life as a PA.

i'm about 2 months into my first job as a physician assistant.

the transition in general has gone pretty well. first few weeks were stressful -- first getting used to a new place, figuring out what paperwork needs to be done when and who goes where. it was really overwhelming at first to be responsible for care and not have anyone to just be like OK, sounds good or yes, that's right. i felt like i was just totally guessing and trying stuff out to see what was working-- which is scary when it comes to healthcare. thing is, i guess i still feel like that... its not that i got more confident in my decisions, i just got more comfortable with the feeling of guessing.

someone who is not in healthcare probably finds this really scary. to be honest that was my biggest lesson during rotations -- no one else really knows what they are doing either. nothing is for sure in medicine. you have your base knowledge and then you just have to do your best to adapt to each patient and presentation being different and do what you can while trying to "kill as few patients as possible" as my boyfriend would say.

overall, i like my job, i think. i like being a PA. i like most of my patients. its just at times that its a little too stressful and frustrating. not because of my patients though, i think its more because of the "system". for one, i don't have enough time with my patients. its go-go-go all the time, we have walk-ins coming out of our ears, and 15 minute appointments, half of which are usually taken up by the MAs getting the patients ready, so that leaves me with 7 minutes to go over the 3 chronic illnesses and 2 acute problems the patient is likely to have, examen them, confirm all the meds, write prescriptions and orders and shoo them out the door before i have to run to the next one. oh, and most of the time this is all done in spanish. and for two, we can't get any of the tests we need done. our patients have no money and no one in the area is willing to see them for specialty care. so a lot of the time i'm just the holder of risks and bad news with no real outcome or direction to go in besides "wait and see".

my chart/documentation skills have definitely gone out the window, but my spanish is getting pretty good.

i think that it will be a good experience. its kind of like throwing me into the fire and seeing what happens... but i think it will turn out OK. i don't plan on staying too long-- i'd get way burnt out, but it will be good while it lasts.