PAstudentCanada Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 Many of the docs I work with when they go to see a patient I have presented to them will say "hi, I am Dr. so-and-so, my assistant told me about you." What do y'all think of this? (I'm a new grad emerg pa). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paula Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 I'm assuming you are working in Canada and you now have a big job ahead of you to educate physicians and nurses on who PAs are. You face the same issues we face in the USA. Does it bother you to be called "my assistant"? I would at some point have a quiet, personal discussion with your SPs and ask them to call you their associate or say "PA Jones told me about you". Also, you do not belong to the Dr. Believe me, they won't get it, especially since you are a new grad and they might think you are asserting yourself too much as far as how you want to be called. But, I still believe it is better to deal with it early on in your career. You may be lucky and after you have proven yourself a few doctors will think of you as their associate. You will need to think of a professional way to talk to your SPs about this issue. Good Luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAstudentCanada Posted January 5, 2013 Author Share Posted January 5, 2013 Yup, Canada. It does bother me but I wonder if it isn't appropriate? I mean, that is exactly how PAs are being sold to docs here, as assistants. So I feel like if I say something maybe I am in the wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAstudentCanada Posted January 5, 2013 Author Share Posted January 5, 2013 Anybody else care to chime-in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beorp Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 Is it the "assistant" part that bugs you or the "my" or something else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAstudentCanada Posted January 5, 2013 Author Share Posted January 5, 2013 Is it the "assistant" part that bugs you or the "my" or something else? I find both troublesome but am not sure that I am in the right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted January 5, 2013 Moderator Share Posted January 5, 2013 MOST of the docs I work with would say Mr emedpa(last name) told me...or emedpa(first name) told me about....I probably only involve a doc in the care of my patients 1% of the time at this point...about as often as one of my physician partners asks me to look at one of their pts....I don't work( and refuse to work) at any place which requires the doc to see my pts unless I ask them to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAstudentCanada Posted January 5, 2013 Author Share Posted January 5, 2013 MOST of the docs I work with would say Mr emedpa(last name) told me...or emedpa(first name) told me about....I probably only involve a doc in the care of my patients 1% of the time at this point...about as often as one of my physician partners asks me to look at one of their pts....I don't work( and refuse to work) at any place which requires the doc to see my pts unless I ask them to. Yes but given that I am a new grad in a place where PAs are new and have no authority and are being promoted by the government as assistants would I be in the right to say something or am I in the wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted January 6, 2013 Moderator Share Posted January 6, 2013 maybe ask to be referred to as Mr. "last name" instead of "my assistant". my assistant sounds like a 18 yr old with a 6 mo course as a medical asst...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAstudentCanada Posted January 6, 2013 Author Share Posted January 6, 2013 maybe ask to be referred to as Mr. "last name" instead of "my assistant". my assistant sounds like a 18 yr old with a 6 mo course as a medical asst...... Thanks. do you think I should say this casually in person with the individual docs or more formally by speaking with the chief and asking it to come from him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted January 6, 2013 Moderator Share Posted January 6, 2013 IF IT WAS ME i WOULD ASK THE CHIEF. IF YOU FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE ASKING INDIVIDUAL DOCS GO THAT ROUTE.(woops sorry about caps) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAstudentCanada Posted January 6, 2013 Author Share Posted January 6, 2013 Thank you for the advice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAstudentCanada Posted January 9, 2013 Author Share Posted January 9, 2013 I spoke to my chief and his response was "you are too caught up in titles, you need to get over this" I responded that "perhaps there is something to that but I have a right to be spoken of in the professional environment in a way I find respectful just as some physicians wish to be called dr so and so and others say 'hey, i'm John.'" He then said "I'll give it some thought but I think you are wrong" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted January 9, 2013 Moderator Share Posted January 9, 2013 I spoke to my chief and his response was "you are too caught up in titles, you need to get over this"I responded that "perhaps there is something to that but I have a right to be spoken of in the professional environment in a way I find respectful just as some physicians wish to be called dr so and so and others say 'hey, i'm John.'" He then said "I'll give it some thought but I think you are wrong" This is a troubling attitude from your chief....start looking for other jobs, at least per diem so you have something to bail to if the situation demands it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAstudentCanada Posted January 9, 2013 Author Share Posted January 9, 2013 This is a troubling attitude from your chief....start looking for other jobs, at least per diem so you have something to bail to if the situation demands it... This is in Ontario where I am in a ministry of health funded position and there aren't any other jobs. