Pre-PA Tips with Savanna Perry, Dermatology PA & Creator of The PA Platform

In this episode of "So You Want to Work in Healthcare," host Leigha delves into the world of healthcare professions with guest Savanna Perry, a dermatology Physician Assistant (PA) and the founder of The PA Platform. As only the second episode of the podcast, Leigha sets the stage for a series dedicated to giving listeners an honest look at various careers in healthcare, straight from the professionals themselves. Savanna shares her personal journey into medicine, revealing what drives her and how she made her decision to become a PA. The conversation touches on the importance of guiding future healthcare professionals and the shared mission of both the host and guest to assist others in finding their path in the healthcare field. Whether you're already considering a career in healthcare or simply curious about the field, this episode offers valuable insights and personal experiences to inform and inspire your journey.

Timestamps:
[00:02:46] Autoimmune disorder FAPA.

[00:04:58] Childhood healthcare experiences.

[00:09:37] Breaking into dermatology.

[00:13:30] Loving Dermatology Career

[00:17:59] Cosmetic procedures variety.

[00:19:10] Decision-making autonomy.

[00:25:27] Skin's weird mysteries.

[00:27:02] Work-life balance challenges.

[00:29:36] Work-life balance decisions.

[00:36:18] The PA Platform.

[00:37:47] Starting a blog journey.

[00:41:28] PA Platform Books

[00:46:08] Dermatology career networking.

[00:50:30] Gap year benefits.

[00:53:19] Social media presence.

[00:54:57] Podcast reviews importance.


Savanna’s Socials
TikTok & IG: @thepaplatform
TikTok: @physicianassistant

*Not Medical Advice. Our views do not reflect the views of our employers.*

Thank you so much for listening! Let me know what you think and leave a review on whichever listening platform you’re enjoying on. In that review, write your instagram handle so I can shout you out on the next episode. And if you’re interested in being on the podcast, head over to my TikTok or Instagram account @helloimthepa and send me a message! I’m always happy to hear from you.

This is the So You Want To Work In Healthcare podcast, with new episodes every week. Don’t forget to subscribe to stay up-to-date on the latest releases.

• Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/AWMKmDjxxc4?si=IXUG9mBg2vnH1i_-
• Socials: @soyouwanttoworkinhealthcare
• Leigha’s Socials: @helloimthepa

Transcript

Transcript:

SPEAKER_01:
 So you want to work in healthcare, but you're not sure where to start.

I'm Leigha, your host of this podcast, and I'm bringing you the inside scoop on healthcare professions.
From doctors to PAs to healthcare administrators and CRNAs, my goal is to let professionals tell their stories and give honest reviews of the careers they have chosen.
So whether you're considering a job in healthcare or you simply have an interest in what we do, this show is for you.

SPEAKER_01:
 Welcome to this episode of the So You Want to Work in Healthcare podcast.
Today we have Savannah Perry.
She's a dermatology PA and the founder of the PA platform.
So welcome.

SPEAKER_02:
Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01:
I'm excited.

SPEAKER_01:
Thanks for joining.

SPEAKER_01:
This is actually only my second episode.

SPEAKER_01:
And I'm really excited to have you because

SPEAKER_01:
 I know that we've never met in person, but we've talked on the phone, right?

SPEAKER_01:
And we met, do we meet on TikTok or Instagram?

SPEAKER_01:
One of those.

SPEAKER_01:
I think TikTok, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:
TikTok's so funny.

SPEAKER_00:
You popped up on my For You page and I just love seeing other PAs in all of these spaces.

SPEAKER_00:
So I get really excited.

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:
And I think we share similar views on certain things, so.

SPEAKER_00:
Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:
 So welcome.

SPEAKER_01:
I really just want to get to the bottom of why people choose to go into healthcare.

SPEAKER_01:
And the whole point of this podcast is to help guide people in their journey into either healthcare, medicine, whatever it may be.

SPEAKER_01:
So I really want to start by asking you your story and how and why you decided to go into medicine.

SPEAKER_00:
 Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:
And, and I love that because I think, you know, I have a similar, uh, mission of just helping people figure that out because I've always been kind of future driven and looking towards, you know, what am I going to do next?

SPEAKER_00:
What, what do I want to do?

SPEAKER_00:
So as far as healthcare, I come, I live in Georgia.

SPEAKER_00:
My parents are both teachers, so nobody really in healthcare in my family.

SPEAKER_00:
 But seeing both of them work and do things that they were very passionate about was kind of my environment growing up.

SPEAKER_00:
And I have one sister, she's three years younger than me.

SPEAKER_00:
And when she was little, she started having these crazy fevers.

SPEAKER_00:
So from

SPEAKER_00:
 a few months old, she would have these monthly fevers of super high, like 102, 103, 104.

SPEAKER_00:
And my parents not being medical, didn't know what was going on.

SPEAKER_00:
So that led to a lot of doctor's visits, a lot of testing and trying to figure it out.

SPEAKER_00:
So now we know in adulthood that it's an autoimmune thing called FAPA, which is periodic fevers that happen each month.

SPEAKER_00:
 And she's luckily grown out of it.

SPEAKER_00:
But because of that, you know, I'm the big sister, I'm getting dragged along to these appointments and seeing her go through this.

SPEAKER_00:
And by the time I was in, you know, upper elementary school, middle school, I was old enough to understand kind of what was going on and how it was affecting her and my parents.

SPEAKER_00:
And I think through that process, I saw a lot of health care that maybe sometimes you don't see as a kid, if you're just going to like your well checks.

SPEAKER_00:
 And so I saw pediatricians who were super helpful and

SPEAKER_00:
 really wanted to figure out what was going on.

SPEAKER_00:
Particularly, we had a doctor, his name's Dr. Miller, who's super well-known in our area.

SPEAKER_00:
But he was very interested and he would call my parents with, you know, hey, there's this new study that sounds like something that, you know, y'all might want to look into.

SPEAKER_00:
I was talking to this doctor in Tennessee.

SPEAKER_00:
I think you guys should go see him.

SPEAKER_00:
And, you know, just really took those extra steps.

SPEAKER_00:
 to try to help us figure out what was happening.

SPEAKER_00:
On the flip side, we saw negative healthcare experiences.

SPEAKER_00:
And I think everyone's going to have positive and negative.

SPEAKER_00:
You know, there were the

SPEAKER_00:
 the blood draws where maybe whoever was doing it wasn't super compassionate to the fact that like a six-year-old was having her blood drawn for the sixth time and was really freaked out about that.

SPEAKER_00:
So I was taking all that in and seeing that.

SPEAKER_00:
And then just naturally, I mean, I don't have a dramatic moment that made me go to healthcare, but I think naturally I'm drawn to the sciences and like that was where I was more interested in, in school.

SPEAKER_00:
So I think in some cases that

SPEAKER_00:
 kind of propels you towards medicine.

SPEAKER_00:
Once I got into high school, I started taking anatomy and was really interested in that.

SPEAKER_00:
So that's kind of where I ended up by like senior year thinking, okay, like I want to do something in medicine.

SPEAKER_00:
I want to do something in healthcare.

SPEAKER_00:
The cliche, I want to help people.

SPEAKER_00:
But more than that, like I wanted them to help figure out what was going on and make them better.

SPEAKER_00:
 And so that's where I started teasing out like this is where I see myself fitting into the medical field.

SPEAKER_01:
It's so funny.

SPEAKER_01:
I always said I went into health care because I was always into sports and I had some injuries as a kid.

SPEAKER_01:
But I never even thought your story just made me remember that I spent like weeks in and out of doctor's office in hospital when I was four or five because I was I had syncope.

SPEAKER_01:
Like I was just passing out.

SPEAKER_01:
 and they couldn't understand why.

SPEAKER_01:
So I had to go through all this testing.

SPEAKER_01:
And I'm just now realizing, like, I wonder if I had a good experience or I was that, like, started my interest for health care.

SPEAKER_00:
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:
I mean, you think about those little seeds.

SPEAKER_00:
And I think because I work with pre-PA students so much and trying to figure those things out and figure out, you know, how did you get here beyond just I want to help people.

