I’m a PA in my early 40s and seriously considering joining the military.
My background is jn EM and ortho. I’m Physically active, no major health issues.
A few questions for those of you who are in or have been:
• Anyone join as a PA in their 40s? How realistic is it, and how was the process?
Any general info would be appreciated. I’d prefer to be in the reserves.
How short is the army in Physician Assistants? I’ve heard that we don’t have enough, but how bad is it?
I'm in primary care and am expected to see 16 patients per day 8hr workday in appx 20 min appts and do productive tasks that equal 21 "patients" - so one phone call is 1/3rd of a face to face visit, mychart messages are 1/8th, letter is 1/10th.
I'm still being ramped up to full patient load but I'm worried I'll fall behind and have to stay late to meet expectations.
What are some tips/tricks do you have to max out productivity and still get the job done on time?
Not have someone constantly pushing quality metrics down my throat, not have insurance companies dictating how I practice medicine.
I’m already so sick of it all. I get that the quality measures are a big part of how we get paid, and most of the time, they really are things that need to be done for the good of the patient. But printing out our metrics and handing them to us for something different every week, ultimately makes me feel like I’m failing at my job. It’s just a number to them, they don’t care that we spent time having that conversation about how important it is to get their blood pressure under control, or their A1c down, or about their depression going into “remission,” that the patient is making progress but isn’t there yet, or that the patients themselves don’t frankly care and won’t do their part to get the numbers where they need to be for it to look like I’m doing my job right with QMs.
They don’t really care that I caught a patient who has had hep C for 8 years and the provider that first discovered it just said “follow up at next visit,” rather than calling the patient with the results, which the patient likely no showed for, and is just now hearing they have it after I reviewed the chart…and they are now dealing with cirrhosis.
They don’t care that I’ve actually built a relationship with the patient who lost all trust in the healthcare system years ago and that I am actually addressing her 80 pound unintentional weight loss over a year; she is still considered obese, so need to close that quality gap and talk about weight loss!
They really don’t even care that I actually listened to the patient who’s partner tried to strangle her last night and was one room over from her with their shared child, which ultimately led to the arrest of the partner that same day on DV charges. The patient still needs her missing HIV screening done!
It feels impossible to actually show patients that you care, address the things they want addressed, and address this long list of quality measures that are missing in a 20 minute appointment.
I’ve noticed other providers will bill a 9938x or 9939x for a problem based visit, where no preventative care was done, and often not even a full physical exam was performed. I can’t help but wonder if these metrics have become so important, the care that they are meant to enforce is being just barely skimmed over for the purpose of closing the gap, rather than actually for the proper care of the patient.
I’m only 5 months in and already feel burnt out.
I’m a PA who works in an outpatient clinic, typical 8-5 Monday through Friday job - no weekends. I have a severely herniated disc and have been told by my NS that a reherniation is unavoidable. I’ve had setbacks in the past that has had me bedridden and left my job scrambling to cancel/rearrange my clinic patients. On one hand I feel horrible about it but on the other hand there’s absolutely nothing I can do to control these flare ups and how long it’ll take me to recover to functioning level.
For those of you who work in the outpatient setting and have health conditions that can periodically “flare up” causing you to miss work weeks at a time, what have you done in regards to your job - did you end up getting fired, changed jobs or profession completely? I’m aware FMLA protects your job but outside of its use, I know my clinic is hemorrhaging money from my recurrent absence.
I am currently in the credentialing processes for a hospitalist position with USACS that includes nights and weekends as a new grad. I got offered an interview for an outpatient clinic that has a better schedule and I’d be able to start sooner. Is it really bad to take the interview and consider it? I dont want to burn bridges not sure what to do.
So I'm a new grad in the middle of interviewing for this amazing inpatient opportunity but there is one thing thats a little concerning to me. Its my dream specialty at a large well-funded academic institution and the compensation is great. But its for a role on a brand new PA team. There are PAs working elsewhere in this hospital but not on this team, they are building it from scratch. The person they hired as chief PA is very seasoned and I'm sure is wonderful, but doesn't have experience in this specific specialty. The 1st person who interviewed me said they will be using the same training format for new grads as they have used elsewhere in the hospital, but are still working out the details. The rest of the team are mostly 1st year residents so the attendings have a lot of experience with teaching.
I love this specialty and, barring something crazy, plan on accepting this job if its offered to me but does anyone have experience with a situation like this? Is it something I should be concerned about or how can I best prepare myself to work on a brand new team?
Current ortho PA
- large outpatient private practice
- 4 years experience
- OR and clinic
- 3 separate offices, 4 different surgical locations
- TKAs and THAs, general sports, no fractures
- first assist, 1st post ops, follow ups, new patients
116,000 salary
Last years bonus was 4000, down from 8000 the year before
No specific bonus calculation
MCOL, East coast
This might seem like a stupid question but I am an overthinker and feel uncomfortable in unfamiliar situations. I am the person standing in the corner and pretending to look at my phone lol... So hopefully I can get some insight into this.
