{"id":2126,"date":"2017-10-09T19:02:12","date_gmt":"2017-10-09T19:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/pa\/?p=2126"},"modified":"2017-10-09T19:02:12","modified_gmt":"2017-10-09T19:02:12","slug":"a-perspective-from-mapa-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/pa\/2017\/10\/09\/a-perspective-from-mapa-president\/","title":{"rendered":"MAPA President’s Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"

Erin Rysavy is an alumnae from the 2001 Augsburg PA Program. Prior to that, she completed a B.A. in Biology at the College of St. Benedict. Erin received her Masters in Public Health from the University of Minnesota. She is the current president of the Minnesota Academy of Physician Assistants. Currently, she works for St. Cloud Orthopedic Associates. The following article appeared in the newest edition of MAPA’s newsletter, imPAct.<\/em><\/p>\n

I was recently given the honor to speak at Augsburg University\u2019s White Coat Ceremony. It gave me a chance to reflect on what the white coat means to me, and what a key role humanism plays in medicine!\u00a0 Although I am a graduate of the Augsburg PA program, they did not have this ceremony as part of the process when I was there.\u00a0 So I did a little Google research.\u00a0 Interestingly I found that the history of the white coat stems from the 19th<\/sup>\u00a0century.\u00a0 At that time, there was great respect for certainty, in contrast to the quackery of medicine. During that time doctors mostly wore black garbs, representing formality, solemnity, and death. The white lab coat came to emphasize the more scientific approach to modern medicine, thanks especially to Joseph Lister, whose reproducible results helped researchers better understand how to prevent bacterial contamination. This color change also represented the \u201cpureness\u201d, and the dream that Lister had that bacteria could be successfully overcome; that pneumonia, appendicitis, or an infected blister no longer had to result in death.\u00a0 Today, many people, including Dr. Gold suggest that the white coat is viewed as a symbol of compassion and responsibility to not only take care of patients, but to care for patients.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I received my first white coat when I started at my first job as a PA in orthopedics.\u00a0 Although it was 16 years ago now, I can still remember the pride, nervousness, excitement, and sense of responsibility that came with it.\u00a0 Thankfully, I was paired with a physician who realized the importance of humanism.\u00a0 He really got to know people for who they were, and listened to their stories.\u00a0 He was straightforward, but had a great sense of humor.\u00a0 He encouraged me to make evidence-based decisions, be confident, listen, and be kind.\u00a0 I learned that I may not have all the right answers to patient\u2019s questions, nor know what is causing their symptoms.\u00a0 And that\u2019s where the art of medicine comes in; where warmth, empathy, and understanding outweigh hardcore facts. I sometimes tell people that their symptoms didn\u2019t read the textbook.\u00a0 That their radiating leg pain is kind of a puzzle, and could be coming from a few different sources, but we can try injections to help us figure this out.\u00a0 And I\u2019ve learned that patients come back if their pain doesn\u2019t go away!\u00a0 I also often tell people I don\u2019t know, or I can\u2019t explain why they have so much pain.\u00a0 And it\u2019s OK not to know!\u00a0 The doctor I worked with also believed that it was perfectly acceptable to do surgery on your own family members. While I worked with him, I assisted in surgery on my dad, my husband, and my grandma.\u00a0 As you can imagine, I gained a lot of respect for the importance of dignity, integrity, and always doing the best job I can do.<\/p>\n

After 12 years, my first doctor partner retired, and I have had the opportunity to work with a new doctor, who also is extremely kind.\u00a0 Working with him, I have learned the importance of communication. Ask a question, pause, and listen.\u00a0 He speaks to patients in a way that takes their likely unspoken thoughts and concerns into consideration.\u00a0 For example, going through an x-ray that is relatively normal, he acknowledges that just because there is no arthritis, it doesn\u2019t mean they don\u2019t have pain.\u00a0 So, question, pause, listen, empathize, and communicate.<\/p>\n

Through the years, I have learned the importance of knowledge and research, but probably more importantly the importance of compassion, integrity, and respecting others.\u00a0 Thankfully I have been quite healthy to this point, but I\u2019ve experienced enough to have some empathy of what it\u2019s like to be a patient or patient\u2019s family.\u00a0 I try to put myself in their place and explain every step of what\u2019s happening.\u00a0 For example, if I\u2019m giving an injection, I communicate the process.\u00a0 I tell the patient, \u201cit will just take me a few minutes to get the medication loaded up; now you\u2019ll be feeling my hand\u201d, and then I say \u201cpoke\u201d just before I insert the needle.\u00a0 I never use the words big or long needle in the room if I don\u2019t have to.\u00a0 I think knowing the steps helps make the experience better even if the shot hurts. I also try to communicate updates or changes.\u00a0 I know when my sister just had a C-section; they told me they would come to get me around\u00a010am<\/span><\/span>.\u00a0 They finally came to get me around\u00a011am<\/span><\/span>.\u00a0 What I wasn\u2019t told was that there was a delay getting started, and that everything was going well.\u00a0 But for that hour, while my sister was being operated on by a brand new surgeon, I started to assume the worst!!\u00a0 Explaining and updating expectations makes a world of difference.\u00a0 Communication is key!<\/p>\n

As Sir William Osler said, \u201cThe practice of Medicine is an art, not a trade; a calling, not a business.\u201d<\/p>\n

In our medical practices, we all have moments of feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, and afraid.\u00a0 But there are far more moments of excitement, connection, gratitude, and love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Erin Rysavy is an alumnae from the 2001 Augsburg PA Program. Prior to that, she completed a B.A. in Biology …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":348,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/348"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2126"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2128,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2126\/revisions\/2128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}