SPEAKER_00:
 It makes you do a little, like, deep dive back into, okay, how did I actually get here?

SPEAKER_00:
Like, what got me to this point?

SPEAKER_00:
And so spending a lot of time reflecting on that brings up some of those experiences that you may have forgotten about.

SPEAKER_01:
Right.

SPEAKER_01:
And it's interesting because some people go into it, I think, because of a very good experience and some the opposite.

SPEAKER_01:
Like, they had a bad experience.

SPEAKER_01:
They're like, I want to fix this.

SPEAKER_01:
 Yep.

SPEAKER_01:
Exactly.

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:
I think it's important that people have a why, you know, like their why and, and yours is, it makes perfect sense.

SPEAKER_01:
You were in, in and out of doctor's offices and with your sister and I'm an older sister too, so I can relate with that.

SPEAKER_01:
Um, but I guess in my experience, I was the one who was like sick.

SPEAKER_01:
Um, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01:
 But yeah, that makes total sense.

SPEAKER_01:
And so did you always work in dermatology or did you start in a different field?

SPEAKER_00:
I've only done derm.

SPEAKER_00:
Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_00:
So I'm on year nine of all, only derm so far.

SPEAKER_00:
Nice.

SPEAKER_00:
So you're basically a pro.

SPEAKER_01:
Maybe something else in the future.

SPEAKER_00:
You're an expert.

SPEAKER_00:
I feel pretty confident now in a lot of things.

SPEAKER_00:
There are definitely still the moments where I walk in and I go, what the heck?

SPEAKER_00:
 Okay, this is different, but I definitely, thinking back to when I first started, it's a lot better.

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:
What made you want to go into dermatology?

SPEAKER_00:
I was super open going into PA school, but I did have

SPEAKER_00:
 some great shadowing experience in dermatology.

SPEAKER_00:
So there was a PA in Athens, Georgia, where I went to college at UGA.

SPEAKER_00:
And I just found her by cold calling offices.

SPEAKER_00:
And she called me back and she let me come shadow one afternoon a week for an entire year.

SPEAKER_00:
So I got to know her really well and like really see that role and see a lot of cool cases.

SPEAKER_00:
 And her name's Hope.

SPEAKER_00:
She has, I think, an Instagram now, hopethepa.

SPEAKER_00:
She's awesome.

SPEAKER_00:
But seeing that, I was like, okay, this is kind of cool.

SPEAKER_00:
This PA is doing procedures, and she sees teenagers and kids and adults.

SPEAKER_00:
So I liked that, and I knew that going into PA school.

SPEAKER_00:
 wanted to keep my options open.

SPEAKER_00:
And I really loved all of my rotations, for the most part, like I enjoyed them, I even ones I thought I was gonna hate, like endocrinology, I loved it.

SPEAKER_00:
And so I wasn't set on like, Oh, I need to go into one thing.

SPEAKER_00:
And

SPEAKER_00:
 get this.

SPEAKER_00:
And so I really loved surgery, which you can probably relate.

SPEAKER_00:
You know, if you get that bug of procedures and surgery and being in the OR, I loved it.

SPEAKER_00:
And what I didn't love was like the general surgery schedule.

SPEAKER_00:
And so DERM is a happy medium for that.

SPEAKER_00:
And I had accepted a job in neurosurgery verbally when this DERM job opened.

SPEAKER_00:
 And I was actually on my general surgery rotation at the time and the preceptor I was with knew the dermatologist and he said, I think this would be a great fit for you.

SPEAKER_00:
I'm going to call her and I want you to go interview.

SPEAKER_00:
Because I told him like, I kind of want to do derm, but then my friend's interviewing and I, you know, talked to this neurosurgeon and he was like, nah, you got to go work at this place.

SPEAKER_00:
 So it worked out.

SPEAKER_00:
And once I met the doctor and spent some time there, I agreed that it was probably a good fit.

SPEAKER_00:
And just thinking about the lifestyle that I wanted and the schedule, and then also getting to still do procedures and see that variety of patients, I was like, listen, derm jobs don't come up that often.

SPEAKER_00:
I got to just take it.

SPEAKER_00:
I got to jump in because I don't know if I'll get this chance in the future when it would come up again.

SPEAKER_01:
 Right.

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah, I've heard it's really difficult to kind of break into dermatology.

SPEAKER_00:
It can be.

SPEAKER_00:
The jobs are out there for PAs.

SPEAKER_00:
I think part of that is once a PA is in a good derm practice, they typically don't leave.

SPEAKER_00:
Right.

SPEAKER_00:
And then there are some practices that aren't going to want to hire or train a new grad and will only hire

SPEAKER_00:
 PAs with experience.

SPEAKER_00:
So if you get into like a bigger city, there's gonna be more competition in getting those positions.

SPEAKER_00:
And so sometimes it is a waiting game and just kind of keeping after it.

SPEAKER_00:
Jobs are out there.

SPEAKER_00:
It just may not be your first job if that's what you're aiming for.

SPEAKER_01:
Right.

SPEAKER_01:
And I think it sounds like maybe just making connections and keeping them and following up with them, which I tell people all the time.

SPEAKER_01:
 Connections are good.

SPEAKER_00:
Yes.

SPEAKER_00:
I mean, it's such a difference in getting the jobs, but the jobs that you want, like you can apply to jobs all over the place, but when you actually know other providers, know the drug reps, they can tell you, yes, this is a job you want or hey, steer clear of that.

SPEAKER_00:
It's not going to be where you want to end up.

SPEAKER_00:
 And that starts before you even get into your field.

SPEAKER_00:
That's for sure.

SPEAKER_00:
You're doing, you know, your patient care hours and things.

SPEAKER_00:
Those connections can definitely come back later on.

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:
And back to what you said about cold calling offices.

SPEAKER_01:
I love that.

SPEAKER_01:
I did basically the same thing.

SPEAKER_01:
I was applying back in 2009.

SPEAKER_01:
So I was 11 when I applied.

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:
 So I was doing my patient care hours or volunteering or whatever it was shadowing the year or two before that.

SPEAKER_01:
And I just went into offices and I, I would have like some sort of connection, like, Oh, I've seen this doctor before.

SPEAKER_01:
My grandma saw this doctor or whatever.

SPEAKER_01:
And I just went in and finally a cardiologist and a podiatrist both were like, okay, sure you can.

SPEAKER_01:
 shadow me.

SPEAKER_01:
They were like kind of confused but I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:
It's just how I did it and it's funny because I get, you probably get this all the time, I get so many DMs asking how to get patient care hours or asking if they can shadow me and I always feel so bad because the hospital I work with is very strict with that so I can't really take shadowers but

SPEAKER_01:
 I always tell them you need to show up, like just show up, call, go in person.

SPEAKER_01:
I'm sure you've been to a doctor before or you know someone who knows a doctor.

SPEAKER_01:
And honestly, it, it, it's the only way I know.

SPEAKER_01:
I think that you might get lucky if you do DM the right person and they're open to it and they're allowed to have a person shadow.

SPEAKER_01:
But I think just calling or going in person is such a big deal.

SPEAKER_00:
 Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_00:
And the thing that I keep telling people right now is what's the worst thing that's going to happen?

SPEAKER_00:
They say no, or they don't respond.

SPEAKER_00:
Like, right.

SPEAKER_00:
You know, I think there's some fear of

SPEAKER_00:
 Rejection sounds a little dramatic, but just like, you know, the unknown and putting yourself out there and like, what's the worst thing that's gonna happen?

SPEAKER_00:
Is they just say no.

SPEAKER_00:
And I even had to tell my, I forgot what I was doing, but the other day I had to tell myself that.

SPEAKER_00:
I was like, wait, why am I freaking out?

SPEAKER_00:
What's the worst that's gonna happen?

SPEAKER_00:
They're gonna like, they say no, just ask.

SPEAKER_00:
And so, oh, it was a flight that I wanted to change seats.

SPEAKER_00:
And so, you know, you just like little things.

SPEAKER_00:
And so I get it.

SPEAKER_00:
 you know, we don't want to be a bother.

SPEAKER_00:
We don't want to ask for things, but you just never know.

