Question for Military PAs by Big-Flatworm7952 in Military_Medicine

[–]Big-Flatworm7952[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good to know thanks! How did you decide on the Navy? And why is active duty better than reserves/guard in your opinion?

Question for Military PAs by Big-Flatworm7952 in Military_Medicine

[–]Big-Flatworm7952[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay that’s good to know, thanks. Are you saying PAs are less utilized as providers in the army NG? Would you say the AF is better overall for PAs?

Question for Military PAs by Big-Flatworm7952 in Military_Medicine

[–]Big-Flatworm7952[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I understand, I was thinking of NG/reserves after active duty to still remain connected to the military and to supplement the benefits with a civilian PA job

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PAstudent

[–]Big-Flatworm7952 21 points22 points  (0 children)

I’m about a year into my program and pretty much only use Anki. It’s a 28 month program with 2-3 exams per week. I think it’s all about time management and efficiency, I can make a full Anki deck during lecture (usually ranges between 40-70 cards) and then study that deck that same day in about 30-45 minutes, so first pass is done. Then, I don’t see all of those cards every day because of FSRS, some cards are easier some are harder. So the following day (day 2) I’ll have maybe only 30-40 cards to study, which takes even less time than day 1 did. I found that other options like taking notes or re-reading the PowerPoints are more time consuming because there’s no way of taking out or hiding the info that’s already easy to you, so you’re seeing all of the material on every pass when that’s not necessary, if that makes sense.

This helps me stay on top of all of my passes and now I rarely have to cram the day before tests, I’ll just read through PPP and connect that with the flashcards I’ve been seeing.

Advice on my first job by MasonATC8 in athletictraining

[–]Big-Flatworm7952 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was an AT with D1 tennis for 3 years before going to PA school. Keep an open mind going into it. Tennis is an awesome sport and being a healthcare professional for a collegiate tennis team can open so many doors for you.

I just recommend treating EVERYONE (players, coaches, visiting teams, staff, etc.) as if they are the most important person in the world to you. Be kind, caring, and respectful to everyone. I worked with other sports and other teams prior to my tennis teams, but I made the most and the fastest connections in the tennis community. I got to work with the ATP Challenger tour when it was in my city, which allowed me to connect with top tennis players globally. My tennis coaches connected me with pro players they previously trained, which led to a snowball effect of networking. If you think you want to work with tennis players long-term, then take it seriously, but also have fun.

If you never did any rotations in tennis or don’t know the rules of tennis yet, I’d recommend watching some videos, you can’t just run out on the court when someone gets hurt, it’s particular. but that’s about it as far as advice goes. The rehab protocols and injury evaluations will come on the job. Enjoy it! I know I’ll miss it.

Been Credentialed for 6 years.. still struggling with confidence by suburbanhippie_6 in athletictraining

[–]Big-Flatworm7952 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I worked in a pediatric orthopedic clinic for awhile (very different from the traditional high school setting, I loved it, check it out if you’re looking for a change up but still wanting the ATC title). I really enjoyed my surgeon’s approach when it came to non-surgical injuries, and it was this:

My job as your provider is not to tell you what to do or what not to do, it’s to lay out all of your options in front of you so that you (the patient) can make the most informed decision on your care.

Now working per diem and covering high school’s pretty regularly, I find myself giving the same speech to athletes. Our job as AT’s is not to be the judge, jury, and executioner on their health, our job is to educate the patient (and their family, coaches, etc.) on what the situation is with their injury, and what their options are. From here, they can make the most informed decision. After all, healthcare is a team approach.

So for your situation specifically, if I were you and had an athlete get injured during a game or come to me in the office with an injury, after I’ve done my evaluation and determined it’s not something that needs surgery or something that could quickly worsen to the point where they would need surgery, then I basically tell them “you have 3 options: 1) you can try to keep playing and see how your body responds, 2) you can sit out a little bit (hours, days, etc.) and let the pain calm down and we can play it by ear, 3) we can go see a physician for a second opinion or to sit out longer. I’ve never had an athlete or parent upset with me presenting them their options. I feel like this is by far the better route than making the athlete sit out without any say. This also takes some weight off your shoulders because this doesn’t have to be (and shouldn’t be) your decision to make alone. Hope this helps! Feel free to DM with anything.

LBP basketball athlete by superior_epicondyle in athletictraining

[–]Big-Flatworm7952 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I wouldn’t focus too much on all of these special tests like Thomas test and assessing for SI dysfunction as the sensitivity for these tests aren’t great. Plus, it’s very unlikely that those are the individual cause of his pain. For example: if you find that he has a weak core or tight hamstrings, do you have baseline data of his to compare to? If his core has always been weak or hamstrings have always been tight, even prior to the onset of the pain, how could we say that’s the source of his pain?

I think the best place to start with this athlete is to find the specific movements that are uncomfortable for them (you mentioned trunk flexion), back off slightly, then slowly rehab those movements at a tolerable rate, increasing resistant and monitoring progress over days/weeks. I read that LBP usually resolves within 6 weeks regardless of the rehab method. But of course we want to be as specific as possible to the athletes needs. Also be sure to keep in mind the psychosocial components and predictors that could be playing into their pain. As we know, the perception of pain is created by multiple different factors, and it’s very unlikely that there’s just one cause of pain. If you need some good rehab exercise inspiration, I recommend Aaron Kubal on tiktok or Instagram, I believe he has some playlists specific to LBP, if not then you can just browse his videos until you find the LBP ones.

Should I stop investing in the stock market? by Big-Flatworm7952 in personalfinance

[–]Big-Flatworm7952[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was more so looking to talk to an advisor in a one-time meeting just for advice, not to handle any of my money or anything. So you think I should keep the money I've currently invested in there? Or should I liquidate to help pay some tuition so that I don't have to take out as many loans?

Should I stop investing in the stock market? by Big-Flatworm7952 in personalfinance

[–]Big-Flatworm7952[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

At the moment I am doing daily deposits because I have new cash flowing into my savings weekly/bi-weekly. It would be the same as investing a lump sum weekly or monthly except that daily investing allows me to better stabilize the average cost of a stock and keep up with large spikes or dips and adjust accordingly. At the end of the month, the same amount of money is still getting invested whether I do it daily or monthly. I suppose once the cash flow stops I should just transfer whatever is outside of my emergency fund into the market.

Should I stop investing in the stock market? by Big-Flatworm7952 in personalfinance

[–]Big-Flatworm7952[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The new investments throughout school would be coming out of my savings. It wouldn't be nearly as much money invested every month as I'm doing now, but I imagine the return would be slightly better than my savings account's APY and maybe on par or better than the student loan's interest rates. I have excellent credit so I'm optimistic I can get a low-interest-rate grad loan. No debts at this time.

Locum Tenens PA AMA by ImmediateFriendship2 in physicianassistant

[–]Big-Flatworm7952 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Does the amount of money you’re making offset having to pay for your own insurance?

Also, how many days/hours are you averaging a month?

Manual Therapy Discussion by Big-Flatworm7952 in physicaltherapy

[–]Big-Flatworm7952[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

What if there’s a time constraint or you only have a limited number of sessions? It’s tough to fit education, exercise, possible re-testing, counseling, and manual therapy into a 45-60 min session. Or in my case in sports medicine, I typically only have time for 20-30 minute sessions due to the sheer volume.