Physician Associate - Blog

My dream role as a Physician Associate Blog – Aimee Ehrenzeller

I did a psychology degree at Swansea prior to becoming a Physician Associate (PA). I volunteered with St John Cymru and really loved the patient contact, and I then applied for the PA course from this experience.

I was attracted to the PA role because of the flexible training pathway, which would not require me to move around for my initial jobs post-qualification, as is expected of junior doctors. I also wanted a career which was flexible, allowing me to move through specialties rather than sticking to one area of medicine. I completed my Postgraduate Diploma in 2018 and then topped up to an MSc in 2019.

My first post was in primary care. It was an internship for the first 12 months, meaning I had extra supervision and teaching, and was able to spend some time gaining experience in other areas such as dermatology and sexual health. I've worked in primary care since then. I currently work at Ashgrove Surgery in Pontypridd.

I have recently spent some time in sexual and reproductive medicine in order to upskill in this area and train to fit contraceptive coils. The thing I enjoy the most is the variety. No two days are the same, I meet lots of people every day and enjoy making a difference to patients' lives. In the future, I would like to get involved in teaching the next generation of physician associates and other health professionals.

I like the quiet things in life: reading, puzzles and being outdoors, especially with a dog or two for company! In my career, I am particularly interested in paediatrics, women's health and medical education.

I'd be happy to answer any questions. The best way to contact me is LinkedIn (Aimee Ehrenzeller), Twitter @aimeeehren or email (aimee.ehrenzeller@wales.nhs.uk).

My clinical supervisor’s feedback - Victoria Whitehead

I really wasn’t sure what to expect from a Physician Associate (PA) in General Practice and how this role would work within the team. I was told that the PA that would be working with me would join me in practice as a student for her Pre-Intern Placement. I was impressed with Aimee’s knowledge and ability to apply this to the patient in front of her from that first student placement. Because PA’s are trained in the medical model with a practical and hands on approach during their training, her ability to take a good history, make a thorough examination, form a sensible differential diagnosis and suggest a suitable management plan was good. This gave me the confidence to come up with a suitable induction programme and outline plan when she joined me once she had qualified. I based my plan largely on my previous experience working with FY doctors and GP STs but personalised for the particular needs of a PA and Aimee in particular.

When Aimee first joined the team reception supported her training by care navigating patients with minor illness, mental health and new presentations of problems. Supervision was initially very intensive but over the first few months Aimee’s remit grew and by the end of the first year the only ‘GP’ patients that would be care navigated away from her were the most medically complex, palliative care patients and polypharmacy medication reviews. Her requirement for supervision reduced too and now we have been working together for a few years we are at the point where she requires occasional case discussions, signing of prescriptions (and occasional advice regarding prescribing) and signing of requests for tests with ionising radiation. Even with such a capable PA as Aimee, I cannot say strongly enough that the more support and supervision you are willing to put in, the quicker the PA will develop skills and independence.

Aimee has developed some specialist skills too – for example she performs baby checks, runs a student clinic at our local university and fits IUDs. Aimee and I worked together to develop her skills outside of direct patient care too. She was quickly able to take on management of results and correspondence, writing reports (where appropriate), leading audit based work and leading educational meetings.

Like all professionals, each individual PA has their strengths and weaknesses. Because PAs can have differing initial degrees, variability can be greater between individuals – not better or worse, just different. My personal opinion is that if you can find the PA that fits well with your practice and put in the work to support their development in the first 12-18 months of their career you will have an invaluable addition to your team.