SPEAKER_00:
And like, if you have a goal, or you want to find something out, you have to

SPEAKER_00:
 be proactive to do that.

SPEAKER_01:
You really have to.

SPEAKER_01:
All right.

SPEAKER_01:
So I need to know what you love about dermatology and your job first, and then I'm going to ask you what maybe you don't love, if anything.

SPEAKER_01:
But tell me what you love about your job.

SPEAKER_00:
Okay.

SPEAKER_00:
So I love a lot of things.

SPEAKER_00:
I love that I get to see patients for a long time.

SPEAKER_00:
 I have patients now that I've been doing it for nine years that, like, I started seeing them when they were nine and ten years old, and now they are seniors in high school or going to college.

SPEAKER_00:
And that is just crazy to me.

SPEAKER_00:
Like, it's just wild.

SPEAKER_00:
And it makes you realize how quickly time passes.

SPEAKER_00:
 I really enjoy that.

SPEAKER_00:
I get to see entire families where I'm seeing the kids, the parents, the grandparents, the aunts and uncles.

SPEAKER_00:
So I like that continuity of just establishing those relationships and having those patients on my schedule that I get really excited about them.

SPEAKER_00:
 Like, oh, someone's coming today.

SPEAKER_00:
Like, I get to see them.

SPEAKER_00:
I wonder how they're doing, you know.

SPEAKER_00:
They took a trip to Alaska last month.

SPEAKER_00:
I want to see how it went, you know.

SPEAKER_00:
And so I enjoy that part of it.

SPEAKER_00:
Other things I enjoy, as far as the actual job, like my practice I'm in now, I do mostly medical derm, and then more surgeries, and then cosmetics is probably the least of it, which is fine with me.

SPEAKER_00:
I prefer that kind of spread, and I get to make that myself.

SPEAKER_00:
 I work with a doctor who is very much family focused and she's like, listen, I don't want you to miss the play at school.

SPEAKER_00:
I don't want you to miss anything.

SPEAKER_00:
So for example, when I came back from maternity leave, I have a four month old.

SPEAKER_00:
 And I was able to move my schedule around.

SPEAKER_00:
So my procedures are at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_00:
So if I don't have procedures, I can leave a little bit earlier and, you know, do school pickup because I have a kindergartner too.

SPEAKER_00:
And she very much is fine with me arranging things how I need to.

SPEAKER_00:
But that means I can, if I want to do more surgeries, I can do more surgeries and, and all of that.

SPEAKER_00:
So I enjoy that part of it.

SPEAKER_00:
Um, the schedule's nice and I only work part time now.

SPEAKER_00:
 I've worked, I started at four days a week, went up to four and a half days a week, and now I'm at two days a week.

SPEAKER_00:
So I work on Mondays and Tuesdays, and usually I'm home by 4.30 or so if I have a full day with procedures.

SPEAKER_00:
If I don't have procedures, I can be at the school by 3.30 to pick up my daughter, and it's just very flexible, which is nice.

SPEAKER_00:
No call, no weekends, no holidays, that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_01:
 That's wonderful.

SPEAKER_01:
So that schedule's good.

SPEAKER_01:
Real quick, just run us through a typical day at work for you.

SPEAKER_00:
Okay.

SPEAKER_00:
So a typical day, I get there by eight and my first patient's at eight.

SPEAKER_00:
Our appointments are 10 minute spots.

SPEAKER_00:
 And so I'll see patients from eight till 1140.

SPEAKER_00:
Sometimes if I need to put a procedure in the morning, I'll put it in that like 11 o'clock spot, but seeing patients and then lunch break, come back at one.

SPEAKER_00:
And I work from one till my last patient's at 310, unless I have procedures.

SPEAKER_00:
So sometimes I'll have one or two surgeries after that.

SPEAKER_00:
And I'm seeing

SPEAKER_00:
 a good variety.

SPEAKER_00:
I'm seeing a lot of new patients, a lot of established patients.

SPEAKER_00:
A triage would usually be like a rash, lots of poison ivy kind of stuff or new things popping up.

SPEAKER_00:
Lesions, something new, changed, bleeding, growing that we need to take a look at.

SPEAKER_00:
A lot of acne, a lot of eczema, rosacea, psoriasis, skin cancer follow-ups, checking, you know, things we've done before, checking to see if

SPEAKER_00:
 The cream worked or whatever.

SPEAKER_00:
Skin cancer checks, just kind of head to toe, look in surveillance for anything.

SPEAKER_00:
What else do we see?

SPEAKER_00:
Warts, molluscum.

SPEAKER_01:
And a typical procedure that you're doing?

SPEAKER_01:
What would that be?

SPEAKER_00:
So procedure-wise, it's a lot of freezing warts, doing shave or punch biopsies, excisions on either skin cancers or cysts, usually sometimes some other lesions.

SPEAKER_00:
 That's, you know, I don't do a lot on the face.

SPEAKER_00:
Those we usually refer out to mohs, sometimes plastics.

SPEAKER_00:
I'll kind of do like periorricular area or neck things.

SPEAKER_00:
I don't really like to, like, this is where I get to choose, like, I don't really like to do backs just because they're harder to close.

SPEAKER_00:
So a lot of times I won't.

SPEAKER_00:
You know, the physician will do those or we refer out.

SPEAKER_00:
 Yeah, lots of excisions and cosmetics.

SPEAKER_00:
There may be some Botox in there, chemical peels.

SPEAKER_00:
We do have some radio frequency machines and an IPL filler, that kind of thing just kind of scattered in there too.

SPEAKER_00:
 It's a good variety.

SPEAKER_00:
But yeah, we're moving fast, seeing a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00:
I have one medical assistant who's kind of with me all day, who takes my patients back and gets a history and then scribes while I'm in the room.

SPEAKER_00:
Oh, that's great.

SPEAKER_00:
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:
So I mean, my notes are done by the time I leave.

SPEAKER_00:
I don't ever leave.

SPEAKER_00:
Rarely will I leave with notes unfinished.

SPEAKER_00:
And then I just, you know, finish them the next day if I need to.

SPEAKER_00:
So it's

SPEAKER_00:
 It's fast, but yeah, it's fun.

SPEAKER_01:
And so it sounds like you have a lot of autonomy.

SPEAKER_01:
You're doing these procedures on your own.

SPEAKER_00:
Yes, because patients are coming in.

SPEAKER_00:
They are on my schedule.

SPEAKER_00:
They're seeing me.

SPEAKER_00:
They know they're seeing me.

SPEAKER_00:
They may or may not have ever seen the doctor.

SPEAKER_00:
Usually she's available if I needed her to look at anybody or I could always call her too if she's not in the office.

SPEAKER_00:
I have my own patients that, you know, I'm seeing and making the decisions on.

SPEAKER_00:
 And that's where, and I've had conversations with the physician I work with as far as she trusts me to know what I don't know and to ask when I need help.

SPEAKER_00:
And also to, you know, when I'm doing surgeries or making those decisions, do what I feel comfortable with.

SPEAKER_00:
And she's also okay with me, like pushing myself a little bit and happy to help in those situations too.

SPEAKER_00:
So if I came to her and I was like, Hey, I do want to learn how to do X, Y, Z, or do these types of excisions, whatever.

SPEAKER_00:
 She would be more than happy to help me figure that out and train me in that.

SPEAKER_00:
But it's just conversation and kind of that understanding of she knows based on my experience and working with me that I'm not going to do anything risky or harmful to the patients.

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:
 She sounds great, by the way.

SPEAKER_00:
She's great.

SPEAKER_00:
She is like the kindest, just the kindest human.

SPEAKER_00:
She has four kids and they're all grown now.

SPEAKER_00:
But like, she's just she's fantastic.

SPEAKER_00:
Like, yeah, I always say I'm like, like, I just can never leave this job because I like it's so great.

SPEAKER_00:
And I would be sad if I couldn't come back.

SPEAKER_00:
Like it just I will never give it up.

SPEAKER_00:
I will be there as long as they will have me.

SPEAKER_01:
It sounds like she really values you.

SPEAKER_00:
 Yeah, and the whole staff.

SPEAKER_00:
She is probably one of the best people I've ever met at making people feel valued and listened to.

