spirit catches you and you fall down

[jmiller]

i was reading this book, which was a must read for one of my friend who is also going to PA school in MA, and saw in chapter 6," high-velocity...therapy" written, "I once heard a resident try to persuade a physician’s assistant to take over one of his cases. “No, Steve,” said the assistant. “No, I do not want to see an elderly Hmong woman with multiple complaints and depression." Now, i have absolutely no doubt that it was a physician assistant that the author was referring to. Obviously, i stopped reading. I doubt the students are even told about it and if one them cats saw it.

 

dammit

[Hemegroup]

Why would you stop reading? It's an invaluable source of education. Even if it was a PA, who knows the circumstances of their day ... it could just as easily have been any other type of provider who would still say that. I don't know where my copy is so I can't reference it at the moment. But if in worse case scenario it somehow is disparaging towards a PA or even PAs in general, I would still read the book.

[Guest]

I noticed that too!

But it was a requirement to read for me.

Might be yours too, so keep reading

[bgdog]

physician’s assistant Now, i have absolutely no doubt that it was a physician assistant that the author was referring to. Obviously, i stopped reading.

 

dammit

 

I have never understood the utter disdain that some people have when other people refer to our gig with a slight bit of ignorance. They are oblivious to the nuance of a misplaced "S", why let it ruin your day?

 

Is it mispronounced, written incorrectly and better if it wasn't there, yes.

 

Does it matter? Maybe to some.

 

There are many, many other things, like being a responsible provider and trying to do the right thing on the fifty to hundred decisions I have to make every day that come waaaay before an extra "S".

 

 

It's like when they call you doctor. Do you get all worked up about that? You can correct them but they still do it.

 

It's not the Physician(s) I have have problem with anyway, it's the Assistant part of the equation.

[Hemegroup]

Look, if and when you enter medicine you will likely realize something along the way ... just because something we read doesn't make us 'feel good' doesn't mean it's to be disregarded or even, that it IS to be regarded. Objectivity is key as is gaining a bigger perspective of a situation. In and amidst the lab values and uptight family members are the facts and the action of then applying them in practice ... those facts and how to improve the health of your patient are what you're looking for and should be interested in.

[flyingsquirrel]

I have a name that is frequently misspelled and almost universally mispronounced. I have learned that there is a time and a place for correcting errors and a time and place for letting them go. The errors are never malevolent, often careless, and almost always unintentional. I presented at a conference where between my nametag and all of the printed material I found three different misspellings of my name. I did not refuse to present, nor do I think any less of the sponsoring organization. (I did however ask that my name be corrected in the archived version of the procedings.)

 

I believe the same is true with the vast majority of the occurences of the 's. It is used by people who believe that it is the correct title of the profession or who make a careless mistake or who don't know that there is a difference. There is no need to discount the source as anything more than in need of more information about PAs. The only issue then is to decide whether or not it is an appropriate (or useful) time to provide that education.

[jmiller]

Damm ya'll calm down. i did not say i completely stopped reading the book. i said once i discovered it, i stopped reading that book -- for a day. May be i could have been little bit more clearer. so quick to throw "dont take it like that" rhetorics. points taken though.

[andersenpa]

I have never understood the utter disdain that some people have when other people refer to our gig with a slight bit of ignorance. They are oblivious to the nuance of a misplaced "S", why let it ruin your day?

 

Is it mispronounced, written incorrectly and better if it wasn't there, yes.

 

Does it matter? Maybe to some.

 

There are many, many other things, like being a responsible provider and trying to do the right thing on the fifty to hundred decisions I have to make every day that come waaaay before an extra "S".

 

 

It's like when they call you doctor. Do you get all worked up about that? You can correct them but they still do it.

 

It's not the Physician(s) I have have problem with anyway, it's the Assistant part of the equation.

 

 

titles matter

Eventually the 50-100 decisions become more routine. I look at our profession on a bigger scale now. Talking with PAs in other fields makes me better able to understand their situations.