I am going to my first conference as a PA soon. It's out of state. It looks like it's a mix of walking around and looking at exhibits and lectures in a conference room. A couple of my PA colleagues are going but we are not too close but I will try to stick with them if possible.
What is the etiquette at conferences? Do people walk around networking with everyone? Is it more of a stay to yourself type of thing? They better not cold call audience members! What's the dress code? I am planning on wearing business casual clothes. What have your experiences been at conferences?
With credentialing taking so long, when do you usually give your current job notice that you’ve accepted a new job?
Really ecstatic about this job since I love doing hands on procedures. Not familiar with ENT too much other than I what I heard online (majority really great) and it quickly became my top specialities based on my personal preferences of what I want as a clinician.
That being said, what should I expect during this interview! Never interviewed with a surgeon, only PAs.
My ENT knowledge is becoming subpar considering I’m 5 months out since graduation. I’m an anxious wreck when it comes down to interviews so it’s hard to convey how much I’m excited without coming off as weird.
I got a new grad PA offer in outpatient pain management and would love some outside opinions. I have 2 other interviews pending, but I likely won’t hear back before my decision deadline (< 1 week), so I need to decide soon.
JOB DETAILS
PATIENT LOAD
BENEFITS
TRAINING / ONBOARDING
OTHER DETAILS
Overall, feels like a solid new grad pain offer!!!
What are your thoughts on this offer, and would you accept it?
Less than 1 year out of school and received an offer in my preferred specialty at a private clinic (recently acquired by PE).
Base salary is on the lower end, but during my site visit the MD mentioned quarterly RVU/productivity bonuses that could add ~$10k–30k annually.
However, the contract only includes a short, vague paragraph about bonus eligibility with no details on:
Given that I’m leaving my current job partly due to a mismatch between contract and pay structure, I want to avoid that happening again.
Is it reasonable to ask for full RVU/bonus details (ideally in writing) before signing? Or is this something people typically figure out after starting?
Specialty: outpatient OB/GYN
Region: Midwest
Hi everyone—I'm transitioning from UC to EM and would really appreciate any tips or advice.
For those who’ve made a similar switch, what helped you the most early on? I’ll be working a mix of fast track and higher-acuity patients, so any recommendations on what to review would be great (common complaints vs. systems-based, etc.). I am also curious as to how many patients you saw per hour starting vs now and how long your training period was.
Also, for those using Epic—how long did it take you to get comfortable with the workflow and build out your smart phrases/tools?
Thanks in advance!
I applied to a couple jobs there and was wondering what the interview process looked like? Also, credentialing, onboarding and how long each process takes as well as training process. I know this will likely vary depending on the department but what are the parts that are universal for cleveland clinic? What is the culture there?
Trying to decide between Athena and Modmed for an orthopedic clinic that I am starting. Athena is taking a percentage 6% of collections. Modmed is 1150 for me and my supervising- he won't be seeing patients.
Once I get busy I think Athena will be more expensive. Probably around 3k per month.
What do you guys think? Which one is better?
Anyone have any literature, or even personal advice, on how you deal when patients are confrontational or demanding? Knowing I am going to go into a tough visit with certain patients will cause me anxiety all day and often the day before or while I am sleeping. I find myself rehearsing literal scripts of what I can anticipate. I feel guilty that sometimes I respond to these patients defensively (which can come off as aggressive) as a coping mechanism rather than taking the responsibility to de-escalate the patient. I work in psych, so this is especially important because some of these patients are ill (but most are just dysregulated themselves or substance seeking) Something I need to work on (I am in therapy which helps some but not my reaction in the moment). Any tips?
Yep, you read it right.
I am a PA in internal medicine, gradually transitioning to endo as my company hired and Endo and I am working with them for my experience as a CDE and former dietitian.
So I let my RD license expire because it was too much to keep up with.
Our RD quit, and without notifying me or asking for my input, or any kind of handoff, I find out that moving forward all dietitian appointments have been scheduled with me.
I am upset, obviously, because the lack of communication. Second, I purposely chose to change careers and NOT work as a dietitian anymore. My contract says nothing about this. I have no idea what they are thinking. Do they want me to bill for medical nutrition therapy, as a PA? Or to bill as a provider but do nutrition counseling?
I literally found out through front desk who was confused at my schedule, TODAY- and have dietitian appointments already tomorrow! I contacted my 2 managers- no response
Do I cancel all of these myself?
Do I talk to COO, CEO?
Who? What do I do?
Can employers stop pretending like office being closed for long lunch is a positive thing? It’s more like an hour of free labor since we’re literally stuck there. Am I alone in this? I’d rather do a normal 8 or 8.5.
Please and thank you. Upcoming grad in May and looking at it as an option.