SPEAKER_00:
She's great with her patients.

SPEAKER_00:
You are going to probably wait an hour to see her because she likes to talk, but that's okay.

SPEAKER_00:
She's fantastic.

SPEAKER_00:
Awesome.

SPEAKER_00:
 Perks, we get, you know, I haven't bought sunscreen in nine years.

SPEAKER_00:
Free sunscreen and face wash, that's a perk.

SPEAKER_00:
That's a big deal.

SPEAKER_00:
Botox, I'll take it.

SPEAKER_00:
Those things are fun.

SPEAKER_00:
As far as not liking about Derm, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00:
I love, it's hard.

SPEAKER_00:
I love Derm.

SPEAKER_00:
I love my job.

SPEAKER_00:
I love being a PA.

SPEAKER_00:
I love my practice.

SPEAKER_00:
Like, I feel like I'm in this, you know, dream.

SPEAKER_00:
 job, and so it's hard for me to find anything bad about it.

SPEAKER_00:
There are difficult things.

SPEAKER_00:
You don't have to if there's nothing.

SPEAKER_00:
Well, I mean, there are.

SPEAKER_00:
Realistically, insurance is tough, and anyone who's worked in healthcare knows that.

SPEAKER_00:
I get so frustrated with, you know, I think I've come up with this amazing plan for a patient.

SPEAKER_00:
We've talked about it.

SPEAKER_00:
I've picked out the medicines I think are perfect for them that are going to help them, and then

SPEAKER_00:
 I get that message or paper or whatever that says insurance said no.

SPEAKER_00:
And that's just so frustrating.

SPEAKER_00:
The other part about Durham that I don't think people realize is how fast paced it is, which for me is good.

SPEAKER_00:
I like it.

SPEAKER_00:
I feel like it makes the day move quickly.

SPEAKER_00:
But if you

SPEAKER_00:
 get derailed and something crazy happens, you know, somebody's passing out, a weird something comes in, it can throw you off.

SPEAKER_00:
So we're seeing around 35 to 40 patients a day.

SPEAKER_00:
It's a lot.

SPEAKER_00:
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:
You have to be able to make decisions really quickly.

SPEAKER_00:
You have to communicate well, and still figure out ways to make patients feel valued.

SPEAKER_00:
 when you have these shorter appointment times, which a lot of stuff's very straightforward.

SPEAKER_00:
A lot of my patients just want to know like, hey, is this cancer?

SPEAKER_00:
And when I'm able to say like, nope, it's fine, they're good to go.

SPEAKER_00:
So there's a lot of that, but there is some weird stuff.

SPEAKER_00:
And the other frustrating thing about dermatology is we don't have answers for a lot of things.

SPEAKER_00:
So when people say like, why do I have eczema now?

SPEAKER_00:
Why do I have dandruff?

SPEAKER_00:
Why did I just get this?

SPEAKER_00:
 I don't know.

SPEAKER_00:
And nobody knows.

SPEAKER_00:
And so it's a lot of those conversations of like, I don't know why this just started.

SPEAKER_00:
I don't know why you got it.

SPEAKER_00:
And so and so didn't get it.

SPEAKER_00:
I don't know why you got it now.

SPEAKER_00:
And I can't cure it, I can make it better.

SPEAKER_00:
But it's gonna mean you're using this medicine, or you're doing this, or you're changing soap, you're doing all these things now.

SPEAKER_00:
 and I can't tell you it's not gonna happen again.

SPEAKER_00:
So that's, you know, part of it that I wish I had some better, you know, my magic wand that I can use, but I would say those are the difficult parts about it.

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah, it's always frustrating when you don't know and you want to know, right?

SPEAKER_01:
Like, because that's what we feel like we're here for.

SPEAKER_01:
And personally, I feel like it's okay to say you don't know, but you kind of feel like you're failing the patient a little bit because they really want to know.

SPEAKER_01:
 But I think that would be probably the most frustrating part of dermatology for me.

SPEAKER_01:
I actually really liked learning about derm and I didn't get a chance to ever be in really a dermatology related field with my rotations or anything.

SPEAKER_01:
But I think, you know, it's hard.

SPEAKER_01:
I don't think dermatology is easy at all.

SPEAKER_01:
Like I think it's, I don't know how you do it sometimes because there's so many rashes and so many...

SPEAKER_01:
 reasons for it or no reason for it.

SPEAKER_01:
And yeah, I think I would have a hard time not being able to figure things out every single time.

SPEAKER_00:
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:
And that's what I mean.

SPEAKER_00:
We we can biopsy.

SPEAKER_00:
And it's funny because patients will ask sometimes like, well, how do you know?

SPEAKER_00:
How do you know it's not cancer?

SPEAKER_00:
How do you know it's this?

SPEAKER_00:
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:
And my answer is kind of like, well, when you look at it every day for nine years, you figure it out.

SPEAKER_00:
And, you know, so we we have tools that we use to figure things out.

SPEAKER_00:
 And a lot of it is patterns, but every once in a while, you'll get that zebra or we'll say like, Oh, this didn't read the textbook.

SPEAKER_00:
And it's something like I had a pathology come back this week of a rash that

SPEAKER_00:
 It just looked weird.

SPEAKER_00:
And the other thing with skin is usually it responds pretty predictably to our treatments.

SPEAKER_00:
But this one in particular, he had tried steroids, he tried these different things and nothing had worked.

SPEAKER_00:
And the pathology came back and it was psoriasis.

SPEAKER_00:
But it's a very atypical presentation and it wasn't responding.

SPEAKER_00:
So at that point, we needed a biopsy because it wasn't doing what we thought it should do.

SPEAKER_00:
 And that gave us that answer.

SPEAKER_00:
But yeah, it does get a little... Patients get frustrated with it.

SPEAKER_00:
And I understand that.

SPEAKER_00:
Skin's just weird.

SPEAKER_00:
It does what it wants.

SPEAKER_00:
That's usually my go-to.

SPEAKER_01:
For sure.

SPEAKER_01:
And back to the things you love.

SPEAKER_01:
So I just want to point out that having a boss who values your time is so important because you could be working in the coolest job and the best job.

SPEAKER_01:
 If your boss doesn't kind of like align with your values, then I think you're not going to be happy.

SPEAKER_01:
So I think it's a good way to retain PAs and employees in general.

SPEAKER_01:
But you're so lucky to have somebody who values family and lets you leave early if you need to and pick up your kids.

SPEAKER_01:
And I think that's so huge.

SPEAKER_00:
 Yeah, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_00:
And I'm in my second practice, so I was at another practice for the first five years of my career.

SPEAKER_00:
Okay, I was going to ask you that.

SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, so I worked for four years full time, and then I had my daughter.

SPEAKER_00:
And I always thought,

SPEAKER_00:
 I never imagined I'd be the one who was like, I want to stay home.

SPEAKER_00:
I always thought I'd be like, had the baby a week later, like, let me go back to work.

SPEAKER_00:
I'm ready to go back.

SPEAKER_00:
And I remember the first day I went back, I was like sobbing.

SPEAKER_00:
I was like begging my husband.

SPEAKER_00:
I was like, don't make me go.

SPEAKER_00:
And he's like, I'm not making you go.

SPEAKER_00:
Like, but like, you're too late.

SPEAKER_00:
Like, you got to go.

SPEAKER_00:
And he's a physician.

SPEAKER_00:
He's a hospitalist.

SPEAKER_00:
 when he was in residency at the time.

SPEAKER_00:
But I was like, Okay, let me like, see what I can do.

SPEAKER_00:
So I went and I worked for a year full time with having my daughter and then also still doing the PA platform.

SPEAKER_00:
And after I gave it a year and I was like, Okay, I'm still just not happy.

SPEAKER_00:
Like, I am drained.

SPEAKER_00:
I can't do this.

SPEAKER_00:
I'm feeling burnout, which I don't know about you, but I feel like my whole class around year five had this kind of burnout situation where we all like, felt kind of

SPEAKER_00:
 you know, Black people made changes and just needed kind of some breaks there.

SPEAKER_00:
So I was in that moment while trying to figure out kids and stuff.

SPEAKER_00:
 So after that, I was like, I really want to go part-time.

