Today, October 6th, 2023, I was grateful to sit down for a few minutes with my mentor, Justin Edmondson, a Physician's Assistant at Spring Hill Medical Center’s Emergency Department. Mr. Edmondson received his undergraduate degree at The University of South Alabama (in Spanish actually!). He also completed his post-graduate schooling at the University of South Alabama as well. Even though his undergraduate degree was in Spanish, Mr. Edmondson was still able to apply for the PA program at South Alabama, for he had completed the necessary prerequisite courses such as Chemistry and Biology. The post-graduation schooling he received to become a PA was rigorous and lasted 27 months, but he certainly feels the hard-work that he had put in was worth it. This program at South Alabama included both typical in-class study as well as clinical rotations, which allowed him to be more prepared for entering the workforce.
Mr. Edmondson chose to pursue a career in Emergency Medicine as his job includes a lot of “hands-on” work in which he must perform various procedures. He also enjoys how his field allows him to do “a little bit of everything”. As with any career, Mr. Edmonson explains, there are many positive and negative aspects of his career choice. The ER can be intimidating for some as the hours can be long, and sometimes there are patients who are not compliant for long enough to receive treatment. In order to combat these issues, Mr. Edmondson says that an individual in this field must be able to stay calm in high-stress situations. Sometimes the decisions made in the ER are life-or-death, so “You being upset doesn’t make anything better”, Mr. Edmondson explains. Despite any drawbacks to the career, Mr. Edmondson believes that given the choice to go back in time with the knowledge he has now, he would always choose to follow this career path. He finds his job to be very fulfilling and notes particularly that he enjoys getting able to treat young children. He likes being able to ease their worries around medical professionals and fix whatever may be wrong with them.
Mr. Edmondson also helped me to understand how an Emergency Room functions. He used a “ship” analogy to do so. He describes the Emergency Medicine Physician as the “Captain” of the ship, calling the shots and allocating the work to others. Physicians Assistants and other advanced practice providers, such as nurse practitioners, are like the “first mate” to the Captain, having their own leadership roles as well. The nurses (of whom he calls “killer”) are like the crew, working hard to keep the boat afloat. Those in this field will often have to send their patients off to other “ships” for more specialized care than the ER can provide.
In his position as a PA, Mr. Edmondson sees mostly “fast track” or “rapid treatment” patients. This includes “the walking sick”, who are indeed sick, but not in such a way that may require admittance in a hospital. It also includes those with injuries such as a broken bone, a dislocation, or a cut that requires stitches. (I’d also like to note here that Mr. Edmondson taught our Fundamentals class how to do basic sutures last year!)
I am incredibly grateful that Mr. Edmondson agreed to be my mentor this year, and I am especially grateful that he found time in his busy schedule to meet with me for this interview. I was fascinated by all he had to share with me, and I look forward to more conversations with him over the course of this year.
Comments