PAfocus Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 Are there any surgical PAs on the forum? I am 6 months in to a new position in General Surgery (switched from FM) and interested in just comparing work environment, duties, resources, and wondering how long it took to feel confident at work each day. I currently first assist, see some clinic (mostly post op, follow ups, and hernias), help out on the floors, see consults, and take call 1 weekend a month. I have a myriad of texts and use uptodate but this only gets me so far. I find I mostly have to ask a lot of questions to the surgeons and try to develop a loose framework for how to approach specific surgical conditions. Any other resources / CME suggestions? Any advice is appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SedRate Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, PAfocus said: Are there any surgical PAs on the forum? I am 6 months in to a new position in General Surgery (switched from FM) and interested in just comparing work environment, duties, resources, and wondering how long it took to feel confident at work each day. I currently first assist, see some clinic (mostly post op, follow ups, and hernias), help out on the floors, see consults, and take call 1 weekend a month. I have a myriad of texts and use uptodate but this only gets me so far. I find I mostly have to ask a lot of questions to the surgeons and try to develop a loose framework for how to approach specific surgical conditions. Any other resources / CME suggestions? Any advice is appreciated! Surgical PA here. There are a lot of factors into feeling comfortable and confident, IMO, and I think a lot of that depends on the support around you and your own self-study. Are you the only PA? That could take more time since you don't have other PAs to collab with. Is your SP interested in teaching and open to discussing cases? If less so, that could take more time and self-teaching. Also, I find that I learn more in busy practices where I'm seeing several consults and operating every day vs slower practices where I only operate a couple times a week. Of course there are also downsides to working in a busy practice... I have kept little pocketbooks over the years with all my notes specific to each specialty, so I often refer to those and add to it as I learn new things. Everytime I've switched surgical specialties, I spend some time reviewing my PA school notes, pocketbooks, textbooks, and anatomy beforehand. I also try to do pertinent CME when possible; JAAPA has a few good surgery articles you can start with if you haven't already. Once on the job, I read up on individual cases frequently. Before consulting on a pt, I like to look it up/read on it first (e.g., "DDx RUQ abd pain") and then look over imaging, labs, etc. I then present to my SP and try to review the imaging in person as much as possible. If my SP consulted on a pt without me, I still review imaging and the case myself so I'm familiar with the case as well as for my own learning. (I've also found a few things that my SP has missed.) ACS can be variable regarding what's operative and what's not or what needs surgery now or what can wait. After you've reviewed a case, don't be afraid to ask your SP to kindly explain things. Ultimately, it's for the betterment of the team and patient care the more you learn. I've worked with some surgeons who are very involved and some who are less. I like to use Lange's Surgery On Call and The Mont Reid Surgical Handbook. Edited January 29, 2023 by SedRate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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