SPEAKER_00:
And so I went into my practice and I asked them about going part-time.

SPEAKER_00:
And it was a female-owned practice with physicians who were moms.

SPEAKER_00:
And I was basically told, no, and we're changing, like, if you were to get pregnant again in the maternity leave, you're only gonna be able to take six weeks, like where I'd taken 12 before, and just

SPEAKER_00:
 It kind of was discouraging.

SPEAKER_00:
And I was like, what?

SPEAKER_00:
Like, half the time, I think you're my friend.

SPEAKER_00:
And then you go into this.

SPEAKER_00:
So I knew that the practice had grown, and we weren't necessarily on the same page anymore.

SPEAKER_00:
So they weren't able to accommodate me wanting to be part time and didn't want to

SPEAKER_00:
 work with me on that at all.

SPEAKER_00:
So I started looking, and that's where I ended up at the practice I'm at now.

SPEAKER_00:
And honestly, I put in my resignation on Thursday at noon, and I had this job by Friday at noon.

SPEAKER_00:
And the doctor was like, hey, you make your schedule, you tell us when you wanna work.

SPEAKER_00:
And yeah, it's just so crazy.

SPEAKER_00:
She brings her dogs to work, which the patients love.

SPEAKER_00:
And yeah, they're like our little mascots.

SPEAKER_00:
 And they're so fun.

SPEAKER_00:
And I mean, there've been times I've had to bring like my kids to work with me for a little while or whatever.

SPEAKER_00:
And it's just, like you said, it's just crazy to have someone who's so supportive.

SPEAKER_00:
Like she, she will stop her clinic if my daughter comes to visit to like come see her and talk to her.

SPEAKER_00:
And my daughter just loves her.

SPEAKER_00:
So the jobs are out there.

SPEAKER_00:
Those, those types of work environments are out there.

SPEAKER_00:
And I mean, I would say she loves

SPEAKER_00:
 you know, all employees.

SPEAKER_00:
Like we did the little TikTok trend the other day of, you know, would you bail me out of jail?

SPEAKER_00:
And she was like, yeah, no questions asked, like a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_00:
And I know she absolutely means it.

SPEAKER_00:
And so I just think that's encouraging.

SPEAKER_00:
And then like the work-life balance, like I just don't really believe in that.

SPEAKER_00:
I think you choose that no matter what profession you're in.

SPEAKER_00:
Right.

SPEAKER_00:
 Whether you're a PA, a doctor, a nurse, whatever, you've got to figure out how to make that work for what you want to do.

SPEAKER_00:
So I mentioned my husband's a hospitalist.

SPEAKER_00:
He works seven on, seven off.

SPEAKER_00:
He does not pick up shifts because he values our family time.

SPEAKER_00:
He didn't do a fellowship because he was

SPEAKER_00:
 By that point, we had our daughter, and he was like, I just want to be home.

SPEAKER_00:
I want to be able to be with her and be with you guys.

SPEAKER_00:
So those are decisions that you make.

SPEAKER_00:
You can work as much as you want, and you can find someone who will let you work nonstop.

SPEAKER_00:
And you'll probably make a lot of money, but you have to decide if that's really what you want.

SPEAKER_01:
 Right.

SPEAKER_01:
What's more important?

SPEAKER_01:
I think it took me a really long time, like until recently, to realize this.

SPEAKER_01:
It's hard.

SPEAKER_01:
I don't know if it's just orthopedic surgery or New York City or both, but I work at a place where we're just like grinding all the time.

SPEAKER_01:
 I almost feel like there's sometimes a sense of like people are afraid to leave when their work is done because it looks bad.

SPEAKER_01:
And I want to say I have learned a lot from Gen Z because I have we have had some like med students and research fellows come through who are now Gen Zers.

SPEAKER_01:
And they are have no problem being like, Oh, it's five o'clock work's done to see you guys later.

SPEAKER_01:
And I'm just like,

SPEAKER_01:
 Wait, what?

SPEAKER_01:
That can be done?

SPEAKER_01:
There's always more work.

SPEAKER_01:
Wait, I can leave too?

SPEAKER_01:
And I've been there for nine years in my job too.

SPEAKER_01:
And so it's just funny, but it's true.

SPEAKER_01:
I think it's what you make of it.

SPEAKER_01:
And if you value your time and you can create the life you want.

SPEAKER_01:
And I think it's important.

SPEAKER_01:
You probably

SPEAKER_01:
 teach this, I would assume, to your mentees, I guess you would say, or your clients.

SPEAKER_01:
But I think it's so important to teach this to the younger PAs and med students coming up because we don't have to be at work all day.

SPEAKER_01:
We just don't.

SPEAKER_00:
Well, and you're going to work hard while you're there.

SPEAKER_00:
Exactly.

SPEAKER_00:
 and you can make that what you what you want it.

SPEAKER_00:
But I just very strongly believe like there's no, we don't have time to be somewhere where you're unhappy.

SPEAKER_00:
I see so many people on social media and things, you know, just miserable in their jobs and miserable and what they're doing or who they're working with.

SPEAKER_00:
And like,

SPEAKER_00:
 I don't know.

SPEAKER_00:
I've never been one to stay where I'm miserable.

SPEAKER_00:
I mean, let's say PA school was hard.

SPEAKER_00:
It wasn't always the most fun, but I made the most of it and got through that.

SPEAKER_00:
But after that, kind of like you with the grinding thing, that's how I felt in my old job.

SPEAKER_00:
I felt like I was just grinding.

SPEAKER_00:
And it got to the point where one day I was just kind of like, I feel kind of like I'm a cash cow.

SPEAKER_00:
I don't feel valued.

SPEAKER_00:
 I just don't think this is the best fit for me, like culturally anymore.

SPEAKER_00:
And I know the PA who took my job and she loves it.

SPEAKER_00:
And she was coming from a place where it was way worse.

SPEAKER_00:
So it's, you know, you get like, it's just personal preference and figuring out what your deal breakers are, what your priorities are.

SPEAKER_00:
Right.

SPEAKER_00:
 And be willing to make a change.

SPEAKER_00:
Like it is scary.

SPEAKER_00:
It was scary for me to quit.

SPEAKER_00:
It was scary to go part time.

SPEAKER_00:
Everyone thought I was crazy.

SPEAKER_00:
They're like, you're in term, you're in the perfect, the perfect job.

SPEAKER_00:
You are in this new practice, you're busy.

SPEAKER_00:
Why would you want to leave?

SPEAKER_00:
And I was like, because, you know, right now my family is more important to me.

SPEAKER_00:
And I don't, basically, I didn't feel like I was doing anything great.

SPEAKER_00:
I was like, at my job, I'm distracted.

SPEAKER_00:
I'm not 100% there.

SPEAKER_00:
I'm not 100% when I'm a mom or a wife.

SPEAKER_00:
I'm not 100% when I'm doing PA platform.

SPEAKER_00:
 But I don't want to give up any of these things.

SPEAKER_00:
So I'm not going to quit PA Platform because that's my creative outlet.

SPEAKER_00:
That's what I'm enjoying.

SPEAKER_00:
I like my patients and I like being clinical and I put in all this work for it.

SPEAKER_00:
So I'm not going to give that up.

SPEAKER_00:
And clearly I can't give up being a mom.

SPEAKER_00:
So what am I going to do?

SPEAKER_00:
I'm just going to cut back on all of them to make them all fit in better.

SPEAKER_01:
 Yeah, it's such a, it is a brave thing to do because I think a lot of people do get stuck and it takes a lot to make a change and scary.

SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, it's easier to complain and rant in your group text than it is to actually put a resignation in and look for a new job.

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:
So let's back up a little bit.

SPEAKER_01:
If you want to share, where did you go to PA school?

SPEAKER_01:
 I went to Augusta University.

SPEAKER_01:
Okay.

SPEAKER_01:
And was it a two year program?

SPEAKER_01:
27 months.

SPEAKER_00:
So pretty typical, like straight through year, two years in the summer.

SPEAKER_01:
Okay.

SPEAKER_01:
Yep.

SPEAKER_01:
Same for me.

SPEAKER_01:
And do you remember how many rotations they gave you?

SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, we had 12 rotations.

SPEAKER_00:
They were each four weeks.

SPEAKER_01:
Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01:
So more, lots of shorter rotations.

SPEAKER_01:
I can't, I think mine were six weeks and I think I had like eight.

SPEAKER_00:
 Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:
I've heard, I mean, I think there's benefits to both.

SPEAKER_00:
I think mine, I just got enough time to like get settled and comfortable and then they're like, all right, move on.

SPEAKER_00:
Time to go.

SPEAKER_00:
But I did get to do more and like see more specialties and settings.

SPEAKER_01:
Okay.

SPEAKER_01:
And you said, did you do an actual dermatology rotation or was it more of the shadowing with hope?

SPEAKER_00:
 So I, uh, at the time that I was in PA school, my husband was in med school.

SPEAKER_00:
We got married during PA school.

SPEAKER_00:
Um, so all my friends, not all of them, but some of them were like, I'm planning these fun trips and I'm going to take a break and whatever.

SPEAKER_00:
And I was like, I need money.

SPEAKER_00:
I can't do that.

SPEAKER_00:
Like we need money.

SPEAKER_00:
 So I started looking for jobs really early.

SPEAKER_00:
We graduated in August and I started looking like the January before and interviewing kind of February, March.

SPEAKER_00:
And so I actually already had this job offer by April.

SPEAKER_00:
And then I set it up so that I did my last two rotations, which were electives at their office.

SPEAKER_00:
So I was able to train while I was still in school, which was great for them, great for me.

SPEAKER_00:
And then I was able to kind of

SPEAKER_00:
 hit the ground running a little bit more once I've finished.

SPEAKER_01:
Your dermatology PA for nine years, you said something about PA platform being your creative outlet, which I can relate to because I feel like I always need a creative outlet.

SPEAKER_01:
Hence, TikTok and this.

SPEAKER_01:
Yes.

SPEAKER_01:
You're killing it on TikTok.

SPEAKER_01:
Oh, thanks.

SPEAKER_01:
I have a love-hate relationship with TikTok, but we can get there later.

SPEAKER_01:
Same.

SPEAKER_01:
Same.

SPEAKER_01:
 The PA platform, when did you start it?

SPEAKER_01:
Why did you start it?

SPEAKER_01:
I want to know all about this.

SPEAKER_00:
Okay, so I started it eight years ago, basically after I graduated from PA school.

SPEAKER_00:
So that was like August.

SPEAKER_00:
And then like I said, my husband's in med school.

SPEAKER_00:
 So he wasn't getting home till, I don't know, 10, 11.

SPEAKER_00:
I was just kind of hanging out.

SPEAKER_00:
My job, I was working four days a week.

SPEAKER_00:
And I think those first few months were a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_00:
And I figured out, though, that if I was not working or doing something, I was spending money.

SPEAKER_00:
So I was like, okay, I need a hobby.

SPEAKER_00:
I feel like we're very similar.

SPEAKER_00:
 It's just the PA prototype.

SPEAKER_00:
I knew he could feel that.

SPEAKER_00:
I hate ortho.

SPEAKER_00:
I don't know if you know that.

SPEAKER_00:
Ortho makes me pass out.

SPEAKER_00:
 Broken bones, I just can't deal.

SPEAKER_00:
So I was like, I need an outlet.

SPEAKER_00:
I need a hobby.

SPEAKER_00:
I didn't do anything during PA school except for study.

SPEAKER_00:
And so I kind of had to figure that out.

SPEAKER_00:
I also had this, I think, moment where I realized I've been in school for 23, 24 years.

SPEAKER_00:
And I'm now at a point where I don't have an assignment.

SPEAKER_00:
I don't have a test to study for.

SPEAKER_00:
What am I doing?

SPEAKER_00:
I don't know what to do with myself.

SPEAKER_00:
 And so I kind of had those realizations and I've always loved reading blogs and social media things.

SPEAKER_00:
And this was, you know, eight years ago.

SPEAKER_00:
So things were a little bit different.

SPEAKER_00:
I was like, maybe I'll start blogging.

SPEAKER_00:
And fun fact, I decided I was gonna do a fashion blog for a couple of days.

SPEAKER_00:
And I was like, I won't buy clothes enough or like want to do this.

SPEAKER_00:
And so that I remember my husband taking pictures of me in the driveway one time and I was like,

SPEAKER_00:
 this is not for me.

SPEAKER_00:
So that died.

SPEAKER_00:
And I was like, Okay, what do I know about?

SPEAKER_00:
And I was like, I know about the PA profession.

SPEAKER_00:
And people had been asking me, like, how'd you get into PA school?

SPEAKER_00:
What'd you do?

SPEAKER_00:
And so I said, maybe, you know, I'll just start blogging about that.

SPEAKER_00:
And kind of like you mentioned at the beginning, my goal is not to say that the PA profession is the best job in the world, and everyone should be a PA.

SPEAKER_00:
My goal is to

SPEAKER_00:
 help people who are possibly interested in medicine or healthcare know that it's a job that they might want to explore.

SPEAKER_00:
 Uh, and so I, I mean, some of those TikTok haters like to come for, come for us and say like, Oh, like you're saying these terrible things about doctors.

SPEAKER_00:
I'm like, you've never heard me say anything bad about a doctor.

SPEAKER_00:
I'm married to a doctor.

SPEAKER_00:
Like doctors are great.

SPEAKER_00:
Uh, I'm just saying PAs are also great.

SPEAKER_00:
And maybe somebody out there wants to be one.

SPEAKER_00:
I don't know.

SPEAKER_00:
Right.

SPEAKER_00:
And, and so I started blogging and doing social media.

SPEAKER_00:
It's just grown.

SPEAKER_00:
 And it is my, my creative outlet.

SPEAKER_00:
I love just learning about new things, learning how to make a website, learning how to self publish a book and do these things that I never would have.

SPEAKER_00:
Like if you had asked me 10 years ago, if I was going to do these things or if my life would look the way it does now, or I'd get to go speak at conferences and run my own conference, like never would I've ever guessed any of that, but it's cool how it works out when you just.

SPEAKER_00:
 kind of take a chance and try something.

SPEAKER_00:
And now I'm pretty passionate about like, I think everyone could have a side hustle if they want one, and not even necessarily one that makes money, but just something they enjoy that they could, you know, share with others if they wanted to.

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah, yeah, I'm similar to you in that like, I feel, I feel that if I'm not working towards something, I'm not completely happy.

SPEAKER_01:
 And it's funny because I've always had something on the side.

SPEAKER_01:
Like, I'm sorry to say I did cringe.

SPEAKER_01:
I did a multi-level marketing company for a couple years.

SPEAKER_01:
Hey, at least you figured it out.

SPEAKER_01:
At least you figured it out.

SPEAKER_01:
 I am not ashamed.

SPEAKER_01:
I'm just I learned a lot from it.

SPEAKER_01:
But weird time my life.

SPEAKER_01:
But I always that was one thing.

SPEAKER_01:
And then it became like, I don't know if you know about Spartan racing, but I was like a big Spartan racer for a few years, which is like obstacle course racing.

SPEAKER_01:
Oh, yeah, we have one here.

SPEAKER_01:
Actually.

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:
 And now it's COVID happened and then TikTok happened.

SPEAKER_01:
And now I find myself here, but it's, it's so fun because with this particular project, I really just want to help.

SPEAKER_01:
 people understand what we do or what a doctor does or what somebody in like healthcare administration does.

SPEAKER_01:
And it's more that I'm just interested in it.

SPEAKER_01:
And you said it doesn't necessarily need to be a side hustle that makes you money, but if you love it, why not do it?

SPEAKER_01:
Obviously be smart about how much money you're spending.

SPEAKER_01:
But I also think that if you truly love it, then it might naturally become a source of income for you.

SPEAKER_01:
 So yeah, I mean, that's great.

SPEAKER_01:
I love that you've built this business and this platform.

SPEAKER_01:
So you have a book?

SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, so I've through the PA platform.

SPEAKER_00:
So it started with blogging and then getting involved with social media and just the community of PAs there now is really cool.

