Thursday, January 20, 2011
Computer...is......dead
My computer died so I have held off posting anything. It has been too long so I am taking a break from work to use my iPhone to post. I am pretty busy at work and am essentially on my own unless I have a question. I have gotten really positive feedback from my supervising physician and patients. I can now get through a full physical exam in ten minutes. I have seen some interesting things and some even more interesting patients. My personal life continues to be a roller coaster with more flats and up hill pushes than enjoyable twists and turns. I was hoping my wife would be happier with me being employed and well paid. It seems she continues to find fault with me, our house, our stuff and our lack things and activities that meet her standards. Will a new house make her happy? Will our son's admission to a good kindergarten make her happy? More vacations? A new job? A cleaner house without clutter? Newer diets? Better exercise plans? Going vegetarian? Losing 40 pounds. Will Having a husband who only wants to do/watch/eat what she likes to help her to be happier? At least I can pay a lot of our bills now!
Sunday, December 5, 2010
6 weeks in
I finally got my license and most everything is squared away; I am still waiting on my DEA license but that is not too big a deal. I am seeing 10 to 16 patients a day now. I do a lot of DOT physical - that is physicals for truck drivers. I am managing the care of several patients and seeing some for urgent care issues. I had a patient who whose job it is to pull the stomach and its contents from the cow who has some stomach "juice" splash in her eye. This, she was sure, had caused her to lose vision in one of her eyes. After getting her an opthamology referral and an MRI, I was the one to break the news to her that she most likely has multiple sclerosis. It was tough because I had to use an interpreter but I think I did OK. We have patients from Mexico and Central America, Somalia and Ethiopia, Iran, Sudan and Micronesia - at least those are the ones I can remember seeing.
The drive to work is long but easy - almost relaxing. Most days I am home by 6:30 and am surprisingly tired. My mind has to work more than it ever had to in any other job I've had, that's for sure. It's not really stressful, but I feel a great sense of responsibility and desire not to screw things up. There are a lot pieces to work comp that must be learned and mastered. I must communicate to employers regarding their worker's injuries, restriction and progress. I must convey the need for all the therapies and imaging in my notes, keep the patients, employers and insurance companies happy and do it all pretty quick. My clinic is still allowing my extra time for patients so I haven't felt too pressured for time though.
Most of all, I am happy to have a good job.
The drive to work is long but easy - almost relaxing. Most days I am home by 6:30 and am surprisingly tired. My mind has to work more than it ever had to in any other job I've had, that's for sure. It's not really stressful, but I feel a great sense of responsibility and desire not to screw things up. There are a lot pieces to work comp that must be learned and mastered. I must communicate to employers regarding their worker's injuries, restriction and progress. I must convey the need for all the therapies and imaging in my notes, keep the patients, employers and insurance companies happy and do it all pretty quick. My clinic is still allowing my extra time for patients so I haven't felt too pressured for time though.
Most of all, I am happy to have a good job.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Almost 3 weeks In
I have been employed as a PA for nearly 3 weeks now. I still don't have my license though thanks to the bumbling bureaucrats in charge of licenses here. My company has had me shadowing my supervising physician since I started but they are getting antsy and I am getting bored.
The Occ Med practice I work at sees a lot a trauma because one of our big clients is a meat packing plant. They take cattle from the feed lot to packaging. As a result we see a fair amount of lacerations, hand, wrist and shoulder injuries, and more than a few crush injuries including forklift injuries. We see other patients in other occupations like office workers, health care providers and numerous blue collar occupations. We saw a concrete finisher who got too close to a power line with his float pole and was electrocuted. He lost a portion of one foot and needed a skin graft on the other. Another day we saw four forklift crush injuries that were all pretty nasty.
The breakdown of the types of patients I have seen are:
50% orthopedics
20% neurological
15% trauma/urgent care
15% DOT and employer physicals
There are more than a few patients who are faking or playing up their injuries in hopes of getting some big payout from the insurance companies but most just want to go back to their $12/hr job hacking apart a cow or driving their truck.
The Occ Med practice I work at sees a lot a trauma because one of our big clients is a meat packing plant. They take cattle from the feed lot to packaging. As a result we see a fair amount of lacerations, hand, wrist and shoulder injuries, and more than a few crush injuries including forklift injuries. We see other patients in other occupations like office workers, health care providers and numerous blue collar occupations. We saw a concrete finisher who got too close to a power line with his float pole and was electrocuted. He lost a portion of one foot and needed a skin graft on the other. Another day we saw four forklift crush injuries that were all pretty nasty.
The breakdown of the types of patients I have seen are:
50% orthopedics
20% neurological
15% trauma/urgent care
15% DOT and employer physicals
There are more than a few patients who are faking or playing up their injuries in hopes of getting some big payout from the insurance companies but most just want to go back to their $12/hr job hacking apart a cow or driving their truck.
