I was introduced to the profession when I just started the nursing program. I researched its history and the way the profession influenced the medical field. When I started to work in the hospital as an RN I’ve met many clinicians, including two Physician Assistants. They were generous not only with the attention to their patients, but were willing to answer questions regarding the scope of practice, the training, and everything associated with the profession. Many nights we were working side by side solving the mystery of our patients’ symptoms to prevent possible outcomes. Unlike some providers these two PAs were always easily accessible and resourceful.
Since I’ve learned about PA profession I wanted to become one. I want to play an active role in my patients’ care, and be able to diagnose and monitor their status. I want to prescribe medications and be able to perform many difficult procedures. I want to become a clinician that have the knowledge and the training, and could be easily reached by patients, their families and nurses.
When I started my academic career in the US, I’ve had few stumbling blocks along the way. At first, I was not aware of the GPA system and its impact to the future. Once I decided to go to the nursing school where the prerequisites’ GPA was the major influencer I changed my study habits and increased my grades.
In 2012, I had to drop out from school due to my husband’s injury and work 3 jobs to support our family. When I got accepted into the
The Physician Assistant (PA) and Nurse Practitioner (NP) career fields were the medical fields’ response to the physician shortage that began in the 1960s, but the shortage still exists today. As the population continues to grow, the gap continues to grow as well. Medical schools were having a hard time producing as many doctors that were needed to fill in the gaps in a timely manner, leaving the medical field looking for ways they could have health care providers diagnose and treat patients, but educated in half the time of a doctor. The PA program was then born out of the military. Medical doctors watched as military doctors and medics came back, but they had no formal training except for on-the-job training. The NP program was derived from previous midwifery program. Currently, as the physician shortage is still impending more and more PAs and NPs are being hired to fill in the gaps. This is causing many questions to arise: Are they qualified?, What kind of education do they have?, and Should I feel safe?. Patients want to know that they are getting excellent care, and that their medical providers are qualified to diagnose and treat patients accurately.
From a personal standpoint, the history of the physician assistant profession is remarkable, especially in regard to how established the profession became in such a rapid time. Ultimately, the profession was designed with the goal to benefit patients, and as a physician assistant, the approaches to accomplish this goal are infinite. Anyone would be honored to be a part of such an established profession and contribute to such a noble
I am drawn to the PAs ability to not only treat and diagnose independently but to work in a team environment. I relish the idea of working alongside nurses and physicians in choosing the best path of treatment for my patients. I am also attracted to the flexibility of the PA program, which will allow me to change specialties if I desire. Being a team player and having a passion for medicine, I have concluded that a career in the health care field, and more specifically as a physician assistant, is the right path for
When a new resident is admitted, their family provides a history of the resident’s life: their loves, their fears, and their tragedies. As a physician assistant collects and analyzes the medical history and symptoms of a patient with an undiagnosed illness, I analyze the personal histories of the residents at my facility so that I am able to understand the best way to care for them. As a physician assistant collaborates with their supervising physician to provide high quality healthcare to patients, I collaborate with the director of nursing and the other nursing assistants at my facility to improve our residents’ quality of life. As a physician assistant is trusted by their patients and their supervising physician, I am trusted by the families of the residents I care for as their loved ones adjust to life as it changes with the loss of their memory.
I have had the opportunity to work with many health professionals, but my experience with PAs has solidified my path to becoming a PA. Devoting over 200 hours to shadow PAs of various specialties had allowed me to learn about pulmonary diseases and read CT scans in pulmonary, watch in awe at an ingrown toenail removal in urgent care, and observe patience and individual care in pediatrics. Although I was at the clinics for observation, I eagerly wanted to assist the PAs and care for the patients. I was fully immersed in the topics that were taught to me and found myself lusting for the knowledge and skills to become a PA.
I have worked in every area of the hospital and nursing homes in my nineteen years of clinical practice as a nurse. I have excelled and enjoyed the care that I have provided over the years. I have been a charge nurse wherever I have worked and enjoyed brainstorming and critically thinking through what needed to be done for a patient when they were not doing well. I have prevented many code blues and have been a preceptor to many excellent nurses.