 

Having done a lot of work on the name change, I've heard this argument before.

"There are so many other important things, so focus on those."

 

The reality is the issues are ALL important. Even if it's not important to you, it's pretty damn important to someone else. Maybe 100s of other PAs. maybe thousands. Maybe 6000+......

[zsyed161]

I'm sorry, I don't want to sound like a jerk or anything-- but I'm confused as to what the issue/controversy is?

The apostrophe s part of it? Because if it is-- I think we need to look back and remember who started the field and why.

Between, Hudson and Stead, neither of them thought that we (speaking in context of becoming a PA student in near future) would do what we currently do nowadays. But rather the "assistant" part was because we would be assisting the physician in whichever capacity. If the physician isn't there then the PA didn't do anything-- period. It was what a 3rd year medical student would be able to do and no more. But as things have evolved, new skills and abilities to do patient care without the physician being physically present, it still remains true- we still assist "a physician" at any one time. Granted we don't belong to them, but we still are associated with working for 1 doctor or another because the patient belongs to 1 doctor or another. You can feel better and say "physician associate" :=D:

 

BTW, at least we aren't called "aide" -- as the original 1960s AMA recommendation suggested; to be likened to a nurse's aide...... :O_O:

[True Anomaly]

I'm sorry, I don't want to sound like a jerk or anything-- but I'm confused as to what the issue/controversy is?

The apostrophe s part of it? Because if it is-- I think we need to look back and remember who started the field and why.

Between, Hudson and Stead, neither of them thought that we (speaking in context of becoming a PA student in near future) would do what we currently do nowadays. But rather the "assistant" part was because we would be assisting the physician in whichever capacity. If the physician isn't there then the PA didn't do anything-- period. It was what a 3rd year medical student would be able to do and no more. But as things have evolved, new skills and abilities to do patient care without the physician being physically present, it still remains true- we still assist "a physician" at any one time. Granted we don't belong to them, but we still are associated with working for 1 doctor or another because the patient belongs to 1 doctor or another. You can feel better and say "physician associate" :=D:

 

BTW, at least we aren't called "aide" -- as the original 1960s AMA recommendation suggested; to be likened to a nurse's aide...... :O_O:

 

I think I'm gonna sit back with my big bucket of popcorn and just see what happens next....

[ventana]

I'm sorry, I don't want to sound like a jerk or anything-- but I'm confused as to what the issue/controversy is?

The apostrophe s part of it? Because if it is-- I think we need to look back and remember who started the field and why.

Between, Hudson and Stead, neither of them thought that we (speaking in context of becoming a PA student in near future) would do what we currently do nowadays. But rather the "assistant" part was because we would be assisting the physician in whichever capacity. If the physician isn't there then the PA didn't do anything-- period. It was what a 3rd year medical student would be able to do and no more. But as things have evolved, new skills and abilities to do patient care without the physician being physically present, it still remains true- we still assist "a physician" at any one time. Granted we don't belong to them, but we still are associated with working for 1 doctor or another because the patient belongs to 1 doctor or another. You can feel better and say "physician associate" :=D:

 

BTW, at least we aren't called "aide" -- as the original 1960s AMA recommendation suggested; to be likened to a nurse's aide...... :O_O:

 

 

I assist no one

 

I carry my own patients

 

the state recognizes me as a PCP

 

'assistant' is an insult and gives the wrong image of us to the general public

 

I work with 12 different doctors - one is legally my SP but the rest fill in

 

We are not the possession of the Doc, in IM and pcp areas we assist no one..

[andersenpa]

Re:

But rather the "assistant" part was because we would be assisting the physician in whichever capacity. If the physician isn't there then the PA didn't do anything-- period.

 

One doesn't have to look far into the history of the PA profession to find PAs practicing beyond the direct supervision of a physician.

 

Joyce Nichols, PA (Duke '70). She was the first female PA AND the first African American PA. She set up one of the first (if not THE first) satelite clinics in NC. She was doing housecalls as a PA in the early years and was out in the field on her own.

