“Royal Pains” PA Is No “Doctor’s Little Helper”

Hi - Gang,

I'm just making a correction to comment below. There are three PAs on the White House medical team, according to AAPA Writer/Editor Doug Scott. He believes they are all military PAs.

"Royal Pains" on USA network is fresh, intriguing and engaging. I am surprised the PA character (Reshema Shetty) is not a NP.  It seems the focus is on NPs these days.  Perhaps the writer is related to a PA (?).  I just about fell out of my chair when Dr. Hank made the needed distinction of "associate" vs. "assistant. My guess is most patients would agree that the term "Assistant" does not quite hit the mark when defining the new role of the PA.                                                                                    

Actually, we all attended a medical education program i.e. "medical school", studying clinical medicine and it's applications.  The idea that "medical school" only refers to programs that generate those with MD or DO degrees is erroneous.  The difference between thoese "medical schools" and our "medical schools" it that we receive a degree in PA studies and are prepared to begin practice after graduation.  When asked, I simply tell people I studied medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina and gratuated with a degree in PA studies.  I would think most of us could make the same statement, changing only the institution name.  At no point in my medical education, did I tale a course on how to assist a physician.  We assist physicians by practicing medicine collaboratively with them, this extending medical care to a broader patient population.

Calm down, all of you.  Get those chips off your shoulders.  You did not go to medical school but you do invaluable work.

Nice, nice, nice.

Amazing that some Hollywood writers understand us better than some of our leaders. That's twice where "just being an assistant" got under her skin.

Great.

Let's keep going.

Dave

Finally, someone did the research about physician assistants. It s not acceptable that our president did not even mention us, knowing that one of his immediate medical providers is a PA from the army.  

The hair went up on my head when in one episode Hank (the doc) tells Divya he's going to call her his associate instead of assistant. Evidently some of his clients tend to dismiss her as just an "assistant".  Seems the old argument of assistant vs. associate raised it's head for a few moments.  

Very resourceful character she is. Can't wait to see how the series progresses.

RE: "While I may not have gone to medical school"

I did attend a medical school. In fact my 2 years of PA schooling was right alongside the medical students during their second and third years of medical school. We took many of the same classes and clinical rotations together. Where we differed was in our more comprehensive training in outpatient family medicine vs the medical students in depth training in inpatient internal medicine.

Still, compared to our presidents obvious lack of recognition of the profession, it is nice to have it explained in a mainstream series.

I enjoy the show and I have been paying attention to how the Divya character is portraying PA's. So far, I think I like it. While she comes off a little eccentric sometimes, it is obvious that she is very smart and capable. In this last episode, besides correcting Evan on his interpretation of what a PA is, she also showed intelligent compassion in administering the TB test to the restuarant workers when she told Evan that scheduling the test during their busy lunch rush was not the best time to be there. Also her dogged pursuit in seaking the results from the foreign born employee and obtaining her CXR showed creativity.

So, so far, I think she's doing a good job.

I love that show!!  and I love the fact that she stated what we do.....