Friday, October 8, 2010
I am employed
Well I don't start until 10/18 but I have a job. I will be working in occupational medicine in a small clinic that handles people working in meat packing plants and agriculture, among other things. The physician I'll be working with is really quite nice and likes to teach, and has experience in ortho and neuro surgery. I'll be getting paid a lot more than I ever hoped to coming out of school too. I never would have told anyone I wanted to go into occ med a month ago but I am happy to have the opportunity to make a good living and learn medicine. There will be lots of procedures to perform which is cool. It feels more like occ med/urgent care so I think it will be able to carry my interest. The drive will be long (50 min, all rural highway, interstate), but no longer than when i worked in heath insurance (one hour for 19 miles of interstate highway!). I'll keep posting even though the blog is no longer about becoming a PA. Now it'll be about becoming a confident and effective PA.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Ohhh say can you "C" ?....PA-C that is!
This is the biggest feeling of accomplishment I've felt in a long time. I passed the PANCE and am now a certified PA. I did OK on it...sorta average but the main thing is that I passed. I am now having my license application processed so I should be really official in a couple weeks.
The job hunt on the other hand has been rough. I haven't heard back from the last interview I had a couple weeks ago and I am assuming I did not get the job. It was part-time which was the major draw back but the cool thing was that it was part of a family practice residency so I would have had the opportunity to learn a lot more on the job and have a preceptor to go to with questions rather than having to pull my supervising physician out of an exam room or away from charting to ask them a question. Not too many places around here want to hire a new grad, and here I thought getting a job would be one of my lesser worries!
Here's a run down of post-graduation expenses incurred over the last month through this month:
Review course: $700
Airfare: $200
Hotel: $730
Food: $100
PANCE test: $475
State licensing fee: $300
DEA license: $551
My credit card balances are climbing and my credit score is sinking. My school loans must have just hit my credit report cause my score took a 30 point hit.
I keep telling myself I am not in this for the money, but the debt really stinks.
Anyway, here's to me being a PA-C! Cheers!
The job hunt on the other hand has been rough. I haven't heard back from the last interview I had a couple weeks ago and I am assuming I did not get the job. It was part-time which was the major draw back but the cool thing was that it was part of a family practice residency so I would have had the opportunity to learn a lot more on the job and have a preceptor to go to with questions rather than having to pull my supervising physician out of an exam room or away from charting to ask them a question. Not too many places around here want to hire a new grad, and here I thought getting a job would be one of my lesser worries!
Here's a run down of post-graduation expenses incurred over the last month through this month:
Review course: $700
Airfare: $200
Hotel: $730
Food: $100
PANCE test: $475
State licensing fee: $300
DEA license: $551
My credit card balances are climbing and my credit score is sinking. My school loans must have just hit my credit report cause my score took a 30 point hit.
I keep telling myself I am not in this for the money, but the debt really stinks.
Anyway, here's to me being a PA-C! Cheers!
Monday, September 13, 2010
PANCE
I am biding my time waiting for my PANCE results. I didn't feel horrible about the test when I was taking it but now that I have time to stew I am starting to worry a bit. Geez would it ever suck to fail the PANCE and have to wait another 90 days to re-take it!
Jobs for new grads are few and far between here and I am resorting to applying for any opening just to get my foot in the door. I am sure the fact that I haven't got my license yet isn't helping. I am a bit pissed that all these loan re-payment jobs here want you to be fluent in spanish. Fu**! I am missing out on employment opportunities and loan re-payment opportunities because there are so many spanish speakers here that they indirectly determine what kind of jobs I can get.
Anyway, I'll be a lot happier when I pass the PANCE and get licensed and start making some money. I know my wife will happier when I can pay for things again.
Jobs for new grads are few and far between here and I am resorting to applying for any opening just to get my foot in the door. I am sure the fact that I haven't got my license yet isn't helping. I am a bit pissed that all these loan re-payment jobs here want you to be fluent in spanish. Fu**! I am missing out on employment opportunities and loan re-payment opportunities because there are so many spanish speakers here that they indirectly determine what kind of jobs I can get.
Anyway, I'll be a lot happier when I pass the PANCE and get licensed and start making some money. I know my wife will happier when I can pay for things again.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
NEXT!
I have officially graduated! I actually graduated 2 weeks ago but I have been busy with family and and studying. Interestingly, graduating felt very anti-climactic. Maybe it's because I have so many other things to accomplish in order to practice? It was a bit sad for me to realize that I will never see some of my classmates again. We spent so much time together and shared so many unique and trying times that I feel there will always be a bond between us.
Last week I went to a review course for my certification exam. We were in "class' 13 hours a day and had a 2 hour test each evening. It was exhausting but I think it will be worth it in the long run. Tomorrow I have a 2nd interview with a family practice group - more about that later. I take the PANCE next week. I think I should pass based on my tests at the review session but I am studying a bit more between now and then just to shore up weak spots. Wish me luck and put some good vibes out there for me the morning of the 9th.
Last week I went to a review course for my certification exam. We were in "class' 13 hours a day and had a 2 hour test each evening. It was exhausting but I think it will be worth it in the long run. Tomorrow I have a 2nd interview with a family practice group - more about that later. I take the PANCE next week. I think I should pass based on my tests at the review session but I am studying a bit more between now and then just to shore up weak spots. Wish me luck and put some good vibes out there for me the morning of the 9th.
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