I am a junior in college orginally aiming for the career as a PT, however lately I have been thinking about PA more and more but I am worried about certain aspects. My hands are kind of shaky. Most people I talked to say your hands will be trained in time not to worry. Do you see a problem? What specialities would you see shakiness being a problem other than surgery?
I worry a little about my hearing too, I have trouble with manual BPs, but I do not use them often. We did them for 2 days in my CNA training, but outside of training I have only done BPs manually maybe 3 times.
I am interested in PA because I am interested in the world of science. I LOVE A&P, Bio, and Chem., even MOST of physics.I enjoy helping others and learning about diseases their symptoms and how they are treated. I took the MSAT and my top 5 were peds, physical med & rehab, med oncology, rheumatology and hematology.
Can I Handle it?
Re: Can I Handle it?
I wasn't clear from your post about the type or cause of your shakiness and your hearing difficulty? Do you have a disability, or is it just something that you've noticed?
Unless it's pretty severe (and maybe even then) I don't see shakiness being a problem, unless you intend on working in surgery. I've worked with one or two older surgeons who were noticeably shaky, but they kept at it. They also teach you how to make your movements more steady, such as bracing your hand on the back of your other hand, or on the patient, if appropriate.
Starting IVs and taking BPs may be something that you learn in your program, but in general, that's work that an MA or nurse will be doing. I'm a little embarrassed to say that I got through PA school without ever starting an IV on a patient. It's just not a high priority.
Hearing could be more of a problem - you need to be able to auscultate for lung sounds, bowel sounds, heart sounds, bruits, and other things. But if your hearing difficulty is minimal, you should be ok. There are plenty of old doctors who use hearing aids, right?
Unless it's pretty severe (and maybe even then) I don't see shakiness being a problem, unless you intend on working in surgery. I've worked with one or two older surgeons who were noticeably shaky, but they kept at it. They also teach you how to make your movements more steady, such as bracing your hand on the back of your other hand, or on the patient, if appropriate.
Starting IVs and taking BPs may be something that you learn in your program, but in general, that's work that an MA or nurse will be doing. I'm a little embarrassed to say that I got through PA school without ever starting an IV on a patient. It's just not a high priority.
Hearing could be more of a problem - you need to be able to auscultate for lung sounds, bowel sounds, heart sounds, bruits, and other things. But if your hearing difficulty is minimal, you should be ok. There are plenty of old doctors who use hearing aids, right?