jen0508 Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 How long until your an "experienced PA"? I've been in the game 3.5 years and still don't feel that I'm there. Out of 14 PAS in my practice I'm ranked 7th in terms of experience/"time out of school". Today one of my SPs said "your the senior PA today" and I realized most of the newbies look up to me (scary). What do you guys consider as "experienced" or "seasoned". I would say 5 years. But I'm sure once I get to 5 years the number will move to 10:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterallsummer Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 If you consider the extra year of rotations in Med school, plus residency and fellowship, 4-10 years depending on specialty, with 4-5 for generalists, to "catch up" with similar years of OTJ training as a physician. Then however many years additionally in practice. So I would say maybe 15 years in same or similar specialties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LKPAC Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 I've been in FP for over 25 years. Still learn something new every day. I would say you need at least 10 years to be a "senior" PA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator rev ronin Posted December 21, 2015 Administrator Share Posted December 21, 2015 If you're a Malcolm Gladwell fan, it's 10,000 hours, which is roughly five years full time. I've been doing this 3 years, and feeling like there's a logarithmic learning curve--I don't know everything, but I sure know a lot more than I did at day 1 of my first job, and I am a lot more comfortable about what to do with things that I know I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted December 21, 2015 Moderator Share Posted December 21, 2015 I'm 4th in seniority in a group of 25 PAs after 29 years in emergency medicine with 20 as a PA and like LKPAC still learn new things almost every day, often from my students...most days now I'm the "go-to guy" for the sick and crashing pts. The staff generally bypass the new grad fp docs I occasionally work with and bring the "bad ones" directly to me like the 1 yr old who looked like meningococcemia with purpura and fever last night. was probably HSP, but had a 30k wbc. peds intensivist recommended both abx and steroids. still in the icu as an obs pt.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHU-CH Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 "Experienced" is probably more a state of mind than anything that can be quantified as "x" number of years. I would use markers like thoughtfulness, caution and humility to identify a seasoned clinician. I was much more confident of my knowledge base and skills right out of school than I am now. Either I have become a coward, or a little smarter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PACdan Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 Disclaimer: clinical phase student here, but a little from what I've seen: inexperienced provider: more ego involvement, may push forward with dx or tx despite poor results or unfamiliarity, makes excuses experienced provider: less ego involvement; "sh*t, I've never seen that/holy cow, no idea!", consults others These are generalities, so of course there are exceptions both ways. But I subscribe to the idea of skill being a product of time, exposures, and willingness to learn. The only one you can really control is the willingness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGoLong Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 "Experienced" is not a well-defined word really, and one that is in the eye of the beholder. I've been in the same specialty for 9 years and I still feel that I have a lot to learn. At the same time, I am the most senior PA at our practice and I work by myself or with a more junior PA. Patients, the other PAs, nurses, patients, and lots of other people look to me for "experience." If I need to, I get help. My guess is this is the way things are. Some days you might feel like your wearing a costume, but to the people around you, you are "experienced" and trusted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWR Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 30 year in and still learning in Family medicine. Medicine is an ongoing ,daily learning experience, not to mention the 100's (1000's?) of new drugs coming out yearly. I guess that is why we do 100+ hours every 2 years to attempt to stay ahead of the curve or at least keep up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator True Anomaly Posted December 23, 2015 Moderator Share Posted December 23, 2015 I just recertified for the first time, and it did feel like I had crossed some mental threshold of "experience", which is probably a natural way to feel after passing an arbitrary milestone like that. It'll probably be even more of a milestone since now recertify on year 10, and that base 10 division has always meant something special to people Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kargiver Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Being experienced is knowing when you know nothing, always hunger for more knowledge, and know that anything, ANYTHING, can walk through the door. Ive been in EM for 25 years, have worked completely solo for 7 years as a PA in rural New England, and am more comfortable caring for sick and dying people than I am with wisdom teeth impactions and skin tears. Being a medic in a high call volume urban system for 15 years does that for you. But I am still learning every day. You will for the rest of your life. But that does not define experienced vs. non-experienced. But when mom carries a 4 month old girl though the door, completely flaccid, barely breathing, no rashes, and your first instinct is to look at the pupils and ask mom if she is on narcotics, to which she answers "yes, methadone," and you ask her how much did she give the child to keep her quiet, and she answers "I didn't think a lot" - and the child wake up after a simple dose of narcan and stayed in the ICU for 48 hours - That is when you are experienced. When you know "sick" from "not sick" and can figure out why very quickly - when it counts. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delco714 Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Been in gu for over two years. I feel I have an enormous knowledge base..then something comes around to remind me that urology, especially at an institution that covers every facet of urology with individual fellowship trained docs (I work with them all), is extremely vast, and I know but a drop in the bucket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted December 24, 2015 Moderator Share Posted December 24, 2015 don't you mean a drop in the foley? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delco714 Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 don't you mean a drop in the foley?The urometer. Wise guy!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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