Posted on Apr 30, 2014
Physicians Assistants. What are your experience with them?
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My experience with them is that they strive to listen and do a good job especially with the more elderly patients. Perhaps even better than some doctors. What do you think?
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 25
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Everyone has their place. As a HM I have seen my share of excellent providers and not so good providers. As a whole I have never had an issue in either the civilian world or in the military with a PA or NP. Most PA's (not all) that I have known were mustangs, and I think that can help also.
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TSgt Joshua Copeland
LTC Paul Labrador, that might be true in the Army, but I know on the AF side a lot are coming in straight from college.
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LTC Paul Labrador
TSgt Joshua Copeland, point taken. I can only speak for what I have seen in detail, which is Army medicine.
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Capt Rebekah Diky
I am a former AF PA, there are very few slots for civilian trained PAs, so most of them are coming through the same program that the Army goes through at Ft. Sam Houston, asI did.
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My provider is a Physicians Assistant and he is the best primary practice military provider I have ever had. He puts a lot of family practice physicians to shame. I also worked for a PA when I came in to the Air Force, he was a blast to work with. I think the main reason most military PAs are so good at what they do is because most of them were prior enlisted. Again, another compliment to the enlisted ranks!
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A physician's assistant listened when doctors brushed off my hip problem for three years. I for one think PA's do excellent work. Overall I would say the quality of active duty health care has improved about 150% since my first year in the Army. Dr 's, PA's, medics and nurses overall.
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SSG Trevor S.
Capt Rebekah Diky I realize you are one of the aforementioned non 's's. Yet, since you have not posted about the incorrect use of the plural form in the original post I present to you the duties of the Grammar Police, and charge you with better learning your trade. http://grammarpolice.com/
Grammar Police dot com (the original)
Grammar Police a.k.a. GrammarCops - Grammar, language and usage observations, ramblings and questions by us and others
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Capt Rebekah Diky
I'm not commenting on the plurual or singular, but the proper name of my career. Physician Assistant. We are not physician's assistants... so it has nothing to do with rgammar and this Jew prefers not to be called a Nazi anything, thank you.
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I find them to be more responsive and willing to hear you out when many doctors are in and out of your room in mere seconds it seems. I think they are top notch!
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I had great experiences with IDC Hospital Corpsmen in the Navy before there were many PAs. Once PAs began to appear they were highly professional and many, if not most were ex-IDCs who had gotten additional training. My experiences with PAs has been positive and very good in the military.
Since I retired I have found the PAs in the VA system to be much better at listening and responding to my needs. Many of the doctors, not all, need to be retired. In my civilian doctors practices the PAs seem to be on par with many of the NPs and MDs.
Since I retired I have found the PAs in the VA system to be much better at listening and responding to my needs. Many of the doctors, not all, need to be retired. In my civilian doctors practices the PAs seem to be on par with many of the NPs and MDs.
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SSG William Patton
I have had positive experiences with PAs I had seen in private medicine. They have been very professional and knowledgeable and took more time than the doctor who I was there to see, but was too busy on a couple of occassions. There are two in particular that I see on a regular basis that I would rather deal with than have to fool with the doctor, who has the bedside manner of a bed pan.
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SSG William Patton
Master Chief, there are somethings that are very much alike and I attribute to the good manners found in Dixie. We are not the bumpkins many make us out to be.
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I've got a different take on it...and it's all tactical. There's a lot of talk about hospitals and the VA on this thread, but where a PA really makes a difference is in the tactical Battalion. I have had a string of great PA's in the Squadron Aid Station. They are the first line provider to the majority of the fighting force. Yes, you have your combat medic, but where does that medic get his authorization to do anything? From teh Battalion PA. This is where these guys cut their teeth. Many may want to end up in a hospital somewhere, but that's not where they start. I have seen PA's save lives when there's blood on the floor. You never know where your PROFIS doc is going to come from. You could very well end up with an intnernal medicine doc. If you've got a case of Sadam's Revenge, he's great, but if you have an arterial artery spraying all over the floor, the PA is the one that is going to be there for you. I love our PA's. They make a difference every day and they are there when the metal hits the meat.
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COL (Join to see)
Plus, if you've got a really good one, when guys come snivelling in at 0600 to get out of a brigade run because they are a)fat, b)lazy, c)a dirt bag or d) all of the above, they put on the rubber gloves and tell them that it may be a bad case of something or other that has been going around and he's going to have to do a full check-up to be sure. You can guarantee a full formation with a doc like that.
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MAJ (Join to see)
Thanks for the love sir. I didn't know what a PA was until I joined, and had a great PA mentor as a young Medic in 4-7 CAV. I decided that being the Provider for a maneuver Battalion was the job I wanted, so many years later, I'm about to make that a reality. Just waiting on the FEDREC board now.
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MAJ (Join to see)
I've been with my PA for 17 years. For the most part, we've had a great relationship, then there are those times when she's a real pain in the ass! Still, I'm lucky as Hell that she married me, has put up with all the Army has thrown our way, raised two great kids, and established a solid family practice.
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Only one visit to a military hospital when I had my knee scoped at the USAFA but no PA's in service. However on the civilian side I have experienced two. One who stitched me up post surgery to fix a ruptured pec and the other for a neck issue (and sports are supposed to be good for you). To me it was as if they were a full blown doctor. I would't have known if they would't have introduced themselves as such.
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I've not had a negative experience with any PAs,and feel PAs and NPs are a great asset considering the shortage of doctors in many areas (which I fear may soon become worse).
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SFC Brian Mattson
99% of the Military PA's are great and in most part better able to diagnose and treat than most doctors. They have more Experience in these aspects. Their Civilian counter parts however I have very little respect for. They tend to think they know it all but have no experience to back any of it up.
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LTC Paul Labrador
SFC Brian Mattson, military mid-level providers (PAs, NPs, CRNAs) are trained a bit differently than their civilian counterparts. The military trains them a bit more aggressively, with a broader scope as the expectation is that these providers will likely be operating independently (or very close to it) and not have a physician in close proximity to back them up right away. That is not the same as in the civilian world where it is expected that mid-levels will be working closely, if not actually for, a physician.
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LTC (Join to see)
LTC Paul Labrador I don't find that to be the case in my experience...I think that the aggressiveness of the training is more related to the ability and comfortability of the student being trained. Certainly, many PA students are a bit more timid if they have less experience prior to entering school and may take longer to be more confident. many of us civilian-trained PAs were paramedics prior to PA school and were already working essentially independently on a protocol system. When you enter PA school with that kind of experience you tend to learn more aggressively and graduate with greater independence. I don't really recall any instances in school when the faculty were steering us to be more dependent...on the contrary, they were always pushing the idea that we needed to make decisions on our own because the physician isn't always available or willing to answer questions right away even in a clinic environment...after all, they have busy schedules too
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My physician's office currently has Nurse Practitioners and they are awesome. I have been treated by PAs in the past and have never had a bad experience with them either.
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