Direct Patient Care Experience

1384 Words3 Pages

In my application last year I found that my greatest faults were timing and work experience. Unfortunately for me, I discovered I wanted to be to a physician assistant late into my undergraduate studies. This postponed the completion of my prerequisite courses, which directly delayed the time my applications could be processed and reviewed. Additionally, I did not have as much variation in my direct patient care experience as I would have desired. My late decision to pursue the PA profession left a small amount of time to become certified for a direct patient care position, and as a result, I was limited in the patient care experience I could obtain. However, I have made several efforts within the past year to improve the content and timing …show more content…

These experiences consisted of shadowing PAs as well as physicians. Shadowing different clinicians did contribute to my desire to pursue a career as a PA and provided me with a diverse insight into the field of healthcare. In addition, I have been speaking with current PA students for further insight into the application process and the demands of PA school. In terms of improving the content and timing of my application, I sought out many useful resources for advise, such as colleagues, mentors, PA forums, blogs, videos, and current PA students. During the previous application cycle I was working as a medical scribe for an outpatient urology clinic. Throughout the year I worked as a medical scribe my clinical knowledge and insight into the thought process of a clinician substantially increased. I observed various physicians acquire patient histories, perform procedures and exams, determine diagnoses and develop treatment plans. Transcribing patient encounters enhanced my ability to parse written and reported information and distinguish the pertinent components of that …show more content…

I worked directly under the supervision of a PA, which gave me an understanding of the specific duties of a PA in an underserved setting. The clinical experience and additional direct patient care hours, particularly within an underserved area, make me a more competitive applicant. I acquired knew knowledge and skills, and I practiced several procedural tasks such as drawing blood, removing sutures, taking EKGs, administering intramuscular injections, using Combivent inhalers, performing spirometry tests and more. Performing these tasks on the occasional apprehensive patient helped me establish compassionate patient care skills. I also have a better understanding of the work entailed in medically underserved areas and a stronger desire to pursue the path of practicing as a PA in an underserved area. Currently, I continue to get exposure working in a medically underserved area through my position as an MA for North Florida Heart. The main cardiovascular clinic is in Gainesville, Florida. At this clinic I take vitals and help perform nuclear stress tests, electrocardiograms, echocardiograms, ankle-brachial index tests, and other diagnostic tests. Our second clinic is in the medically underserved region of Chiefland, Florida at which the same diagnostic tests are performed with the exception of stress tests. This position is

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