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andersenpa Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 You are in the position of being a trailblazer. Tough, but it wouldn't be otherwise given the situation you are in. despite what your chief says, words/titles/names matter. He doesn't see it that way since it not HIS title/profession in question. One way around this is to propose as someone here already said- if physicians are Dr So-and-so, then PAs are PA Smith/PA Jones etc. You are a professional and deserve to be addressed by the title you worked for. It will be tough to switch people's verbiage but slow and steady wins the race. It sounds akward to people if it's new, but once it goes around for a while it sticks. I always think of how Kentucky Fried Chicken wanted to get rid of the emphasis on FRIED in our more health conscious world, so they re-branded to "KFC". Just takes time and dedication. Do you have PA colleagues you can join with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAstudentCanada Posted January 9, 2013 Author Share Posted January 9, 2013 You are in the position of being a trailblazer. Tough, but it wouldn't be otherwise given the situation you are in.despite what your chief says, words/titles/names matter. He doesn't see it that way since it not HIS title/profession in question. One way around this is to propose as someone here already said- if physicians are Dr So-and-so, then PAs are PA Smith/PA Jones etc. You are a professional and deserve to be addressed by the title you worked for. It will be tough to switch people's verbiage but slow and steady wins the race. It sounds akward to people if it's new, but once it goes around for a while it sticks. I always think of how Kentucky Fried Chicken wanted to get rid of the emphasis on FRIED in our more health conscious world, so they re-branded to "KFC". Just takes time and dedication. Do you have PA colleagues you can join with? There Is one other pa in our practice and they seem to enjoy being the "assistant" and all that entails. I don't want to badger my chief with the issue. He is a nice guy and means well. I like him. I already brought the issue up and I don't see much point in bringing it up again. We shall see what happens. Remember, PAs in Ontario don't have a licence to practice medicine with supervision the way a PA in the USA does. We have no laws about us here and we have no regulation or legal status. In effect, PAs here are not really PAs if you know what I mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joelseff Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 My SP "gets it." He even held a meeting on what to address me when I started. I am PA(my surname) in front of the pts. The MAs were on board with it and it really helps with pts taking my advice. My SP did not want the pts to look at me as a consolation prize to seeing him. It makes his and my job easier but also it is good for business! The pts see us as 2 FULL clinicians as opposed to a clinician and some assistant. You may want to discuss this with your docs. On a side note the reason why I use the "PA Surname" because it is a title all to ourselves that we don't share with anyone and it gets "PA" out there. Godspeed to you up there. You have a tough road as being a pioneer. Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beorp Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 I spoke to my chief and his response was "you are too caught up in titles, you need to get over this"I responded that "perhaps there is something to that but I have a right to be spoken of in the professional environment in a way I find respectful just as some physicians wish to be called dr so and so and others say 'hey, i'm John.'" He then said "I'll give it some thought but I think you are wrong" What did you ask of the chief exactly in terms of how you wanted the physicians to address you? It shouldn't be that big an ask to be referred to as the Physician Assistant, but I could see how he could have been a bit taken aback if you asked to be called Mr. PAstudentCanada or PA PAstudentCanada since this isn't something that they would be accustomed to. I could also see how if you specifically asked them to stop with the "my" that he may not have understood since many doctors speak like this about their colleagues without thinking about it (e.g. "my resident", "my attending", "my medical student"). Simply asking to be referred to by the appropriate professional title doesn't seem like a big ask though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAstudentCanada Posted January 10, 2013 Author Share Posted January 10, 2013 What did you ask of the chief exactly in terms of how you wanted the physicians to address you? It shouldn't be that big an ask to be referred to as the Physician Assistant, but I could see how he could have been a bit taken aback if you asked to be called Mr. PAstudentCanada or PA PAstudentCanada since this isn't something that they would be accustomed to. I could also see how if you specifically asked them to stop with the "my" that he may not have understood since many doctors speak like this about their colleagues without thinking about it (e.g. "my resident", "my attending", "my medical student"). Simply asking to be referred to by the appropriate professional title doesn't seem like a big ask though... I asked that I be rendered to as ANY of the following: first name, mr last name, PA last name, PA first name, or just PA. So long as I wasn't being called the "assistant" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JMPA Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 There Is one other pa in our practice and they seem to enjoy being the "assistant" and all that entails. I don't want to badger my chief with the issue. He is a nice guy and means well. I like him. I already brought the issue up and I don't see much point in bringing it up again. We shall see what happens. Remember, PAs in Ontario don't have a licence to practice medicine with supervision the way a PA in the USA does. We have no laws about us here and we have no regulation or legal status. In effect, PAs here are not really PAs if you know what I mean. If you dont have a license to practice like we do in the states then I would not be so irritated by the assistant title. I would use my skill set to change minds. I personally prefer my just my first name when referred to by the staff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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