SPEAKER_00:
Started doing like YouTube videos and then my podcast, I don't remember when it came out, but I just processed our episode today and we're on episode 266.

SPEAKER_00:
Wow.

SPEAKER_00:
So yeah, so it's called The Pre-PA Club.

SPEAKER_00:
 So that turned into like online courses and then yeah, I've self-published three books.

SPEAKER_00:
So one's about interviews, one's about personal statements, and one's like a general pre-PA guide.

SPEAKER_00:
Wow.

SPEAKER_00:
So that's been a fun process.

SPEAKER_00:
They all took me way longer than I thought they would, but I've enjoyed that because now it's like I have this skill set that I can help other people.

SPEAKER_00:
So like one of my friends is trying to publish a book now and we're working on that together.

SPEAKER_00:
 It's, it's been really fun.

SPEAKER_00:
And then I think one of the coolest things is my company.

SPEAKER_00:
So the PA platform merged this summer with a company called Matt.

SPEAKER_00:
And again, like just something I never would have imagined that I'm like joining this team where I'm able to help build an online like education software, where it's like an application tracker, you know, same goals, like it's free, it's just to help students get

SPEAKER_00:
 to their goals quicker and figure things out.

SPEAKER_00:
I feel like for PAs and just people, but PAs, there's so many opportunities out there that are outside of the box.

SPEAKER_00:
If that's something that people are interested in or if like, I don't know, I feel like sometimes students feel like, oh, I don't know if I want to become a PA because I have this other interest.

SPEAKER_00:
And you can absolutely like still have that interest and still pursue it as a PA.

SPEAKER_01:
Right.

SPEAKER_01:
Totally.

SPEAKER_01:
 A hundred percent.

SPEAKER_01:
So if you were to tell, if you were to be like giving your elevator pitch on PA Platform, and I really want our viewers and listeners to know what they would get from your services.

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:
So the PA Platform is kind of a comprehensive place to go for all your pre-PA questions.

SPEAKER_00:
So there's

SPEAKER_00:
 tons of free videos, podcasts, blog posts, social media posts about every step of the process.

SPEAKER_00:
And so that's why I tell people mostly is if you have a question about becoming a PA, if you Google the PA platform, plus whatever it is, personal statement, GPA, GRE, you're going to find probably something you're looking for in the answer to your question.

SPEAKER_00:
Cool.

SPEAKER_00:
 And so that's been my goal is just help make the process easier.

SPEAKER_00:
It has only gotten more complicated since we applied.

SPEAKER_00:
And so that's part of it.

SPEAKER_00:
And then, you know, we do have that one-on-one help for people who maybe don't have an advisor or mentor.

SPEAKER_00:
So that's counseling sessions, personal statement review, mock interviews.

SPEAKER_00:
 There's some online courses.

SPEAKER_00:
We're starting a group coaching cohort that'll start in February to kind of walk through the application process together.

SPEAKER_00:
Then there are the books available, you know, if you're more of a book person, not ready for that one-on-one.

SPEAKER_00:
 But really just trying to have as many resources available.

SPEAKER_00:
But I know, I mean, there are resources, there are services, but I get just as many messages from people who are like, Hey, I followed you on TikTok, I followed you on Instagram, I followed your advice, and I got accepted.

SPEAKER_00:
And those are my favorite messages, because I'm just like, I, it means so much to me that someone would take their time and thought to be like, I need to tell Savannah, I got into PA school.

SPEAKER_00:
 And it just, I'm like, I'm so excited.

SPEAKER_00:
I'm on your list of people to tell, like, you told your family, you told your friends, and you needed to tell me and that makes me feel so good.

SPEAKER_00:
Cool.

SPEAKER_01:
I love that.

SPEAKER_01:
And when people DM me about like, questions that

SPEAKER_01:
 I really don't know the answer to anymore because I've been so far removed from the process for so long.

SPEAKER_01:
I'm like, go check out Savannah's page.

SPEAKER_01:
I owe her every single time.

SPEAKER_01:
Thank you.

SPEAKER_00:
I'm like, don't ask me about ortho.

SPEAKER_01:
I'm going to talk to Leah.

SPEAKER_01:
It's true.

SPEAKER_01:
Everything you've built, your social media, your programs that you just talked about, it seems so comprehensive.

SPEAKER_01:
She can answer all your questions.

SPEAKER_00:
 Yeah, it's a lot.

SPEAKER_00:
It's a lot to stay up to date with.

SPEAKER_00:
I enjoy it.

SPEAKER_00:
I've always said if I didn't become a PA and medicine didn't work out, I would have been a college advisor.

SPEAKER_00:
Oh, cool.

SPEAKER_00:
And so this kind of lets me still do that by being able to help students kind of figure out their path, figure out what they need to do.

SPEAKER_01:
 to get there.

SPEAKER_01:
So what is one piece of advice you could give a PA trying to get into the dermatology field?

SPEAKER_01:
And then one piece of advice you could give to a pre-PA student on their application, like the most important piece of advice?

SPEAKER_00:
 Okay.

SPEAKER_00:
So to somebody trying to get into Durham, which I would say this is one of my most asked questions, drug reps are your best friends.

SPEAKER_00:
I think reps know the jobs.

SPEAKER_00:
Like if you're on rotations and

SPEAKER_00:
 a drug rep, a DERM rep comes in, talk to them.

SPEAKER_00:
If a rep comes in who's not in DERM, talk to them and ask if they know DERM reps.

SPEAKER_00:
These reps are like the pharmaceutical reps are so well connected.

SPEAKER_00:
And they've a lot of times been in different areas.

SPEAKER_00:
So I'm in Georgia and we're kind of on the border of South Carolina.

SPEAKER_00:
So we get reps from Atlanta and from South Carolina.

SPEAKER_00:
 So I had a friend who was looking for a job in Texas in Durham, and I was able to connect her with reps there through mine.

SPEAKER_00:
And then she moved to Charleston, and same thing.

SPEAKER_00:
Her reps were reaching out for her, and my reps who go to Charleston were able to put out some feelers and help her get a job and say, hey, don't go to that practice, but this one's really good.

SPEAKER_00:
So those connections are just amazing.

SPEAKER_00:
 invaluable if you can start asking those questions if that's something you want to get into.

SPEAKER_00:
 I'd say that's the best place to actually find out about jobs and just send your resume.

SPEAKER_00:
You just never know.

SPEAKER_00:
One place that I sent a resume to while I was in PA school, they weren't hiring, weren't advertising.

SPEAKER_00:
They called me a couple months after I accepted my position that I ended up taking.

SPEAKER_00:
I was still in school, but maybe it was over the summer and they called and were like, hey, would you want to come interview?

SPEAKER_00:
Again, we're not advertising a PA position.

SPEAKER_00:
I just sent my resume, sent a cover letter saying I wanted to be in Durham.

SPEAKER_00:
 and they ended up reaching out.

SPEAKER_00:
So don't be afraid to put yourself out there and then just keep doing it too.

SPEAKER_00:
If you get a no, say, okay, well, I'll try again next month.

SPEAKER_00:
Don't give up.

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah, the drug reps are, and reps in general, in ortho it's usually device reps.

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah, y'all have different ones.

SPEAKER_01:
They know all.

SPEAKER_01:
They know all the people, they know all the things, they know the details.

SPEAKER_01:
It's so true.

SPEAKER_00:
They know the tea and the drama.

SPEAKER_00:
Yep, exactly.

SPEAKER_00:
And if you're friends with them, they'll tell you.

SPEAKER_00:
Yep.

SPEAKER_00:
 As far as pre-PAs, so I think one of the biggest struggles as a pre-PA is that the requirements for all these schools is so different.

SPEAKER_00:
And so I think if you can start early and kind of work from your school list, it'll make the process easier.

SPEAKER_00:
So if you figure out, you know, where you want to apply, what they want and work towards those goals, but you don't just need to meet the goals, you need to exceed them.

SPEAKER_00:
 and keep working until you get that acceptance.

SPEAKER_00:
So I think that's part of it.

SPEAKER_00:
It can be easy when let's say you have a lower GPA and higher patient care hours to just be like, oh, I'll just keep getting more patient care hours.

