When I interviewed for my current position, I interviewed with the Chief of Surgery since he was going to be my supervising physician. During that interview, I expressed that I had some concerns about taking the position should it be offered to me.
( I think honesty is endearing. Contrary to everyone else, I don’t think it makes you look weak. If used correctly, you come across as strong and confident, but that’s for another day.)
I told my potential new employer that I had reservations because I only had experience in orthopedics and even that experience was limited to foot and ankle. This position would have me working plastics, ENT, OB/GYN, general surgery, spine, all of orthopedics, and whatever else needed doing. His response was simple, and it stuck with me.
“You developed surgical skills.Those skills are transferable,” he said as he brushed off my concern. He was right, and not just about surgical skills.Lots of skills are transferable to lots of different situations.
That was partially the point of yesterday’s email. The Physician Assistant Exam Scholars Newsletter teaches skills that are transferable, philosophies that you can take with you, whether it’s into the exam room or into the OR.
Each month, there is a specific topic as a general theme, but the majority of the information from each newsletter can be applied to your particular situation because the skills are transferable. The problem is, you have to do some thinking to see how to apply them.
I had to take working with those teeny tiny screws and plates and see how that was no different from assisting on a C-Section. So many of the skills translated over.In the October issue of PAES, we covered how to succeed in surgery and how to “see” all cases as the same, so that you can grasp the basics easily. These are techniques that I use now, almost 10 years later, if I’m working in a case I’ve never done before. Which coincidentally happened just last week.
Every issue of the Physician Assistant Exam Scholars Newsletter may not apply to your exact situation, but I guarantee that every issue has actionable information that will alter the course of your career.
We build up every month and after almost two years of publishing the newsletter, only once have I ever allowed people to get their hands on back issues.
December’s gonna be a good one.Don’t let it slip away.
Physician Assistant Exam Scholars
Brian Wallace