One of my job responsibilities that I’ll be taking on is the supervision of a PA or two. This isn’t something I’ve learned or thought a lot about and I just learned of the expectation this week.
Anyone have experience with this? Any pitfalls I should be on the look-out for?
I’ve been doing my own research too, but figured I’d ask and see what the board experience has to offer.
I've supervised a lot of NPs and PAs. It hasn't always been a bad experience - there were some NPs and PAs that were wonderful, very smart, very hard working, and knew a lot. There were some that sucked, though.
I think that the relationship between midlevel and physician is dictated, in part, by how administration structures your clinic. If they structure it well, your relationship can be mutually beneficial. If they don't, that's when things can fall apart.
It's a little concerning that you didn't find out about PA supervision duties until just now. Usually that's something that they should tell you up front; it's a little strange that they didn't.
Some things to ask:
- How experienced is the PA that you'll be supervising? And in what context? Do NOT accept vague answers, like, "very experienced," or "has a lot of experience!" A CEO said, with a straight face, that an NP with 2 years of experience was "very experienced." When I met this NP, she told me that she had worked, alone, for most of those two years, with no feedback, no one to bounce questions off of, and when she didn't know something, she just had to wing it. (She had been very unhappy with this, which was why she had left that job.)
- What do they mean by supervising? Will you be signing off on their charts, or just be available for questions? (Some of this obviously depends on how good your PA is.) If they require you to sign off on charts, are they giving you extra money or extra time for this?
- What influence will you have over administrative action that needs to be taken against this PA, if necessary? If your PA routinely mismanages patients, or does not finish notes, or routinely shows up very late, or has a terrible bedside manner, will they allow you to take disciplinary action (firing or placing on administrative leave), or will they just request that you "talk to the PA and encourage them to change"?
- If they want you to supervise more PAs in the future, do they allow you to have a say in who to hire? Or do you have to take whoever they give you? I vociferously protested against hiring an NP who was fresh out of school and told us "I learned so much in NP school, I don't think that there's anything that anyone can teach me." They offered her a job anyway.
That's all I can think of for now. If I think of anything else, I'll post it.
