Hi! My name is Sierra and I am a second-year Physician Assistant (PA) Studies student. I am on my fourth clinical rotation: behavioral health. This is one of the “POD site” rotations, which means Salus provides housing for three PA students for the entire 5-week rotation. So, I get to experience this rotation with my friends and classmates!
This clinical site is an outpatient psychiatric practice requiring in-person clinic days Monday 9-5, Wednesday 11-5, and Thursday 9-5. Tuesdays and Fridays are virtual days with variable hours, allowing us to work from home! Our typical in-person work day starts by carpooling to the office and joining the other students to divide up the schedule. There are five other students with us from other PA or Nurse Practitioner (NP) programs, allowing for plenty of interprofessional conversations and collaboration. With eight of us, we each get assigned a number of patients a day to meet via telehealth or in person, depending on the patient’s preference.
I start by reviewing my patients’ charts for insight into their history, diagnoses, and medications, then I meet with them. Most patients are here for their monthly or quarterly follow-up which consists of discussing their mood, sleep, appetite, concentration, how they feel on their medication regimen and if they have any potential side effects. We also monitor patients for suicidal/homicidal ideations and psychotic features such as delusions, hallucinations, or paranoia. After reviewing these topics with the patient, the supervising physician talks to them to confirm our findings and refill medications. Some patients receive their medications via injection or nasal spray which has to be administered in office and on a strict schedule.
By midday it’s time for lunch, which is sometimes provided by pharmaceutical representatives! Around 1 p.m. the supervising physician gives us a 30-45 minute lecture on a topic of his choice. Then we continue to see patients until 5 p.m. and head back to the house. After dinner, we study for the end of rotation exam using our didactic year notes, Rosh Review, PAEA study materials, Cram the PANCE podcasts, YouTube videos, etc. We end our night watching the show Severance, then get ready for the next day!
Learn More About the Salus Physician Assistant Studies Program