 

 

If you add Richard Smith to your list of references you may expand your definition of what the PA was intended to do.

 

Re:

 

But as things have evolved, new skills and abilities to do patient care without the physician being physically present, it still remains true- we still assist "a physician" at any one time. Granted we don't belong to them, but we still are associated with working for 1 doctor or another because the patient belongs to 1 doctor or another.

 

This is categorically wrong. PAs practice medicine. We don’t practice assisting physicians. If you put 100 people from of the street into a “blind taste test” and watch an office visit with a PA and a doc, I’d put money on the fact that nearly all would be unable to tell the difference. I’d even say that about 100 physicians.

 

I honestly don’t even know what it means to “assist a physician”. And I know thousands of PAs who would say the same.

 

PAs in the PCP role carry their own patient panels and are the primary, longitudinal care provider. Those patients belong to those PAs.

 

I don't question the limited view that our profession's creators had of the PA role.

I DO question the limited way that our current PA leadership (and incoming PAs) view our proven competence and autonomy. Why have we become our own enemy?

 

 

Re:

BTW, at least we aren't called "aide" -- as the original 1960s AMA recommendation suggested; to be likened to a nurse's aide......

 

Below is a short history of the profession’s name. I am curious to know where you got your PA history.

Associate Name History

 

The terms assistant and associate had been used when the first programs were being developed. It has been noted that the AMA was one of the first, if not the first, to use the term “assistant”.

 

Early PA programs had significant variability in length, faculty credentials, type of facility housing the program, training modalities, and demographic of students admitted. In 1970, the National Academy of Sciences created a ranking system for PAs (A, B, and C) ranked ”according to their degree of specialization, level of clinical decision-making (judgment) and length of training”. Later that year, leaders of three PA programs- U Texas, Wake Forest (then Bowman Gray), and Duke, founded the first Registry – the American Registry of Physician Associates (somewhat of a hybrid of the AAPA, NCCPA, and PAEA).

 

The purpose of the Registry was to encourage the training and to promote and regulate the activities of Physicians' Associate by determining their competence through examinations and investigative studies. It would grant and issue certificates to graduates of approved educational and training programs and to others who demonstrated by examination that they possessed the background and experience to perform satisfactorily as graduates of approved programs. Duke University and several other programs had changed their name from “assistant” to “associate” to distinguish their programs from the Type B and C programs and the term associate became embedded into the newly incorporated organization’s name.

 

The registry chose the term associate due to its greater applicability to what PAs do, as well as the fact that the term “assistant” was “totally generic”. It was after the programs formally adopted the term “associate” that the AMA took a stance. It should be noted that this was well after multiple attempts over the years to get the AMA in at the ground level in defining and regulating the PA profession (according to records the requests “fell on deaf ears”).

 

In 1972 the Association of Physician Assistant Programs was formed as an “umbrella organization” over the Registry. In 1973 the Registry was placed under the American Academy of Physician Associates.

 

The AAPA is the result of a merger of 4 separate organizations who were vying to be the national representative body for PAs. The original organization which became the AAPA as we know it today was the American Academy of Physician’s Associates. Now, recall how the AMA was an early proponent of “assistant”? Part of the equation which led to the American Academy of Physician’s Associates becoming the representative organization was its alliance with the AMA, which also included a focus on accepting PAs with a primary care focus (MEDEX was named specifically). One must wonder if the AMA affiliation prompted the change in the organization’s name.

 

So when we talk about what our original title is, we can ask- are we are talking about the origins of our profession as an organized and accredited body.

 

The formative years for our profession were a stew of ideas and terms, from which several more definitive terms arose. The key concept (to me) is that the core of individuals, organizations and programs which founded the profession dealt with the same identity issues we face now. As PA programs, assistant programs, of dubious quality and credentials were cropping up, they quickly realized that a term was needed to define our true role. It is interesting to note that many of those early proponents of “Associate” were the physicians who led the way for future PAs.