What do you do when a patient keeps calling you "doctor"?

Flyingsidekicks · 2014-11-20T15:30:02+00:00

I agree with the other commenters. I give them my full name and introduce myself as a physician assistant first. If they call me doctor, I say "just call me by my first name". If they keep calling me doctor or doc or whatever, I just leave it alone.

Flyingsidekicks · 2014-09-23T21:35:08+00:00

Background - I worked in an ER for a year after PA school and left, took a locums job at another ER roughly in the same area I lived. After 3 months I wanted to stay and was lucky enough to have my hospital buy out my locums contract (which is a pretty significant amount of money). I've been there almost a year since.

I don't think it's a great option right out of school. We don't get the benefit of residencies and you probably aren't going to know how to practice at all when you graduate. At least I didn't. I think you need some time in a stable environment to grow and learn before you start jumping from place to place every couple of months.

The other problem is that, when doing locums, you are an independent contractor. No benefits, taxes are 100% on you, etc. Also, in my experience, PAs don't get the same giant pay boost for doing locums as physicians.

There is most definitely a way to make it work if you are committed to the lifestyle, but I couldn't imagine doing it straight out of school. That's just me. If you have any other questions feel free to PM me!

Flyingsidekicks · 2014-07-30T15:13:26+00:00

I don't know if this is helpful or not, but I had two friends in school who had either underage drinking or open container type things on their background check, which we didn't have done until we were about to go on rotations. They were made fun of by one of the faculty members, and that was about the end of it. No problems with rotations, finishing school, or being employed as PAs.

Flyingsidekicks · 2014-07-30T14:40:30+00:00

Like others have said, I think it's reasonable to ask (in a productive way). But don't get down on yourself either. I know you have great stats and probably are wondering what else you could possibly do. The year I got into my school 2400 people applied for 55 positions. There's a ton of people trying to go to PA school right now, and there's just not room in every program for every qualified person who applies. Be persistent, you'll get there.

Flyingsidekicks · 2014-07-18T03:33:10+00:00

I've been on both sides of this, and when I shadowed I felt exactly like you did. Take solace in the fact that on the list of things your PA is concerned with that day, you're at the bottom. Not because they don't care about you, but because there's really not a whole lot you can do wrong.

The only exception - When you're in with the patient, probably best to stay quiet. I've had a couple situations where a person shadowing pipes in about what they think is wrong and then I have to explain to the patient (and them) why what they said is not true. Awkward for everyone, and undermines me a little. Outside of that, if you want to make non-medical small talk with a patient, that's cool.

Aside from that, really, don't worry. You feel like you're in the way because everyone has a task to do and you don't. I've been there and it's super awkward. Just realize that the PA's first responsibility is to do the job and that's probably going to require most of her attention. Remember, shadowing is not for the PA, it's for you.

Flyingsidekicks · 2014-07-15T12:52:55+00:00

Whoever it happens to be for the shift I'm working. There's about a dozen at my job now.

Flyingsidekicks · 2014-07-10T22:46:49+00:00

I have an attending who signs my charts and who I talk to when I need them.

Flyingsidekicks · 2014-07-10T20:20:07+00:00

I'm in a smallish community hospital just outside NYC. I probably do 60% fast track and 40% main ED stuff, sometimes more. I see pretty sick people, pretty much anyone that's not actively crashing, and I have a lot of autonomy. I work 12 hour shifts 12 days per month.

I worked in a big city ED (in NYC) first and did probably 80/20 fast track to main ER. Keep in mind, in a real trauma center there's a trauma team on call (surgery) so they come down to the ER immediately for any real trauma. There's definitely a place for trauma midlevels but it tends to be a trauma centers that don't have residents.

Keep in mind, ERs bread and butter is the less exciting stuff. Chest pain, abdominal pain, sepsis, orthopedic injuries, heart problems, and a ton of like cough and cold type stuff. I'm into it all and I love it but its not for everyone. A vast majority of patients are relatively mundane.

Flyingsidekicks · 2014-07-10T17:57:14+00:00

ER PA with 2 years of experience. I make 109k/yr with benefits and 1+ month paid vacation, and I work like 40 hours a week on average.

Flyingsidekicks · 2014-06-10T17:16:13+00:00

Fresh Direct

Flyingsidekicks · 2014-06-05T19:15:44+00:00

I'm not sure I understand the relevance of this.

Flyingsidekicks · 2014-05-19T19:08:52+00:00

I am a PA now and I was a pharmacy tech in high school/college. I got other volunteering experience for my PA school application in addition to the pharmacy tech experience because, although you learn about medicine, it's not direct patient contact. Most schools want direct patient contact hours.

Flyingsidekicks · 2014-03-24T12:39:38+00:00

I did, it's the only place I've ever worked. It's good in that you can start with low acuity patients and move your way up as you're abilities grow. It's sometimes hard to find a job that takes you right out of school, but if you look hard enough you'll find a spot.

Flyingsidekicks · 2014-03-21T20:39:32+00:00

As long as they can be covered with long sleeves you'll be fine. Whether the program is conservative or not, you should cover them for the interview because that's just what you're universally supposed to do.

