I TOOK MY FIRST JOB AS A PA... AND IT LASTED 8 HOURS

A few weeks ago, I completed a locum tenens assignment at an onsite occupational health clinic. This specific assignment was located within a manufacturing plant. Needless to say, steel toe shoe covers, ear plugs, and eyeglasses were involved. I was responsible for providing overnight coverage and served as the on-call provider for in-plant emergencies. Luckily, I had a rather uneventful night and successfully saw my first patient. More to come on the logistics of a locums assignment and a few 𝘝𝘌𝘙𝘠 important lessons that I learned as a result of my first experience. ⁣

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Although I’m thrilled to be able to say that I technically have experience as a PA, I long for a permanent position. It’s now been 6 months since graduation and I’m still very unemployed. When entering the medical field, I never fathomed that I would be in this situation. But then again, I don’t think any of us imagined that we would be facing a pandemic in the 21st century.⁣

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I’ve remained persistent in my search for employment. So much so that LinkedIn, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and Monster are now all bookmarked to my homepage and I check them daily. I’ve also been networking and reaching back out to contacts that I’ve made along my journey to becoming a PA. I’ve had a couple leads in the last few weeks that I’m feeling pretty hopeful about- but at the same time, I’m doing my best not to get my hopes up.⁣

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I am incredibly thankful for this time off. I’ve had the opportunity to transition into my role as a full-time dog mom, start my own business, and spend time relaxing after 6+ years in school. I am doing my best to see the positives in this situation. ⁣

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𝗪𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫. 𝐈𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝘖𝘏𝘐𝘖, 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐚 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰.⁣

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Additionally, I owe a HUGE s/o to @coach.laney for helping me do a little networking in order to secure this first locums assignment. ⁣

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Anyone else in the same or similar boat? New grad PAs, I feel for you. We’re in this together 🤍