Interview with a PA-C in Nephrology/Renal Care

Here's an interview with a PA-C who works in renal care in the Dallas area. She has a free form response to the questions I usually ask, so I will exclude them from this post.


First, I had to see what a PA does and I was actually exposed to one during a doctor's visit. We began to converse and he made the comment that he thought that I would make a great PA. So, first off there
was the great communication and the attention which I needed. Of course that is what we all need. I thought to myself that I could do just what he was doing....so I looked into the requirements of the profession. I already had significant medical background as a Pharmacy Tech, Phlebotomy and also, I already had a B.S. degree.

The process to PA school is time consuming....planning goes into getting the pre-requisites and making deadlines, ect... I doubt this process is much different from any other professional school though.

I thought I would work in Dermatology, but I was unable to coordinate the training I wanted with the Dermatologist(he was training other medical students in his spare time), so I placed an emphasis on Internal Medicine. I really enjoyed studying and training beside the medical students in private offices and major hospitals. I never thought that I would enjoy it so much.

Stress is everywhere. We all need to balance actual school time, study time and family so great exercise and fun activity was a tremendous help. Planning ahead also helps, like if I know that my study team would need a room in the library to study, I scheduled it ahead (we had our favorite room). I went swimming alot, sauna and exercised, which was refreshing.

I can never emphasize training enough. With training comes knowledge, with knowledge comes confidence.....we need this always....it never ends....must have a passion for knowledge.

Primary Care is a great way to get well trained individuals directing the care of those seeking our medical attention. Lots of people get "lost in the cracks" because of little to no direction. A good PA will be an advocate for the patient to ensure quality. I guess I did not realize this aspect until I became a PA.

What would help get others involved in Primary Care? PAs need to be out in the field and in medical offices offering accurate information and diagnosis. As I said earlier, I was interested in Dermatology. I had a conversation with a dermatologist after graduation who did not agree with a diagnosis that I offered. Out of respect he ordered specific lab...and guess what, I was right! This was good for the patient and it was the direct result of the studying that I had done before.

Right now there are debates about the PA name. Physician Assistant (so many people put an "s" at the end of physician ~~). I hope that we can get a name that truely describes what we do.

The awards ceremony at TAPA was great in that time and time again we heard the words 'committment 'and 'gift of healing'....my advice to any prospective student is to understand why they are applying to this type of profession. The passion it takes to be that great communicator and the love for healing should supercede just wanting a pay-check. We are a team with our supervising physicians and our patients. And it is OK to say, 'I don't know, but I will either find out or direct you to someone who can help you". Hopefully we remember that we are also a team with each other.