Overcoming Difficulty and Rejection as a Physician Assistant
The practice of medicine demands not only intellectual prowess and technical skill but also intimate awareness of one’s inadequacies.
The goal is always an unwavering dedication to patient-centered care. Physician assistants, known once again as Physician Associates or PAs, play a vital role in healthcare systems across the globe. PAs are operational in 15 nations, to be exact, and “their acceptance appears successful and satisfaction with their care largely indistinguishable from physicians.”
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The journey of a PA is not without its challenges, however. From the demanding nature of medical education itself to the complexities of patient interactions and the politics of medicine, PAs often face difficulties and experience rejection.
How do PAs deal with adversity in the practice of medicine? Let’s talk about the importance of resilience, self-reflection, and seeking support.
The Pursuit of Medicine and Inevitable Obstacles
Becoming a PA requires years of rigorous education, training, and a neverending quest to stay abreast of best practices. PAs study the most important elements of medical practice, a 3-year curriculum often condensed into 2 years.
From grueling coursework to intense clinical rotations, becoming a competent healthcare provider is arduous for any practitioner, regardless of credentials.
Along that arduous path come many obstacles. It’s crucial to understand that encountering obstacles is not a sign of inadequacy but rather an inherent part of the journey. By reframing setbacks as opportunities for growth, PAs can develop resilience and adaptability, essential traits for success in the medical field.
The Weight of Responsibility and Rejection
As a PA, you bear the weight of immense responsibility for patient well-being. The idea that physicians carry a heavier burden could not be farther from the truth. We all make life-and-death decisions every day. However, despite our best efforts, we will be rejected eventually. Sometimes by patients, sometimes by co-workers.
Patients will express dissatisfaction, some will choose to seek care elsewhere. Others will leave negative reviews online for all to see. Colleagues, who ought to be mentors and friends, may be antagonistic or even predatory.
Recognize that rejection does not define your abilities as a healthcare professional and certainly not your value as a human being. Instead, view rejection as an opportunity to define your values and refine your skills. Remember, medicine is a collaborative process, a team sport and most of us get along just fine.
The Power of Self-Reflection
Dealing with difficulty and rejection requires introspection. But before one can be introspective, one must be humble. Engaging in self-reflection allows PAs to identify areas for improvement, gain insight into their strengths and weaknesses, and refine their clinical practice. By fostering a growth mindset, PAs can transform setbacks into learning opportunities and drive personal and professional development.
Building Resilience
Resilience is an indispensable quality for practicing PAs. It involves adapting to stress, bouncing back from setbacks, and maintaining emotional well-being to prevent burnout.
To enhance resilience, PAs ought to cultivate healthy coping mechanisms, such as mindfulness, regular exercise, and maintaining a support network of colleagues, mentors, and loved ones. Seeking support from like-minded individuals can provide invaluable perspective and reassurance during challenging times.
Consider how you define yourself. Are you a PA or do you only work as one? We don’t have to own the shortcomings of our profession. It’s noble work that provides for our families–that can be enough.
Embracing Continuous Learning
Medicine is an ever-evolving field, and PAs must embrace a lifelong commitment to learning. Those who oppose PAs taking a larger role in our ailing healthcare system often quote the oblique argument of “7 years to train a physician and 2 to train a PA”. While this is accurate on the surface it’s an unfair comparison. Yes, 7 is more than 2. But 7 equals 7. A PA with 5 years of experience is a better comparison to the new physician.
Starting from a point of disadvantage, PAs are voracious learners. We learn to never gamble wholly on what we were taught in school. We seek the latest evidence, and the most authoritative guidelines and strive for best practices. We have no choice. It’s essential to our survival.
By staying abreast of the latest clinical evidence, attending conferences, and engaging in continuing education, PAs are lifelong learners. Continuous learning not only equips PAs with the tools to navigate difficulties but also instills a sense of confidence and competence. After all, trained is trained.
