Recent AAPA CME on Diplomacy and Benefits of Learning to Politick

[rtPA20]

Hey everyone,

Something that I haven't seen or felt that has been a emphasis but has had a direct impact on me is interdisciplinary communication and the politics of being a medical provider. In my past role as a RT I was able to do my job, speak with RN and current attending regarding patient cares, and go back to my office when work was complete. I find that it's much more challenging now as a PA-C and having so many avenues of individuals, different levels of education/training, experiences, wants/needs, and at times it can feel overwhelming. I took the AAPA diplomacy works CME to learn more about how to succeed and what exactly it means to politick, or at least, to recognize need to understand "the game." That term was used specifically during the CME and not how I view work or interdisciplinary relationships, but it was informative. I'm curious if anyone had a mentor or how they learned to be successful from an administrative/interdisciplinary approach when we are typically the middlemen among so many departments. I don't know much and want to learn more, but I'm not sure how to best improve my skills. What I learned from the lecture was helpful for insight into my own areas of improvement, but it seems like there could be more done to educate us on how to succeed from a non-clinical perspective. I hope this makes sense. 

[ohiovolffemtp]

Here's what seems to work fairly well for me:

• try to learn everyone's names
• explicitly tell them that whenever they think a patient needs to be looked at urgently, they are right, even if ultimately after assessing the patient it turns out there's nothing serious going on
• after you've done your assessment, tell the nurses, techs, RT's, & imaging what the plan is - what differential you're considering
• talk up all of the team in front of the patient
• say thank you lots
• answer all of their questions: about results, patient presentation, their kids' illnesses, etc.
• if you disagree with something they think of about a patient, acknowledge all the reasons why they could be right, then add whatever findings you are considering that suggest otherwise, especially if the patient's story changes from what they told them - which it often does.

[Mayamom]

On 12/31/2023 at 2:16 PM, ohiovolffemtp said:

say thank you lots

This goes a long way.....

[sas5814]

I think Ohio covered it pretty well. I work in a challenging environment because of the complexity of the patients and the shortage of resources (specialists in particular) and so the staff is very stressed most of the time. The staff generally hates most of the docs because they take their frustration out on everyone and often leave the nurses and support staff hanging and in the crosshairs of angry patients.

I take the approach we are all in the soup together and everyone on my team and in my clinic has a role that is just as important as mine. I don't get angry or frustrated with them and I stand between them and the patients when the patients are being unreasonable. We are clearly all in this together.

As a result they trust me and often come to me with problems or concerns that have nothing to do with me (I'm in charge of nothing and nobody) because they know they will get a fair hearing and reasoned advice.

I also say please and thank you a lot.