This has allowed me to experience what each person’s role in a hospital setting truly is. Both physician assistants and nurse practitioners share a lot of the same responsibilities as a physician, although nurse practitioners are given the flexibility of choosing which specialty they are interested in pursuing. This autonomy is what drew me into this position, which includes a lot of independence within the practice. Over the years that I have worked in healthcare, I have realized that patients need a health care provider who will be an advocate for them, and they also need someone who will truly listen to them in order to help improve their quality of health. The roles and job responsibilities of a nurse practitioner have caught my attention and therefore have made me want to pursue this career
I feel that I can contribute to the profession in many positive ways. Some of the most important traits that I possess are my persistence and willingness to work hard. I give one hundred percent in everything that I do and will never quit until I succeed in whatever I am doing. These traits will greatly assist me in the PA profession when I am stuck trying to diagnose a patient or even formulating a treatment that may never have been used before. I will stop at nothing to get my patient healthy, even if it means staying up all night trying to figure it
In my time volunteering at the hospital, I hope to gain many different experiences. However, there are a few main ones: adaptation through enrichment and dependability. First of all, I want to get to know and adapt to the environment of the hospital and learn how different processes work. This is a crucial part of being in the atmosphere of a clinic. Also, the experiences that I will have at the hospital will help me to understand the routines and entailments of the career I would like to pursue. I hope to become a Physician’s Assistant in the future and this will be the best way to know if it is the right position for me. This enrichment of my understanding will help guide my passion for this career path and hopefully strengthen it.
Physician assistant (PA) is a career that allows an individual to work independently to treat patients. While the physician is available to reference if any questions or concerns arise about patient care issue. The position of PA is diverse, and the delegated duties may range from surgical assistant to family practice. If a PA chooses to specialize then their knowledge and training is revered to be desired by employers. The career is fast growing and beneficial as a mid-level practitioner for physicians.
They also meet different people with many backgrounds for example Doctors (MD’s), Physician Assistants, Nurse practitioners (NP’s) and nurses. Usually MD’s recognized the hard work of a medical assistant because since they work closely to them. But working with different people medical assistants can perceive that not everyone will treat them with respect. Flor stated, “The nurses think that medical assistants have a lack of knowledge and sometimes they underestimate medical assistants” (Contreras, 2017). Medical assistants struggled with nurses that have bad attitudes that make them feel unappreciated. Nurses can be lazy that do not want to help room patients or facilitate a good patient experience in the clinic. Instead nurses are always
As a practitioner or a population health coach, both APNs considered other nurses at any level, and physicians within the same discipline, as her peers. Over the course of their professional careers, increased confidence, trust, and knowledge were the commonalities with evolving roles. The confidence and trust originates with oneself, then, includes that of her co-workers and physicians, but mostly from her patients. Maturing from the novice RN to an expert APN, the confidence and knowledge base has developed, building an individual practice and supporting patients and communities towards optimal health. Each considered autonomy the greatest privilege guaranteed them as APN.
You’d never think growing up a very sick dad and worried mom would have a made such a positive impact on my life. But in my case, it is the main reason why I have chosen to become a physician’s assistant (PA). In the beginning stages, I was too young to really understand the importance of the doctors and medical staff that worked countless hours to make this medical miracle happen, but as time went on, I began to comprehend the role of the people who were trying to save my dad’s life so he could watch his girls grow up. Seeing a multidisciplinary team of physicians, social workers, and dieticians work so well together to solve a problem made a lasting impression on me. I watched as they spent countless hours analyzing the numbers and evaluating my dad’s physical condition to solve the problem. Working so tirelessly showed how passionate and dedicated the team was. I can 't accredit a single person in that group of medical specialists that inspired me to be to become a physician assistant because each and every one of them played a tremendous role in my journey. I desire to become a PA so that
Working in a nursing home piqued my interest in geriatrics and led me to become a volunteer for Hospice. This experience allowed me to spend more time with patients, and it was truly a privilege to be a part of their last moments in life. While I believe these have been excellent roles in healthcare, they have certainly reinforced my will to continue down the medical pathway even further. Becoming a PA would allow me to play a bigger, more important role in patient’s
Primary care physicians do multiple tasks, from treating a patient to preventive services, and counselling. In the past they even used to do basic laboratory tests like urine complete examination, coulter blood count, EST etc. Medical knowledge and clinical training is critical, but not enough to serve a “Primary” role. To truly serve the purpose, PCPs should be trained in multiple aspects like economics, informatics, psychology, management and leadership skills. These are the essential basics for any PCP to enable them to understand not only the patients’ medical needs, but also their non-medical needs. It would enable them to make and maintain a stronger, long-term, and trustworthy relationship with their patients.