I mentor in the emergency room of Northeast Georgia Medical Center Gainesville in the G area with PA, Carla Whitlow and in the main ER with DR. Ball. Once patients go through triage (level of emergency determined based on complaint), the patients with less life threatening symptoms are sent to the G area, which is down the hall from the emergency room. The G area is run by physician assistants (PA), therefore we see most laceration patients because the doctors do not generally handle stitches. However, my mentor (Carla Whitlow) and I have seen a wide variety of cases, ranging from flu symptoms and bug bites to broken bones and slices hands. In the main emergency area (A area), I shadow Dr. Andy Ball. I have only observed him a couple of times, but I was able to witness a trauma being brought in by ambulance and have learned more about higher profile cases.
Every day at my mentor ship is different and always brings a new learning experience. I usually spend between four and eight hours at my mentor ship each time I go because the hours for emergency room staff if crazy, which means I ended up with quite a few 12:30 a.m shifts. A typical shift with Carla consisted of lots of patients and very little down time, where most breaks were used for extensive charting. We were usually on our feet, which I loved
Through my mentorship, I have began to explore the PA route over being a physician, but I have not made any definite decisions. However, PA school is much shorter than medical school. My mentorship has also taught me patient skills, how to handle emergencies, and professionalism. All of these skills will be very useful for my future job along with the fact that I have gained valuable experience in the field.
The pictures below depict a day in the life of my mentorship (most photos are not specifically from the Gainesville Emergency Room: