Say what?!

Patients say the funniest things...

An 82 year old patient I've been following had just finished a pulmonary rehab session and asked me:

"PA Irene, you wouldn't happen to know anything about bladder spasms, would you?"

I replied, "Are you talking about urinary incontinence?  Are you leaking?"

Patient:  "No, I'm talkin' 'bout spasms... you see, I use a vibrator and I'm worried about bladder spasms."

Me:  *trying hard to keep a straight face and not laugh*

Patient:  "I'll let you think about that and look it up...bye bye!"

A quest for a job as a PA-C

Once I graduated from Physician Assistant school and passed the PANCE, Benji and I jetted to Europe for his three month rotation in surgery and to travel Europe.  Boy, did we travel!

Benji and I at the Blue Lagoon in Iceland

In between traveling, I tried to apply for PA positions so that I could start work as soon as I returned from Europe.  I aimed for jobs in the Atlanta, GA area so I could be close to my sister and her family while Benji finished up his rotations in Gainesville and NY.  I also thought Atlanta was a great city to start my career as a PA with its top notch teaching hospitals and its great community of PAs already established there.  I had plans to join the Georgia Academy of Physician Assistants (GAPA) and to get involved and even run for an office position. But finding a job in Atlanta was a lot harder than I had anticipated.

First of all, I was a new PA graduate...this meant that whoever wanted to hire me must be willing to teach me as if I were going through a residency.  This can be good too, though.  Lots of physicians/surgeons actually like hiring new graduates because they're a lot easier to mold into what they want practiced in their office or clinic.  On the other hand, it's a lot of time spent for training and educating.  So, it's kind of like a residency program.  Your supervising physician has to be willing to teach you.

Second, Atlanta has Emory University's PA program full of great PAs with a great name to back them up.  So, essentially, I was running up against new PA graduates from Emory University who already established connections at various hospitals and private practices through their clinical rotations which made it easier for them to hear of any and take any open PA positions in the Atlanta area.  

Third, Atlanta is the largest city in Georgia and a lot of PA graduates are young so naturally most of the young new graduate PAs who want to stay in Georgia will most likely choose Atlanta to work.  And like I mentioned before, Atlanta has a lot of great teaching hospitals, network of PAs, a lot of respect and autonomy for the PA profession and it's a fun and growing city.  Who doesn't like the home of the Braves, good ole' sweet tea with lemon and Gladys Knight's chicken and waffles?

Well, I searched and spoke to a handful of recruiters, and they all told me that I should wait to find a job until I returned to the States because it would be better for interview purposes.  This made me nervous because I basically wanted to get a job before returning to the states so that I could start work right away.

So, as soon as I returned, I applied to jobs like crazy.  At that time, I reconsidered working in cities besides Atlanta like Macon, Valdosta and Savannah.  I managed to get an interview with a huge orthopedics group in Macon, GA.  The interview with the CEO and orthopedic spinal surgeon went really well and I even came back the next day to shadow the surgeon to see how he interacted with everyone in the office including his patients.  I fell in love with the group and this job, and I really wanted it.  I followed up with a thank you note to the CEO for the interview and waited, waited and waited.  Two and a half weeks later, I hadn't heard from him and I began to think they had chosen another applicant for the position.  All my confidence was tossed out the window -- I thought I wasn't qualified, I thought I had waited too late to start applying for jobs, and thought going down to Miami for PA school was a bad decision.  

I decided to not put all my eggs in one basket and applied to various other spots.  Through recruiters, I managed to get two interviews set up.  One dermatology position in Valdosta and the other was a primary care position in Ocilla, GA.  To be honest, I wasn't too thrilled with the positions and what they had to offer.  I decided to take matters into my own hands and start dropping off my resume at various offices in Valdosta.  I also emailed Dr. M whom I had worked for previously as his medical transcriptionist/medical assistant prior to PA school.  To my surprise, Dr. M needed a PA and wanted to hire me!  On top of that, one of the offices I dropped off my resume at also was looking for a PA.  They immediately wanted to interview me.  They also gave me a tour of their office and offered me a position right then and there. They said they had been looking for a PA for the past three months all over the nation but no one wants to come to Valdosta.  I said, "I do!"

But low and behold, my dream job at the huge orthopedic group in Macon called me back and offered me a job too.  I couldn't believe it...  when it rains, it pours.  Do I take the position in Macon with the higher pay, orthopedic experience, greater benefits and be able to be there when Benji moves back to Macon in September?  Or do I stay in Valdosta and work with Dr. M who I know has a great office and team to work with and know he will teach me everything he can?

I decided to stay with Dr. M, stay close to my Mom who needed some comfort and attention from her daughter, and stay in Valdosta where I could be close to Benji while he's in Gainesville, FL doing rotations during the Summer.

It was a tough decision, but I really think I made the right decision.  It's my second week into my job with Dr. M and I love it!

First week as a working PA-C!!  Woohoo!