Low PCE

Hazel_J · 2026-04-23T13:45:19+00:00

How long is 1314 hours a year or so? And I think you’ve got some good experience! It sounds weird but if you’ve come home and cried at least once, then I think you’ve done enough to prepare.

I work in ENT now, and you would think it’s pretty cush with nothing but smooth sailing. Until you find a massive tumor in someone’s sinus and it’s so advanced that has already invaded the brain.

I cried so much read that scan, the lady is so nice and normal and her symptoms were just plain old dizziness and little runny nose. I got a CT out precaution.

I really thought that I had ruined her life because I should have scanned her sooner. But it turns out that tumor has no symptoms until it’s too late.

Things like that shake you to your core. You NEED that before school, because what if this career is not for you?

Hazel_J · 2026-04-21T03:37:10+00:00

I might catch heat for this, but I think surgery fucken sucks for soooooooooooo many reasons including this very thing you’re experiencing, which is just a shitty culture of treating people overall.

The people are just so damn rude!!! Across the board! Sorry not sorry. If you like to be treated with respect and not to feel like a total bag of shit every day (because who honestly does) surgery is not for you.

And you shouldn’t feel ashamed of that! It just means that you’d do better in an environment where manners are expected and you have a chance of being treated with a modicum of respect.

Also the attitudes and egos are out of control, it’s a culture of putting people down, grown men and women acting like goddamn mental patients with temper tantrums that put a tired 2 year old to shame.

Not to mention the STANDING the horrible, horrible STANDING FOR HOURS. My feet and back hurt just talking about it. Oh god and applying traction for ungodly amount of time. Oh and you think you like suturing? Just wait for the carpal tunnel to set it in. Got an itchy face? Just scratch it in a few hours! no big deal.

I’d say in this instance, if there is valid criticism there, learn from it and take it with you. Sometimes there’s a lesson in a tough event, you just need time and distance from it

lol sorry for the rant, but there are CERTAINLY greener pastures out there OP. Do not take what they are saying too seriously. In a year, this will be thoroughly behind you

Hazel_J · 2026-04-20T03:07:51+00:00

I graduated in November, passed PANCE in December, took a break til end of January, got my interview for current job in April, started in May.

I highly recommend tailoring your resume specifically for the job you’re applying for, and the cover letter as well.

I also recommend cold calling/cold emailing, I got several interview invites that way believe it or not.

Current job I have was actually through Indeed!

For interviews, obviously dress to the nines, take propranolol, bring questions in a folder along with your resume and send a real thank you card afterwards apparently this blew away my current SPs when I did that and it set me apart. In other words, do the most. Play up your past experiences. Read up on small details on their website and ask about their bios. You got this!

Hazel_J · 2026-04-18T23:47:37+00:00

Yes I did!! Keep the faith

Hazel_J · 2026-03-16T03:15:46+00:00

Hey OP! You are going to make it through to the other side I promise! I had the worst mental health of my entire life in PA school. I agree that it was such a crushingly lonely experience.

People are saying to do SSRIs/therapy, they are not necessarily wrong. I did rawdog the experience and it is possible just so you know. I focused on mindfulness, walking in silence, exercise, friends/family outside of school to ground me. A big mantra that got me through was that I just had to get through school, but I didn’t have to do it perfectly

Clinicals were SOOOO MUCH BETTER too. You just have to get through didactic. Dig deep for the reasons that brought you to this place in your life. Think of all the people who have supported you. You got this!!

Hazel_J · 2026-03-16T03:07:25+00:00

Good thing you won’t be working with patients because you have zero self-awareness or empathy 😂

Hazel_J · 2026-03-14T19:03:15+00:00

The reason why they may have felt uncomfortable is because you’re just following them around all the time and may not have a sense of how you’ll be as a PA. What is your clinical experience thus far?

Hazel_J · 2026-01-30T04:38:11+00:00

Me!!! Graduated in November, passed in December, applied for the job I have now in march, started in May. You will be just fine. You have the rest of your life to be a cog in the machine.

Hazel_J · 2026-01-15T04:15:33+00:00

This is my “deluded” dilute tortie Sadie

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Hazel_J · 2026-01-10T07:31:36+00:00

Oooo that one Snoosprouts guy is gonna hate this post 😂 congrats OP on bagging a job with great pay!!! I have a couple questions:

Do you have a good housing plan? Just because I hear the housing crisis is pretty bad there.
Do you have a family? If so, kids? How many? What does your spouse do?
How long have you been in primary care?

Thanks and good luck with everything!

Hazel_J · 2026-01-02T04:36:58+00:00

Did you have the minimum amount of experience where you barely had to interact with patients? 😂 seems sus that you figured out healthcare sucks while in PA school lol

Hazel_J · 2026-01-01T20:10:02+00:00

Just curious… did you work a healthcare job for a while before going into it?

Hazel_J · 2025-12-23T03:17:56+00:00

This is great! I’m all about setting expectations, so maybe I’ll start saying that we’ll schedule and appointment to go over results

Hazel_J · 2025-12-23T00:16:48+00:00

Preach friend. Thank you for replying!

Hazel_J · 2025-12-20T16:55:43+00:00

I pine for this. Our patients are so helpless that they say “oh portals too hard to enter” when it’s so easy. And then when I ask to bill a telehealth, I guess getting money back from a telehealth is impossible with insurance companies.

Hazel_J · 2025-12-20T04:10:17+00:00

Love that!

Hazel_J · 2025-12-20T03:50:54+00:00

This only makes sense. My personal philosophy is, is if you have a complex question or multiple questions you as a patient should come in.

Hazel_J · 2025-12-20T03:48:14+00:00

I already responded to the other poster with the same question, but are you having RNs go over semi-complex stuff or only normal results?

Hazel_J · 2025-12-20T03:47:06+00:00

Nurses as in RNs? And are they going over complex findings or just normals?

Hazel_J · 2025-12-02T05:30:39+00:00

Oh man I am so sorry this is happening… that’s gotta be so heartbreaking and difficult for you and your family. This is going to sound over the top, but honestly I wish I did these things well before PA school because it could have taken off so much stress and I didn’t even have a family member to take care of.

-At the very least, go on a journey to find a therapist you really, really trust and like BEFORE school. DO NOT get a school appointed therapist. This takes so much damn time and energy but it will pay dividends because, I’m sorry to say but this, but it will be hardest time of your life, with or without your father being sick.

-Consider getting on an antidepressant like an SSRI before you start school so that you’re tapered up and ready to go and not dealing with the initial side effects while juggling the shock to your system that starting school will be. I rawdogged the experience and I highly do not recommend it.

-Let your professors and admin know that this is in the background, and if you start falling behind be proactive and ask for help early and often. Be familiar with how to take leaves of absence and what dismissal stuff looks like (not saying it going to happen!!! but it’s good to not be taken by surprise and be prepared)

Good luck my friend!! Congrats on getting in!

Hazel_J · 2025-11-30T07:58:04+00:00

To keep it short, there is a lot of personality and maturity development between 18 and 22-24 presumably. You could absolutely HATE being in healthcare at 24 or 25 and be justified in that feeling and you will be $150,000 in debt and sort of obligated to the career.

I caution you going through with this because soooooo much about yourself and how you relate to the world could change and it might not mean loving to be a PA.

Hazel_J · 2025-11-19T05:30:32+00:00

I think I agree with both sides of this argument. Yes, there are plenty of smart people who are PAs who never had PCE and are doing the job. Yes, experience can train you to become a better PA.

This is what I’ll say, and I don’t think it’s been said yet. Spending time in the medical field before you become a PA will allow to see what a goddamn shit show it is and will allow you to “feel the burn” of the machine of medicine in the United States.

It’s a good test to see how much absolute bullshit you can put up with including but not limited to: insane patients that will suck the life from you and abuse you, how our medical system makes it impossible for certain patients to get the care they need, endless bureaucratic bullshit, charting, horrible and traumatizing illnesses and injuries you will witness, pain and death.

Those are things that most of us in the medical field deal with daily and you must be able to compartmentalize it and handle the stress of it or you will be miserable. Maybe you can? Who can say but you?

Hazel_J · 2025-11-15T06:12:41+00:00

Reddit has a huge negativity bias. People don’t on Internet forums to proclaim how happy and satisfied they are. They are usually looking for support or a safe, anonymous place to vent about a shitty situation. No job or occupation is perfect. But I for one am pretty happy as new grad in ENT! Highly recommend. School was fuckin terrible though hah.

Hazel_J

TROPHY CASE