understand why I was gone all the time or sleeping when I was home. I had become wrapped up again in being perfect about everything and all consumed by the literature. Fortunately made it through, and now things are great again. Don’t have plans to change anytime soon. Balance and moderation from here on out.

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pre-PA was tough because juggling random jobs, pre-reqs and volunteer opportunities.

PA school was hard because long distance relationship , constantly moving for rotations, and daily test anxiety.

First year as a PA is hard because disorganized practice dynamics, patients are messes due to low resource availability, and constantly wondering if the highl level of effort I'm putting into each encounter is sustainable for me long enough to stay sane and finish up my 2 year loan for service obligation.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For me, mostly because I am currently in it...but, the first few years. For me, its just the first few months so far, because I am a recent grad. I used to think pre-PA was hard because I was constantly worried about whether I would get into school or not. Then I thought PA school was the hardest thing, because I would get worried whether I would graduate or not...not to mention the Board Exam (I guess you can guess it by now, I am a worried-wart hehe). Then I was lucky enough to get offered a ER job right after graduation, but so far, it has been the toughest experience I have ever had.

I started during start-peak of the flu season, I would go home cry, and worry about the patients I saw. I would call and ask my colleagues about many questions, some are simple, some are complex. I would also make questionable decisions (i.e. keeping a patient that was way out of my scope of practice and level of experience). I am still learning, but I do have somewhat of a chip on my shoulder you could say, that my job is in jeopardy because of my lack of experience. You can go to work one day, and think that "Wow, I slowly getting this stuff down" then tomorrow you get ur ass handed to you.

In addition to that, there are other factors like working with different attendings, different mindsets on the job, expectations, perceptions from others (nurses, techs, patients, other docs) etc. It is not rare for me to question my choice of being in this profession, this particular field, etc. 

So, being a new grad thus far has been very exhausting (mentally and physically). I have been told time after time by different PAs that it would only get better. Therefore, I can only keep moving forward.

PS: I heard somewhere that, in order to work as a ER provider, you need to be a bit paranoid at all time. I am not sure if thats true haha, but I definitely fit the description, if not the prime example. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Welcome to the Physician Assistant Forum! This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn More