I’ve been a respiratory therapist for 19 years now. When I
had reached the five-year mark in my career, I started to realize several
things about myself that I would have never believed from anyone, had tried to
tell me. One of the most important things that I was beginning to learn about
myself was that I really loved being a respiratory therapist and all that it
brought me in terms of personal satisfaction and job satisfaction. I was
working at a hospital in Georgia where the respiratory therapists had a great
deal of autonomy and nurse/physician respect. The respiratory department I
worked in was very progressive and the RT’s there did patient assessments that
allowed us to order and tailor a patient’s therapy to their needs, within
certain guidelines. We got to intubate patients in the ER, ICU’s, and during
code situations. In short, we had a great deal of autonomy and had a wide birth
when it came to ventilator management. But the only things was, as much as I
enjoyed this autonomy, I really began to crave more as time progressed and as I
gained experience in the critical care setting.
Another thing I began to notice, right about that five-year
mark, were these people that worked in the ER with the doctors. They weren’t
doctors, but you couldn’t tell unless you specifically looked at their
credentials on their lab coats. These bedside clinicians carried themselves and
even seemed to function much like that of a doctor, were actually physician
assistants (PA’s). Wow!!! Was I ever impressed with their demeanor,
professionalism, and clinical expertise? These guys and gals seemed to me to be
a lot like doctors and I realized I needed to find out more about them, their
training, and if it was even a possibility for me some day.
As it turns out, during a night shift when I was working, I
got the opportunity to talk to one of the PA’s that had caught up on seeing all
the patients he had in the ER and had a little down time. I learned a lot about
the profession and what PA’s got to do. I learned that they had the autonomy
that was lacking in the respiratory field and sounded an awful like the
autonomy I was seeking. I also learned that PA’s are trained on the medical
model, and with this type of training, you’d be able to work in area’s and do
things that our counterparts in nursing, Nurse Practitioners, couldn’t do. For
me this special field quickly became very appealing and something I one day
wanted to be a part of.
It was at this point in my career that I began to really
understand just how much I enjoyed working with patients and interacting with
them and their families. I can’t explain it in the words that would
sufficiently describe it, but I just really enjoy being at the bedside with
patients. I have been extremely fortunate over the years, in that, I have had
some very special and memorable patient interactions that have left me simply
wanting more. They say once medicine truly gets in your blood, you can never
quiet be satisfied. I firmly believe this and I think it is that drive and
desire to do more, be more, and bring more to our patients, is what truly
embodies the PA profession. And that, my friends, is why I want to be a PA.
To me, being a PA will afford me the autonomy that the field
of respiratory care simply can’t give at this point in time. Being a PA is
something that is realistically within my grasp; once accepted to a program,
the typical training is 27 months. As a PA, I will get the privilege and
opportunity to get much of the same training that a physician will receive, but
without the significant time and financial commitment that comes with going to
medical school. In fact, many of the places where I’ll do some of my clinical
rotations, I’ll be alongside medical students, interns, and residents. So for me, becoming a PA has been the obvious
next step, when it comes to my love for the science and art of medicine, where
I get to help and interact with others, whole being allowed to have the
autonomy to use my training and critical thinking skills.
Do you know why you want to be a PA?
