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I’ll do PTAs if the stars align (resolved cellulitis, cooperative healthy patient). I’ll do native joint aspirations as well and have occasionally been surprised by what would otherwise have been an occult septic joint. I’ll do this as a fully sterile procedure though and the risk of infection/reaccumulation is emphasized verbally, in the consent, and on my chart. This all seems within scope of practice and standard of care.
Paras/thoras: almost never. I did one last shift because it was a slow day and I kind of just wanted to do it. I connected to wall suction and had the tech go in to change the cannisters. Ended up being a 5 hour dispo between work-up, drainage, and albumin for like 2 RVUs. So… not worth it. But at least I wasn’t sterile for 45 minutes manually pumping out 6 liters of peritoneal fluid 😅
Regional anesthesia is probably the most rewarding thing that I’ll do on a semi-regular basis. Taking away someone’s pain entirely is so rewarding. Every time it works I feel like I should’ve gone into pain medicine.
Yes, doing most procedures is rarely as lucrative as seeing another patient and, depending on your practice setting, there will generally be someone turf it to. I still find them rewarding at times though and like knowing that I still have your proficiency if need be.
