What’s it like to work in Ortho & Plastics?

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Shannon Korth, PA-C has been out of school for 9 months and works in Orthopedic surgery/Plastic surgery of the hand.

Shannon started as a surgical technologist for almost 20 years and has experienced a shift of PA duties over the years: from two surgeons assisting each other to now Surgeons and PAs working together in surgery.

As a mother of 3, it was hard for her to get her prerequisites while working full time in surgery.  She wanted to get her bachelors degree but wasn’t sure exactly what she’d do…but working alongside PAs, she felt the profession was a great fit for her.

Even with a surgical background, she didn’t want to pigeon-hole herself to surgery only, so she was an open book, enjoying clinic settings as much as OR time.

Highlights from today’s episode:

• Night class and online school
• Shifting hours to attend certain classes
• Applications focused on local programs to accommodate families, so she just applied (and got in!) to one program.
• Using previous connections to set up rotations with providers who might not have typically taken students from her program.
• How to survive the wait from graduation, the PANCE exam, awaiting results, then privileges, insurance credentialing, etc.
• Treating every day as a job interview.
• Learning a new specialty: sitting down with surgeon to learn, prep for cases, listening, anatomy, reading xrays, understanding common deformities.
• Experience of working 1:1 with a surgeon, especially in a specialty.
• Typical week in Ortho/Plastics: daily half day clinic, half day in OR.  25-30 patients per clinic! 
• In office procedures: splints, casts, joint injections, diagnostic testing.
• Weekend call
• Craziest patient story
• Advice to new grads and job search tips from a new grad.
• Earning patient’s trust quickly

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