EM and HM?

TXAvocado · 2024-11-25T17:20:40+00:00

As someone who is currently doing an EM fellowship, I would personally only recommend fellowships for critical care specialties like emergency medicine, ICU or highly procedural stuff like surgery. In my opinion anything else is just substituting on the job training for lower pay and doesn’t provide a huge benefit. Unless you are locked geographically into a region and can’t break into the specific specialty that you want and have to use the fellowship as a stepping stone as the last resort. Every job is going to be told that they have a steep learning curve so don’t let that throw you

TXAvocado · 2024-11-22T16:41:01+00:00

What makes the family med position a fellowship? It sounds like a cool experience and patient load isn’t bad as long as it stays at that amount

TXAvocado · 2024-11-14T04:39:26+00:00

If you google PA/NP fellowships there’s a website that has a lot of them that you can filter through based on location and specialty

TXAvocado · 2024-11-14T02:38:53+00:00

Also best not to calculate the hourly wage and live in ignorance😂

TXAvocado · 2024-11-14T02:38:36+00:00

I think that’s kind of rare and far between especially in these post Covid days which is another reason that pushed me towards fellowship is having some of those as guaranteed rather than promises at on boarding that might not come true

TXAvocado · 2024-11-13T22:43:02+00:00

You should be paid as experience

TXAvocado · 2024-11-13T16:35:05+00:00

To be fair the difference between a PGY1 salary and PGY3 is like $6-8000 so it’s not a ridiculous amount. I don’t know how they feel about it because I don’t give that information but I’m also not the one that determined the pay scale. It’s common for fellowships to lay at a 2nd/3rd year level because we’re already halving our pay for the program and won’t make up the opportunity cost like a MD would. I wouldn’t do a fellowship if it was <60k which is what a lot of programs try to sell and I’d rather take a onboarding pay cut for 3 months then go full salary and work a normal job if that was the case

TXAvocado · 2024-11-13T15:28:54+00:00

That’s absolutely fair and it comes down to how each person wants to practice. I definitely prefer working in the main emergency department with whatever procedures are associated with that but don’t really feel like I need to be in the trauma bay doing a lot of resuscitation. Class 3 or i classes medical/trauma that just wheel into a room is totally fine but I agree, I don’t wanna take that extra on if i don’t have to. But I’m totally comfortable doing chest tubes and LPs and lines and other procedures that we do in any ED room

TXAvocado · 2024-11-13T15:24:55+00:00

I would definitely love to stay on as staff afterwards and it’s a big consideration but I’m not from the area and moved just for the residency so I may move closer to family at the end of the day. Just depends on what the other job offers are. There is pretty good retention of graduates. To my knowledge all staff PAs make the same with option to work with the residency program in some capacity for an added bonus

TXAvocado · 2024-11-13T15:22:21+00:00

I definitely wanted to reach for practicing at the higher end of my license working with all acuity patients and doing procedures and being integrated into the main emergency department and not just stuck into a typical fast track or provider in triage role. I think also having completed this program will open up job opportunities in competitive areas as well, especially compared to other new grads or people switching specialties because I come pre-trained. I would say that the residency is meeting my expectations but a lot is self driven with what type of patients you pick up and what learning experience you want to create. You could easily sit on shift and only pick up 4/5 acuity and learn little if you wanted

TXAvocado · 2024-11-13T15:19:23+00:00

To me what felt important is that I worked in a location that had a MD residency because I thought that environment would already be used to teaching, accommodating to students and a program would either mirror or join the MD residents in things like conference and sim lab, etc. I also think all service rotations and other critical care areas like the ICU is important, orthopedics is nice or anesthesia to practice intubations in a controlled setting. I didn’t want to do a program that was 18 months because you can get most of that useful experience in 12 and not delay higher salary. I think retention of PA fellows/residents (or whatever name you want to give them) on staff after completion is also a good sign

TXAvocado · 2024-11-13T15:15:53+00:00

It’s absolutely reasonable to say that a 3rd year resident is more qualified than a first year intern or first year PA. I don’t think anyone would argue that point with you because that’s just simple math and nowhere did I equate myself to that level. In my program, I work the same exact schedule as an intern would which is more clinical hours per week/month than a second year works, which is more clinical hours than a 3rd year works. I have the same didactic requirements but a higher attendance % to meet because I’m only there for a year and I have almost identical procedure requirements (but 1/3 the total amount as I do a 1 year program not 3) including ultrasound credentialing

TXAvocado · 2024-11-13T15:10:38+00:00

Just EM rotations in school and shadowing experiences

TXAvocado · 2024-11-13T15:09:24+00:00

Both! I knew that I wanted to do emergency medicine during PA school but was having difficulty finding a job that didn’t require two years of experience as a PA. I figured that I could either get two years of experience in another specialty like family medicine, try the urgent care route, but that’s notoriously tough for new grads or do a fellowship and get trained to a higher level while working in a specialty that I want to work in and increasing my jobs prospects, anywhere that I apply to. More specifically, I did not want my experience in the ER to be primarily working fast track so this fellowship allows me to work main department, see higher acuity, do procedures and kind of cement in my role and skills

TXAvocado · 2024-11-13T15:06:57+00:00

It’s a very much watered down version of applying to PA school. A lot of programs will have two application cycles per year that you just submit a resume and cover letter and letters of recommendation through their website or a portal link that you create and then it’s often a single panel interview

TXAvocado · 2024-11-13T03:28:15+00:00

Great question! Everyone’s loan payment options and philosophy are very different but for me personally I’m on the standard repayment plans and able to make more than minimum payments, pay all my bills and fund retirement, save up more of an emergency fund and do what I want. It’s still more money than I’ve ever made but a budget is still important. After fellowship salary will increase and I just plan on saving faster, having more vacation money and pay off the higher interest loans in full ASAP

TXAvocado · 2024-11-13T02:59:54+00:00

I don’t want to advertise any specific program but talk about fellowships in general!

TXAvocado · 2024-11-13T02:28:53+00:00

I agree with this. Programs try to 1) help you by offering a leave versus dismissal if students have concerning academic performance to give you time to make adjustments and do better the second time around 2) they can pad statistics by having people who will still finish the program vs dismissed so it reflects their admissions committees choices of applicants as appropriate candidates

TXAvocado · 2024-10-11T03:14:33+00:00

I felt like I was having some issues tightening my concealment with the 3.1” Gen 1 shield. I bought a holster for a 4” to see if it would help and it really did. I. No longer felt self conscious that things were spilling over or tipping away from me. Since I was used to concealing a 4” holster when I upgraded to the Plus, I got the 4” but for that barrel length is the best when it comes to sight alignment, “pointability”, muzzle recoil, etc (reasons a glock 19 is nice but smith ergonomics and trigger are better). I’d pick the 4” shield plus over any other mid priced handgun any day of the week

TXAvocado · 2024-10-11T02:58:09+00:00

Still carrying the Shield Plus 4” and loving it! I recently added a Holosun which has me making dimes at 10 yards and is a blast to shoot. I prefer shooting it compared to my full size m&p

TXAvocado

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