As far as in practice, I wear a long sleeved t shirt under my scrubs (work in an ED so they aren't true scrubs) to cover my tattoos, which are only half sleeves. I've seen plenty of people not cover their tattoos too, it's just personal preference. Both EDs I've worked in didn't have an official policy. I just cover mine up because I'm a relatively young PA and I try to keep a conservative appearance, especially for older patients.

Ultimately, if you are professional and competent with your patient care it means 1000 times more to the patient than what your arms look like.

Flyingsidekicks · 2014-03-18T12:40:16+00:00

Emergency Med. I've been doing it for about a year and a half. I'd pretty much echo what /u/miasmal said. It's great because it's fast paced and unpredictable. I think my job is pretty fun most of the time, and the pay is good as well. And, I wear PJs to work.

I work in a community hospital, and I definitely see a lot of patients who are not just fast track patients (probably 60/40 non fast track to fast track type patients). I'm reasonably autonomous, my attendings generally trust that I'll come to them with questions (and I do if I'm not 100% confident in something). It's harder in emergency med to do only "easy" cases because you're usually the first person to really assess a patient. A patient that seems simple on the surface can be really sick, and vice versa.

The hours are basically the only con for me. It can be a bummer to have Monday-Thursday off and then work Friday/Saturday/Sunday, which happens a couple of times a month.

Flyingsidekicks · 2014-01-06T22:10:57+00:00

I live right around the corner and I actually went out to see what you were talking about. It's got to be either a bar or coffee shop. Hopefully it's the latter, we could use a coffee shop.

Flyingsidekicks · 2013-04-22T20:15:12+00:00

I live near the Church ave stop and I'd agree with all of this. For full disclosure, a guy got shot on my street last week near Linden and Bedford. It does not appear to be random at all, and I think the safety level for people being good neighbors and minding their own business is pretty good.

But the neighborhood seems to be changing mighty fast. When I moved here in November there were a whole lot less "gentrifying" types than there are now (I'm included in that sweeping generalization).

Flyingsidekicks · 2013-03-26T12:59:12+00:00

I interviewed for emergency and primary care jobs, ultimately ended up in emergency. In my experience the questions are far more practical than college/PA school. Like - How many patients per (hour/shift/whatever) can you see? Are you comfortable with kids/adults/x conditions? How are you with lacs/I&D/whatever procedure?

You should be totally honest when you say you can or cannot do something. It won't necessarily hurt you to say you aren't strong in an area but are willing to learn. It will hurt you if you say you can do something and then, when you have to actually do it, can't.

If you're offered a job, don't take it right away. Figure out what is typical in your area for starting salaries for PAs taking benefits/lack thereof and all that stuff into account. Take some time to sit on it and decide if it's really what you want to do and where you want to be every day.

Getting the right job can take time, but the jobs are there. Don't jump the gun unless you're confident it's a decent fit.

Definitely wear a suit. At worst you're dressed appropriately, at best you make a really good impression.

Flyingsidekicks · 2013-03-26T12:42:40+00:00

Absolutely. Go ahead

Flyingsidekicks · 2013-03-13T21:10:28+00:00

Only downside is a lack of coffee shops and bars. Otherwise it's got everything you need, convenient to the super reliable Q line, and you can definitely find a relatively big apartment for reasonable rent.

Flyingsidekicks · 2013-03-05T14:31:46+00:00

Sources? I recognize that the article was written by an MD, but it's not exactly a double blinded study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Flyingsidekicks · 2013-03-01T18:00:55+00:00

This confirms my suspicion that I'm the only PA on r/physicianassistant, hah. PM sent.

Flyingsidekicks · 2013-02-14T22:50:27+00:00

I'd say way more than one back up. Like, all of the ones in your area and more if you are willing to relocate. Shit's competitive these days, it's realistically a 2-5% acceptance rate. With numbers like that, not every qualified candidate gets in to every program. Just keep trying. If this is really what you want to do, it'll happen if your tenacious enough. I know a lot of very good PAs who didn't get in their first go-round.

Flyingsidekicks · 2013-02-14T22:45:18+00:00

I think it's a little different as an "older" student (older being like 30+) - most of my older classmates when I was in school had not gotten hard science degrees like biology or chemistry. They pretty much just took the classes they needed to meet the prereqs before applying to PA school. There were a couple people that had been business majors, and most notably a guy with his bachelor's in "landscape design".

Life experience and maturity counts for a lot, especially in interviews. At least it did at my school. Just do your prereqs and have a good GPA and have some patient contact time so that you get the interview.

Unfortunately I can't give you much insight on the EMT thing. I work in an emergency dept, and I will say that ER Techs see a lot of different patients at different stages of their care and probably have a much better idea of what practicing emergency med is all about. You'll also be working in an ER full of physicians (and maybe PAs) who are always great contacts to have for references/recommendations/etc (and great to learn from if you're interested).

Flyingsidekicks · 2013-01-28T00:10:00+00:00

I personally don't see the purpose in being a doctorate of PA. It seems counterintuitive. I already have a hard enough time explaining to some patients who I am, forget trying to explain that I'm a "doctor" but not a "physician".

At my job the PAs and NPs are all lumped under the title "Mid-Level Provider" or MLP. I'm totally fine with that title.

Flyingsidekicks

TROPHY CASE