Informational Interview By: Melissa McCool Interview information: Name: Ann-Marie Rader Title: PA-C Place of Employment: North Berkeley Family Care Date of Interview: 20 May 2016
Informational InterviewBy: Melissa McCool
Interview information: Name: Ann-Marie Rader
Title: PA-CPlace of Employment: North Berkeley Family
CareDate of Interview: 20 May 2016
How did you get started in this field?
In high school I went on a mission trip to Togo, West Africa for 2 months. While there I was praying about the direction of my life and what I should major in at college. I ended up getting sick for 2 weeks on the trip and had nothing to read but a medical textbook. God sparked an interest in my heart for medicine and whispered into my soul the career of a PA so I could lead medical mission teams. I did not even know what a PA was at the time. I came home, researched it, then on my first day of college classes at Clemson (which was only 7 days after I returned from Africa), I changed my major to pre-professional health studies and began preparing to apply for PA school at MUSC.
What training or education is required for this type of
work? 4 year undergraduate degree then on
average a 27 month masters program at an accredited PA school
How did you get this position? What are common
career paths? I have been in my current job for 10 years ( my
first and only job since graduating PA school). The doctor I did my very first clinical rotation of PA school with called me before I graduated and said she was starting her own practice and asked me to join her. I said yes- 10 years ago.
I was also able to get repayment of my student loans from the federal government because my office is located on a medically underserved area
What are typical hiring procedures?
Interview Shadowing Calling references
What areas of knowledge are most important for
advancement in this field? Degrees? Certifications?
Clinical skills Interpersonal and social skills Teamwork Ability to lead Degrees: Masters of Science in Physician Assistant Studies Certification: Must pass licensing and certifying exam
given by the National Commission on Certification of PAs (NCCPA)
What part of the job do you find most challenging or
satisfying? Most challenging is dealing with
electronic, medical record systems and insurance companies
Most satisfying is saving people's lives and helping them to understand their own health care
If you were staring out again, would you do anything differently?
Sometimes I think I would become an MD because of the respect that title earns; however, the majority of days I am so glad I am a PA as I have been doing what I love for years and I avoided a lot of the debt and time in school that I didn't need to do my job
What do you do on a typical day in this
position? I work in family practice so I see around
15-22 patients a day mainly managing diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, other chronic conditions and sick visits. I see babies for well visits, I evaluate people for clearance prior to surgery, I see emergency work in visits for chest pain, abscesses, coughs, colds, etc. I do physicals.
What are the problems you see working in this field?
Insurance companies dictate what treatments you can offer patients
Electronic medical record systems do not interface with each other well, they are difficult to use and generate pages and pages of data but not a useful summary of a visit.
Patients can't afford their medical care -especially after the UN-affordable care act was passed-making healthcare costs sky rocket for everyone.
Doctors and PAs in primary care get paid very little, so we are forced to see more patients, making it hard to have enough time to do a good job
Medicare makes us document a ridiculous amount of useless information making it take more time to document a visit than to actually treat the patient.
What, if anything, do you wish you had known before you entered this
occupation? And what special advice would you give a person entering in
this field? A large majority of my job is social work
and motivational speaking. If you are not prepared to do these 2 tasks in every patient encounter you should not go into the medical profession.
What are the professional journals in this field that I
should read? Journal of the American Academy of
Physician Assistants (JAAPA)
What is the “corporation culture” here, i.e. is it formal, informal, do people work autonomously, does everyone come early, stay late?
It depends where you work. My job is informal, but many medical jobs are formal. Almost all medical jobs require coming in early, staying late and working through "lunch". There is no lunch on medicine except a working lunch.
People work both autonomously and as a team. All PAs are part of an MD-PA team. Some PAs have lots of autonomy, done PAs almost exclusively work with their doctor.
How would you evaluate the future of this career field? How do you see jobs
in this field changing in the future? What areas do you feel promise the most opportunity? The most growth?
Very bright future, the demand and need for PAs is outpacing the ability of the educational system to train them.
If single payer, governmental healthcare happens the government will employ a lot of PAs and NPs as we are very cost effective
What qualities would you suggest for a person to have to be successful in this field?
Great social skills Team player Humble Detail oriented Passion for learning Effective communicator
Can you suggest anyone else whom I could contact for
additional information? When I call him/her may I use your name?
Jennifer Block Kirkley, PA-C