SPEAKER_00:
But you also have to take kind of an objective look at your

SPEAKER_00:
 application and figure out what the weakest parts are and work towards those.

SPEAKER_00:
The other thing I would say is don't be afraid to reach out to programs.

SPEAKER_00:
So the same way we're saying like, ask and don't be scared for a no, the programs are there to help you.

SPEAKER_00:
And so they have admissions departments, they have people who can help answer your questions,

SPEAKER_00:
 If you get waitlisted, if you get rejected, ask them why.

SPEAKER_00:
If they give you a reason, that's extremely valuable information.

SPEAKER_00:
I can tell you all day what I think is wrong with your application, but if you hear it directly from the school and they're telling you what to fix, that's what you need to know.

SPEAKER_00:
And I've seen a lot of people do that and then, you know, take action on that and then end up getting accepted once they've corrected those things.

SPEAKER_01:
 Huh.

SPEAKER_01:
I would never think to do that.

SPEAKER_00:
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:
You're like, oh, no, I just like I'm in this position where I just need to wait for them to call me.

SPEAKER_00:
And in some cases you are and some schools won't give you any feedback or they'll give you something generic.

SPEAKER_00:
But if a school will tell you like, hey, you need to work on your interview.

SPEAKER_00:
Hey, you had a letter that was negative or you we really need to have like a variety of patient care hours.

SPEAKER_00:
Your GRE was too low.

SPEAKER_00:
Those are things that you can fix and you can work on and then it can change the results.

SPEAKER_01:
 And I would assume that at least at some programs, just reaching out kind of puts your name in their minds.

SPEAKER_01:
And then so if you apply again, right?

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:
And reapplying is not bad.

SPEAKER_00:
I mean, there's no issue with reapplying, no issue with taking a gap year.

SPEAKER_00:
I don't even think there's a traditional PA school applicant anymore, just because there's so many different ways to get there.

SPEAKER_01:
Gap year.

SPEAKER_01:
 I wish.

SPEAKER_01:
I wish that's something I did.

SPEAKER_01:
If I could give a piece of advice, it is take a gap year.

SPEAKER_01:
Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_01:
I want to take a gap year right now, honestly.

SPEAKER_01:
I'm like you where we both it seems like just went straight through.

SPEAKER_01:
 undergrad straight to PA school.

SPEAKER_01:
I think I had four weeks off between undergrad and PA school.

SPEAKER_01:
And then I started my job immediately after that.

SPEAKER_01:
So same thing back to the burnout.

SPEAKER_01:
But take a gap year.

SPEAKER_01:
Just take it.

SPEAKER_00:
If you're thinking about it.

SPEAKER_00:
 semester.

SPEAKER_00:
And that was good.

SPEAKER_00:
Like having that semester was really, really nice in between.

SPEAKER_00:
And then as a PA, like as a professional or whatever you're in, use your PTO.

SPEAKER_00:
Like you have it for a reason.

SPEAKER_00:
Yes.

SPEAKER_00:
Even if it's just, you know, like the other day, I like needed a Monday off to get some stuff done.

SPEAKER_00:
And I took it like, right, you need a PTO, like you have hours just

SPEAKER_00:
 use them definitely use them we need them for sure i'm i use every single day of my vacation every single year so yeah well my schedule's weird so like i don't take off that much but like i came back from maternity leave and i was like hey i'm gonna be two weeks off in june because i'm going on vacation they're like okay cool

SPEAKER_00:
 Yeah, it's your time.

SPEAKER_01:
You earned it.

SPEAKER_01:
Yep.

SPEAKER_01:
Awesome.

SPEAKER_01:
Oh, let's talk about your podcast real quick.

SPEAKER_01:
Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_01:
So when did you you're on episode 200 something you said?

SPEAKER_01:
266.

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:
Wow.

SPEAKER_01:
And when did you start?

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:
When did you start doing that?

SPEAKER_01:
I don't remember.

SPEAKER_00:
I think it was after

SPEAKER_00:
 I think I've been doing it like four years, three or four years.

SPEAKER_00:
Because I've taken a couple little breaks in there.

SPEAKER_00:
It was after I got kind of where I felt comfortable with, you know, because you want to do everything at once.

SPEAKER_00:
And that's just not possible.

SPEAKER_00:
But like, okay, I'm comfortable with the blog, I'm comfortable with the website, with social media.

SPEAKER_00:
So like, what's out of podcast?

SPEAKER_00:
What's next?

SPEAKER_00:
 Why not?

SPEAKER_00:
And so, yeah, so I've been doing it for a while and I've had some really fun interviews.

SPEAKER_00:
Sometimes it's just me talking, sometimes it's interviews, but a good variety on there of different stuff.

SPEAKER_00:
So faculty, directors of admissions, applicants, PA students.

SPEAKER_00:
 Try to get a little bit of everything on there for the pre-PA audience.

SPEAKER_01:
Tell us the name of the podcast.

SPEAKER_01:
It's called The Pre-PA Club.

SPEAKER_01:
Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_01:
I've seen that on your social media.

SPEAKER_01:
I need to listen for sure.

SPEAKER_00:
We'll get you on there.

SPEAKER_00:
Share your story.

SPEAKER_00:
That'd be fun.

SPEAKER_01:
The flip side, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:
Where can our viewers and listeners find you on social media?

SPEAKER_00:
I'm the PA platform pretty much everywhere.

SPEAKER_00:
 TikTok, Instagram, Facebook.

SPEAKER_00:
The podcast is The Pre-PA Club.

SPEAKER_00:
We have a Facebook group called The Pre-PA Club also.

SPEAKER_00:
Lots of videos on YouTube.

SPEAKER_00:
And I have another account that I post more like personal skincare, derm PA stuff on TikTok called, it's just at Physician Assistant.

SPEAKER_01:
So yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:
When you said, when you got, I was like, wow, how'd she do that?

SPEAKER_00:
I was like, I need to take this before somebody else does and make something terrible.

SPEAKER_00:
So

SPEAKER_00:
 Yeah, I don't know if it'll stay that forever, but I'll make sure nobody gets it.

SPEAKER_01:
You're crushing it on TikTok, Instagram, you have a big following on Instagram, too.

SPEAKER_00:
I mean, Instagram is hard.

SPEAKER_00:
They're all hard.

SPEAKER_00:
Like, what do you want from me?

SPEAKER_00:
I just want to talk about what I want to talk about.

SPEAKER_01:
 I know the algorithm.

SPEAKER_01:
Yes.

SPEAKER_01:
But awesome.

SPEAKER_01:
So I think this was great.

SPEAKER_01:
Thank you so much for coming on my podcast.

SPEAKER_01:
I wish you all the best in in your business and I want to see it keep growing.

SPEAKER_01:
And I'm obviously going to always continue to watch you on social media because you're super entertaining.

SPEAKER_01:
Hopefully, I'm sure our listeners and viewers got a lot out of this episode, especially if they're thinking about going to PA school again.

SPEAKER_01:
 Go check out Savannah's social media and website and the PA platform because it is honestly so helpful.

SPEAKER_00:
Don't be afraid to reach out.

SPEAKER_00:
I'm always happy to help.

SPEAKER_00:
Don't be afraid to ask your question.

SPEAKER_00:
No dumb questions.

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah, no dumb questions.

SPEAKER_01:
I hope we can do this again.

SPEAKER_01:
Yes, we'll have to connect.

SPEAKER_01:
 Thank you so much for listening.

SPEAKER_01:
Being a new podcaster, I rely on your reviews.

SPEAKER_01:
So don't be shy, let me know what you think and leave a review on whichever listening platform you're enjoying.

SPEAKER_01:
In that review, write your Instagram handle so I can shout you out on the next episode.

SPEAKER_01:
And if you're interested in being on the podcast, head over to my TikTok or Instagram account at helloimthepa and send me a message.

SPEAKER_01:
I'm always happy to hear from you.

SPEAKER_01:
That's at helloimthepa.

SPEAKER_01:
 This is the So You Want to Work in Healthcare podcast with new episodes every month.

SPEAKER_01:
Don't forget to subscribe to stay up to date on the latest releases.