Certified PAs undergo extensive and continuous education, which makes them highly qualified and integral parts of the health care team. They diagnose, assess and develop treatment plans for patients. One of the things that sets Certified PAs apart is their flexibility to work in any specialty. Klarisse Mathis, PA-C, loves having autonomy when providing care to patients as well as being able to pursue many of her passions.
“I have a passion for orthopedics, but I am also able to work in other specialties,” Mathis said. “I love children, and I have a per diem job in pediatrics vaccinating immigrant children.”
Certified PAs are also an integral part of a patient’s health care journey. Mathis was able to provide both medical and emotional support to her patients during the pandemic.
Patients were not allowed to have visitors, so many of them relied on using their phones to communicate with family and friends. However, “many of our patients were elderly and did not have cell phones,” Mathis explained. “The unit I worked on at the time did not have working phones in the rooms.”
When she was with her patients every day, Mathis would use her own phone to call her patients’ loved ones. “Families greatly appreciated the lengths I went to every day during their stay, which put them at ease knowing that I was not only taking care of [their loved ones] medically but also emotionally,” Mathis said.
To find more information on the profession, or for more stories like this one, please visit PAsDoThat.net.