Cultivating Empathy and Compassion
The practice of medicine is inherently rooted in empathy and compassion. Whether PA or MD, we must put patients before our egos.
PAs must strive to understand the perspectives and experiences of their patients. By cultivating empathy and compassion, PAs can treat their patients in a way no medicine or surgery ever can.
Empathy is an attempt to understand how others feel. Compassion is born of empathy and drives us to lift and care for others.
Empathy and compassion will help to establish strong patient-provider relationships, and alleviate distress and suffering in addition to minimizing the potential for rejection. More importantly, a kind and compassionate heart will bear rejection well.
Every patient encounter is an opportunity to make a positive impact on another human, regardless of the outcome.
Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity.
Hippocrates
The practice of medicine as a PA is an extraordinary and rewarding journey that is not without its share of hardship and frustration, perhaps more so than other healthcare workers. Nurse practitioners share some of the idiosyncrasies of life as an advanced practice provider, but nurses far outnumber Physician Associates.
By embracing these challenges as opportunities for growth, fostering self-reflection, cultivating resilience, and prioritizing continuous learning, PAs can navigate the turbulence and emerge as confident, compassionate, and skilled healthcare providers.
It’s horrific and I’d never recommend anyone be a PA. Period.
I agree that it can be pretty horrific from time to time and I know that I have had my fair share of colleagues who have been less than cordial. In my chosen area we do a majority of the overall work and the “supervisors” sit around and work on vacation plans or watch movies/sports on their smart devices. There are several who also wear ear pods and get upset when they are required to see patients. Almost everyone of them commits fraud by putting an attestation on the chart that they did their own medical exam and were responsible for the decision making. Needless to say the burnout rate is high especially after the high numbers of patients using the ER as primary care since COVID. The question of being a PA or working as one is a good thought that should also be given to some other providers.
Would I recommend the field to others? Probably not given my experiences of the “better” trained folks. Long hours, countless charting/documenting, rude and violent patients along with the hospital administration culture that seeks only to increase its numbers while breaking the backs of its employees. In short…the light at the end of the tunnel seems to be dimming every day.
As cliched as it may sound, being a PA is ultimately about “servant leadership. ” Many disillusioned or disenchanted PAs (and other clinicians) might have had a wrong impression of this industry. Or were too enamored of the idea without knowing or understanding the real “why” they pursued this career path. You can see it in YouTube videos of many of our young colleagues leaving the profession for a myriad of reasons, but mostly because they were not centered or grounded within themselves.
Being a medical provider is not for the faint of heart as the saying goes…
I’d absolutely never recommend anyone become a PA. We are attacked by the AMA, nursing rules the hospitals, and I truly feel that if the states don’t embrace optimal team practice, the PA profession will be dead. I cannot wait to retire. Meanwhile I’m teaching other professional students doing rotatiins basic things like the muscles of the rotator cuff but they have independent practice. I’ve had docs teaching residents ask plthe standard pimp questions that as a new grad, I knew the answer to and when I answer they didn’t even acknowledge me. Worst. Absolutely worst choice anyone can make. I have had scrub techs and nurses say “I hate PAs” not even knowing me (first time in the OR w them) I’m the easiest going, kindest person, that’s a team player. Our supervising doc dies snd we can’t even work. It’s a freaking joke. That’s what we get for our advanced training. Do yourself a favor and do not go to PA school.
I have to agree with a lot of this rant. NP lobbying groups have done their profession a tremendous amount of service whereas ours is still stuck in the role of needing a physician umbilical cord for everything. The argument that my 35,000 hours of patient care doesn’t even compare to the 2000 hours of a resident physician is absurd. Knowledge is knowledge…it can obtained in so many different ways and yet the only one that seems to be honored is the tried and true medical school model.
I agree with you. There has to be a point where my 12 years of medical practice outweighs the 3-5 years of extra formal training physicians receive. PAs ought to be able to challenge Step 3 as well as specialty board exams. Knowledge is knowledge. Trained is trained. Competent is competent.