Are you wondering what the most important physician assistant skills are? If so, you’ve come to the right place. This article will review nine that every PA should have!
So you get a sense of the broad mosaic of talent required to be a good PA, let’s begin by talking about the difference between clinical skills and interpersonal skills. That will put the rest of our discussion into the right context.
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What Are the Different Kinds of Physician Assistant Skills? (Clinical vs Interpersonal)
Clinical skills (like knowing how to do a physical exam) are taught in a PA school program, tested throughout your career as a PA, and typically get highlighted on your resume.
On the other hand, interpersonal skills (like being a good communicator) are the more inherent features of a person that make them stand out as a clinician. These things aren’t tested on exams and in some cases can’t be taught, but they make a huge difference when it comes to the quality of patient care.
While clinical skills usually grab the headlines on a resume, let’s talk first about the interpersonal skills that matter for a PA.
5 Interpersonal Physician Assistant Skills
If you have the following skills, be sure to let them shine during any interviews you have! Admissions committees (and employers) value them very highly.
The essential interpersonal physician assistant skills are:
1. Empathy
While this list is in no particular order, empathy is one of the most important traits a provider can have.
Throughout your career, you’ll encounter many different patients. Some of them will be going through extremely difficult and/or defining times in their lives. It’s very important for you to understand that and how what a patient is going through can influence their behavior.
As you continue throughout your career, exposure can sometimes harden you and your demeanor. It’s important not to lose your compassion and understanding during difficult moments. Empathy is key to remaining a patient, kind, and compassionate provider.
2. Communication
In the age of AI-generated email responses and virtual learning opportunities, in-person communication skills can sometimes get put on the back burner.
When it comes to practicing as a PA, you need to have the ability to communicate effectively with not only your patients, but also your colleagues, support staff, and supervising physicians. This involves curating effective patient presentations, discussing treatment plans, and turning complex medical language into phrasing your patient can understand.
Effective communication varies depending on who you’re talking to. If you’re communicating with other medical providers, ensuring you remain professional, respectful, and concise is crucial.
With patients, it’s important to practice emotional intelligence. This means that you’re able to read a room and understand quickly the best way to effectively communicate with that patient and their family.
⭐ For a full breakdown of how to interact with patients as a PA, check out: 7 Tips for Communicating with Patients as a PA
3. Time Management
As a provider, you not only need to spend time face to face with patients, but all of these interactions need to be documented electronically through adequate charting. These things take time. Not to mention allotting for emergencies that may take you away from your planned work schedule.
As a PA, you have to learn to prioritize the “must dos” in a quick way, because you may not have the time to plan ahead when things come up unexpectedly.
4. Dependability
It goes without saying that you should be dependable, but it’s important to discuss why this is especially true for a PA.
As a provider, people are relying on you to show up. In many settings, your absence may cause people to cancel appointments or delay surgeries to wait for adequate staffing. Also, you may be on call during a weekend or holiday, when none of your coworkers are available and there may be no other option besides you.
Of course, being dependable in this career goes far beyond just showing up. You’re making medical decisions and your patients are relying on you when it comes to that as well.
Emergencies happen of course, but by definition they should be a rare occurrence.
5. Remaining Calm Under Pressure
Your exposure to “high-stakes” situations will vary depending on the position you take, but regardless, the ability to stay calm is a good skill to have as a PA.
You may find yourself in stressful situations that require composure for the benefit of your patients, their family members, and other clinical support staff. No matter how anxious you may be for the outcome, remaining confident and poised will help you think clearly and provide the best care possible for your patient.
4 Clinical Physician Assistant Skills
Now let’s take a look at the clinical skills any good PA needs to have.
These include:
1. Obtaining Patient History and Physical Exam (H&P)
This may seem like a no-brainer for the “must have” category, but it takes practice to become proficient at obtaining a clinical history and performing a focused physical exam on a patient.
Remember that patients don’t know what information is pertinent, so you have to perform a guided assessment and tailor your physical exam to ensure adequate diagnosis.
Skillfully obtaining an H&P, in a way that is targeted without being excessive, requires a step-by-step and knowledgeable approach. That takes time to develop, but it’s worth the investment, as obtaining patient history and doing a focused physical exam are two things every good PA can do.
2. Critical Thinking and Clinical Reasoning
It truly goes without saying that critical thinking and clinical reasoning are essential PA skills.
However, if you’re currently pre-PA, it’s important to understand that these things are taught throughout your education. Especially during your PA clinical rotations, when you have the opportunity to practice them.
Thinking like a clinician takes practice, and if you opt to pursue a PA degree you’ll continue to practice this throughout your career. So don’t worry if right now you feel like your critical thinking and clinical reasoning skills need a bit of work. You’ll have plenty of time to improve them.
3. Procedural Skills
Performing procedures is a big part of being a PA. And you’ll learn a ton of them over the course of your career.
Some you’ll learn during school, such as Foley catheter insertion, inserting IVs, scrubbing in for surgery, and many more. But that doesn’t even scratch the surface of what you’ll do as a PA.
You’ll learn a lot of other procedures once you specialize after graduation. This is a really exciting part of practicing as a PA, because the learning never stops, and as you grow into your role, there are just so many procedures you’ll pick up along the way.
For example, PAs in primary care need to have proficiency in skills like suturing/wound care, casting, and excisions. As a CT surgery PA, my skillset involves inserting arterial/central lines, vein harvesting, suturing, and assisting in the OR.
Some PAs are trained in intubation, performing paracentesis or thoracentesis, joint injections, IUD insertions, and many other skills.
If you have any of the procedural skills listed above, definitely add them to your PA resume, even if you feel like they aren’t relevant to the position. If certain skills sound particularly intriguing to you, be sure you’re looking for a position that has supportive and encouraging training.
4. Patient Education
Being able to teach patients about conditions requires you to understand where they’re coming from. It’s important to keep in mind they aren’t medical professionals. You should always take the time to thoroughly explain conditions to patients, work them through your reasoning for ordering any follow up exams, and discuss next steps in detail.
It’s critical to do all that in a way that patients understand. This is important when it comes to explaining both treatments and prevention techniques.
Patients that are educated will always do better, and it’s important to realize most patients don’t have any medical training. So you’ll need to take some time and convert medical jargon into a language they understand.
Final Thoughts
This list is by no means exhaustive, but it’s a great place to start if you’re trying to understand what it takes to succeed as a physician assistant. While some of these skills can be taught, you should bring others (such as the interpersonal skills) with you into the job.
Of course, even if you have all the skills listed above, there’s always ways to improve! As we noted, for a good PA the learning never stops. 💪
Good luck on your journey, and be sure to reach out if you have any questions!
