5 Things You Should Do During Your PA School Clinical Rotations

PA school clinical rotations should be an enjoyable experience. This is because you have the opportunity to be exposed to many of the different medical specialties. You are then able to figure out which one is a good fit for your future career. It is typically something everyone looks forward to (partly because it means the majority of exams are over)!

I loved pretty much all of my clinical rotations and learned a lot even if it was in the middle of a global pandemic…

There are a few things that I wish I had known to do prior to starting my clinical rotations. At the end of this article, you will be well prepared to tackle your PA school clinical rotations. All that is left is to be a stand-out student that your preceptors will love.

5 Things You Should Do During Your PA School Rotations

Network

It may seem obvious, but the main reason you are attending PA school is to ultimately land a job as a PA.

It is absolutely vital that you begin networking on day 1 of your clinical rotations. Not just with your preceptors but with the staff at the hospitals and offices.

If your goal is to graduate and stay to work in the area, this is an amazing opportunity to get your foot in the door. An office is going to be more willing to hire you if they already have gotten to know you!

Along with networking with your preceptors, make sure to also reach out to your program’s faculty every once in a while. After spending 12 + months with them you may feel it’s unnecessary but it is best to stay in contact.

It is also not the worst idea to network with students from other programs that are on the same rotation as you. You never know what connection may open doors in the future.

Gather potential references

If you have hit it off with your preceptor, be sure to ask if they would be willing to be a reference for you.

If they say yes then also be sure to get their phone number and email address. Also, write down the name and address of the group they are a part of. Keep all of that information in one place that is easy to access.

When it comes time to get licensed and credentialed and you are having to fill out all of the necessary paperwork for job applications you will be happy to have them. I would aim to have at the minimum 5 medical providers that are willing to write a good reference for you. Make sure to ask a mixture of both physicians and physician assistants.

Document a list of learned skills

Document all of the procedures you learned while on rotations. This can include things such as suturing during your emergency medicine rotation, performing pap smears during your women’s health rotation, or intubating patients during your general surgery rotation.

You want to think in advance. One thing I wish I had done was write down a list of all of the skills I performed while on my clinical rotations. This will make updating your CV easier when it comes time to apply for jobs.

If you want to be an overachiever, go ahead and update your CV after every rotation. You want to have as much tedious work done as possible leading up to graduation. Believe me, your future self will thank you for it.

Start studying for the PANCE

This may not be what you want to hear but start studying in advance. There is a lot of information to cover leading up to the PANCE and you want to start studying as soon as possible even if it’s just a little bit a week.

I used the PANCE Prep Pearls book to study. The book breaks down the material into chapters based on the body system such as cardiology, pulmonology, and GI. Read a few pages a day if you can and make sure to take the opportunity to ask the experts questions if you don’t understand something.

For example, while you are on your behavioral health rotation make sure to focus on the psych chapter in the book and then use your preceptors to fill in any blanks if you have questions.

Do keep in mind that sometimes what the preceptors do in practice may not line up with what the textbook suggests. It is important to consider that there are real-life treatment scenarios and then there are textbook treatment scenarios. For the PANCE you will want to answer questiosn based on what the textbook says.

Imagine yourself working in that specialty

Last but not least, take the time to imagine yourself working in the specialty you are rotating in. This will be your only opportunity to really get a feel for if a medical specialty is right for you.

Pay attention to different schedules and hours worked. Ask your preceptors about work-life balance and if they are happy with their chosen specialty. You may learn that while you love emergency medicine you hate night shifts with a passion (guilty).

Also, pay attention to what aspects of a rotation actually interest you. Maybe you are terrified of starting your surgery rotation but end up absolutely loving the procedural aspect of the specialty (also guilty).

I learned during my surgery rotation that I love procedures but that I don’t love not being able to build long-term relationships with my patients. I enjoyed family medicine because you can build those provider-patient relationships, but I decided I wanted to become an expert in one specialty.

For me, dermatology was the perfect combination of everything I loved. I wouldn’t have figured that out without taking the time to analyze the pros and cons of each rotation.

Final Thoughts on PA School Clinical Rotations

Your clinical rotations are a gold mine of opportunities to network and learn what it is that you actually want to do for a career in medicine.

Make sure you network with your preceptors and faculty. Gather references so you don’t have to worry about it later when you are stressed about finding a job and passing the PANCE.

Get ahead of the game and start updating your CV with all of the skills that you learned throughout rotations.

For each rotation be sure to study the corresponding chapter in your PANCE prep book, whichever one you choose.

Lastly, take the opportunity to really see yourself working in each and every medical specialty. Don’t count any of them out before you start because you may just surprise yourself with which one you fall in love with.

Are you a PA-S about to start or currently on clinical rotations? Comment below with which PA school clinical rotation you are most looking forward to!