How many "clinical skills" did your program teach you before clinicals?

[blburns]

I am 1 quarter away from clinicals and I guess I thought I would learn a lot more basic clinical skills prior to clinicals. We have had very little hands on practice or instruction on some of the basic skills any nurse or medic would know how to do and I just feel like I would feel more confident learning more advanced skills if I had learned more in school. To me its like being asked to suture someone without knowing how to put on a band-aid. Maybe it is because I was an EMT and things like IVs, IJCs, pleural decompression, etc. were looked on as skills belonging to advanced medical professsionals. What are your thoughts?

[Just Steve]

My program informed the class that the program is about family practice. Any advanced skills beyond a simple suture would be learned on the job whenever our careers went in that direction. So no intubations, central lines, chest tubes, advanced suturing, joint reduction, mega codes...we can do a mean clinical exam though..got that dialed. I am hoping to pick up some advanced clinic skills while on rotations. Either that or I'll be signing up for ATLS class.

[blburns]

Yeah we are general practice program as well and we have had a few chances to intubate dummies as well as ACLS and PALS and a little IV insertion. Maybe my expectations are unrealistic and a lot of my classmates don't feel this way, giving the "PAs don't do that" response but my argument is that some PAs do because of where they work or who their supervising physician is. I shadowed a PA in oncology who took a more clinical lead role with one Dr and more of a nursing/scribe role with another Dr while on rounds, just whatever the doctor of the day preferred.

[True Anomaly]

Like Steve said, since the focus of PA education is on primary care, it's really variable as to what skills are taught beyond doing a thorough physical exam and simple suturing. Considering how variable primary care clinics can be, it shouldn't be surprising- some in a suburban/urban setting do little to no skills, while clinics in a more rural setting may do advanced wound repairs, xrays with splinting and joint injections- at least this is the variety that I saw in different primary care clinics in school. My own program went through every kind of suturing technique there was, blood draws/IV placement, splinting/casting, ACLS and simple codes, and others I know I'm forgetting. However, since we were associated with an osteopathic medical school, there are different "clubs" based on specialty- I helped out with the ER club, and we set up opportunities for intubations on manikins and even cadavers.

[blburns]

That's reassuring and I had forgotten for a minute that the focus is on Primary Care, mainly because we just finished Emergency Medicine and that is also my background. Thank you for the paradigm shift and I will look forward to learning what I can in clinicals.

[EMEDPA]

we had an emergency med. procedures lab 2 hrs/week for 16 weeks in which we covered most e.d. related skills.

[jen0508]

I am 1 quarter away from clinicals and I guess I thought I would learn a lot more basic clinical skills prior to clinicals. We have had very little hands on practice or instruction on some of the basic skills any nurse or medic would know how to do and I just feel like I would feel more confident learning more advanced skills if I had learned more in school. To me its like being asked to suture someone without knowing how to put on a band-aid. Maybe it is because I was an EMT and things like IVs, IJCs, pleural decompression, etc. were looked on as skills belonging to advanced medical professsionals. What are your thoughts?

 

we learned the basics. phlebotomy, IVs , I & Ds, suturing, taking biopsys, casting, lumbar punctures, etc. These are the skills that a PA is certified to do without additional training or special permission. Well, atleast in my state, anything thats outside of the general PA description (and not a basic skill learned in school) you have to get permission from the state to be licensed to do that skill (central lines, etc).

[jsfelder0417]

My program is focused on rural medicine, so we started clinical skills week 2. We aren't doing anything crazy, but we are being familiarized with a wide variety of procedures.