Q&A with Physician Assistants

Augie Alums that were interviewed:

  • Alex Hembrey
    • Graduated in 2010
    • Des Moines PA school
    • Worked as a medical assistant
    • Worked in orthopedics and now is an APP manager, 300 APPs and practices one day a week
    • Played football at Augie here and was involved in Habitat for humanity
    • Worked nights as a CNA
  • Isabelle Anderson
    • Graduated in 2019
    • Went to Dubuque
    • Involved in softball and basketball
    • Biology Club
    • Works in cardiac surgery in Madison, Wisconsin
  • Marcus Maier
    • Graduated in 2012
    • Played football and lacrosse at Augustana
    • Was in Biology club
    • Several gap years working as a Medical assistant and did a one-year masters in Rosalind Franklin graduating in 2019 from PA school
    • Works at ortho spine in Madison Wisconsin
  • What is one piece of advice for creating a strong resume?
    • Isabelle– Showing you are committed to one or two things is very important. A lot of schools are doing MMIs and weighing interviews versus different aspects of your resume
    • Alex– Get involved in anything you are passionate about so you can speak highly on those few things. Academics come first so do not spread yourself too thin. The patient care component is big so gap years are becoming very common. The earlier you can get patient care hours the best so you do not have to overwhelm yourself near the end. 
    • Marcus– Become a well-rounded applicant so you can show who you are during the interview process. Building connections with people that you can talk about is important.  Networking during things like this helps a lot to learn more about the career and opportunities.
  • What do you now know that you wish you knew before and during PA school?
    • Alex– Knowing the business side of medicine while doing a supervisory role is an entirely different side of medicine.  The business side can be a shock to people that only know that patient care is the only thing PAs are apart of
    • Marcus– It looks like everyone knows what they are doing, it is okay to not know and to be confused.  You have to learn a lot from the job and you have to be adaptable to learning real-life situations.
    • Isabelle– Two big things she thinks about are the business parts and …. She stayed far away from business classes at Augustana so learning this now might be beneficial to learning the other side of a business. Working before PA school in the field that you enjoy might help you find where you would like to go is important. CNA, EMT, and PCT are not the only options.
  • What went well and how many PA schools did you apply to, would you do anything differently?
    • Alex– It was challenging to know that credits did not carry over from certain places. Look way ahead of time for prerequisites.  Some schools throw out applications so do not apply to these schools that would do this.  Be smart and organized about planning ahead and keep on top of admission requirements.  
    • Isabelle– Spreadsheets are your best friend.  Look at what schools you want to apply to early, being on top of requirements will widen your selection.  Schedule mock interviews with CORE.
    • Marcus- You want to be prepared as possible for interviews, there are also online resources to practice interviews.  You want to keep many short stories in your head that you can say during the interview.  There is a lot of busy work up front so be as prepared as possible.  Do not be who they want you to be, be who you are and you will be okay.
  • What is your favorite and least favorite part about being a PA?
    • Marcus– Nobody knows what a PA is, not really that bad.  You have to make decisions that may postpone personal or family plans.  If you have to do surgery it needs to be done, some things can be prepared but there will need to be sacrifices.  This is also rewarding because although emotionally taxing, helping people at their worst moments.
    • Alex– Nobody knows what PAs are.  This is getting better.  The impact you have on your patients is very rewarding.
    • Isabelle– Helping people realize what the role is challenging especially when working with other providers.  The learning curve is also very challenging.  There is a lot of on the job learning that was unexpected.  Life is good but is more difficult than initially expected.  Her favorite thing is her ability is spending more time with her patients and helping surgeons be prepared for surgery.  There is more of a PA-Patient teaching role because of her increased time with patients.
  • What does a typical day look like?
    • Alex- He was always on site with the doc, but he had a lot of his own patients.  There is also a lot of on call work also.  Depending on how many APPs the on call time varies.
    • Isabelle– Fairly regular, three 12 hour days. She works nights every 8th week and weekends every 6th.  What happened overnight? Go over patient charts.  Present patients to social work, therapy, case managers, then all patient care.  She places chest tubes, pacing wires, central line placement but often the residents need to do them because she works in a teaching hospital.  Working patients towards discharge.
    • Marcus- 8-4, his day is mostly the same, he has been at this job for a year. He used to do clinic and surgery with one surgeon.  They would share patients.  13-14 on call days per month, sometimes it was very busy, sometimes not.  Working on call a lot is not great for families.
  • What are other patient care hours?
    • Marcus- He did medical scribe, and home health care.  Not many places take medical scribes
    • Alex- He did CNA, it wasn’t his favorite while working nights, but it is good to have the hospital exposure.  Having an in hospital role is good for learning the nursing model since this is not taught in PA school.  What is the cheapest and quickest way to get patient care hours
    • Isabelle- She took night classes as a CNA and worked nights and weekends at a nursing facility.  She got a lot of hours early so did not need to take a gap year.  MAs, phlebotomists, lab techs, x-ray techs, EMTs.  Look at which schools because some schools do not take all of these as options.
  • It seems like gap years are becoming the norm, what is common?
    • Alex– It is a very competitive field and very popular profession
    • Marcus– Taking a step back is good because you might change what you want to do, it is a good time to learn
    • Isabelle– She agrees that the trend is going more towards gap years.  She only had 700 hours when she was accepted.  More schools are recognizing this and taking it into account.
  • How would you describe your relationship with attending physicians?
    • Alex– His physician became his best friend and it was difficult for him to take this administrative role.  Some physicians are not APP supportive, every trend and literature says that healthcare will be very reliant on PAs and NPs.  Pas are trained as generalists and a majority go into specialty practice so there is a lot of on the job training.  It takes years to feel like you are mastering what you are doing.  Most fields do not have fellowships so being humble and open to learning is very important.
    • Isabelle– She works with many attendings, some do not like them, some love them and teach them everything.  You will have to gain trust so asking good questions people will respect you more.  Autonomy will come with time and you cannot get frustrated with it in the short term.
    • Marcus– Staying humble and working hard is important.  Try not to make the same mistakes twice. At his first job, he had one surgeon to work with, building this relationship is important to enjoying your life and job.  Most doctors are very nice but there will always be criticism.  Do your best to improve what you can while not being too hard on yourself.
  • What are some ways you suggest getting shadowing hours for someone that does not know any APPs?
    • Alex– Having a great advisor is very important.  Getting into college is one thing, getting into PA school is another.  Send emails and call, most PAs will be willing to help.  Do not be afraid to cold call or email people.  
    • Marcus– Linked in is a great way to find people, Can I buy you a coffee and shadow or talk about PA career?  AAPA has networking available.  There are also PA conferences where you can meet people at.  
    • Isabelle– Finding people to shadow was tough for her.  Dr. Koontz was her advisor and she did it through CORE.  Creating a network of Augustana alum is big, if anyone is in the Madison area she would love to have people shadow, do not get discouraged by no