No no no, I mean, when a patient calls in to the phone room and says hey, I've got a rash I need checked out, the phone room person should say "OK, Ms. Lastname, our PA, would be happy to see you at 3 o'clock..." "Great".
Something like that. I don't appreciate it when the phone people or front desk people say "Lisa can see you". I think that sounds too informal.
Now, my nursing staff calls me Lisa for the most part, except for my MA, who insists on calling me by my last name even though we've been working together for a year. It's annoying but it's just the way she is. Patients call me whatever they call me. Docs call me Lisa; it's cool, at least here I get to call them by their first names too, although when speaking to a patient I make a point to say "See Dr Lastname for followup next week...." I try NOT to refer to docs by their first names to patients.
Get it? Confused? It's not that big a deal.
Oh, and for PAs with earned doctorates, I agree that in the academic setting it's OK to say "Dr. so-and-so", but not in the clinical setting. Most of us PAs see it this way, even those who've got that hard-earned Ph.D. Perhaps it's because we're relatively anti-title people.
And as far as being referred to as "Assistant" Lisa, please, no, thank you. There is very little in my job that I do that "assists" anyone other than the patients I take care of.
L.
So when a nurse asks a question, you make her say, "Ms. Davis, PA, should I give patient xyz a dose of abc?"
That's quite a mouthful, and a little awkward.