About me
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Name: |
Paul Wade |
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Current role: |
Advanced Practitioner |
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Work setting: |
GP practice |
My name is Paul and I work as an Advanced Clinical Practitioner. I work in a GP practice and my role is to see and treat patients that are suffering with infections, injuries or health conditions which need investigation or treatment.
My career journey
I started my career in the ambulance service. My first role was as an Emergency Care Assistant, this involved driven the ambulance and assisting the paramedic. This was a great place to start and it gave me a wealth of experience of injury, illness and speaking to and helping people who were unwell.
After this I continued with the ambulance service and trained at university to become a Paramedic and moved onto the rapid response vehicle to respond to 999 call on my own. This meant I had to get used to being the one making all the decisions about what treatment a patient needed.
The ambulance service, however is limited by what medicines can be used when driving around and I wanted to treat a wider variety of patients. I continued to study at university and became a non-medical prescriber (someone who can prescribe medicines but isn’t a doctor) and Advanced Clinical Practitioner. This was when I moved roles and joined the doctor’s surgery.
How I got into this role
I would not be in my current job had I not kept exploring how I could continue to learn and develop. I found that continuing with education whilst working really opened up some great opportunities for me and kept my options open.
What my role involves
Each day in a doctor’s surgery is different and this is part of the reason I enjoy my job. I start my day with a couple of pre booked appointments – these can be booked a few weeks in advance by people who wish to see me specifically about a problem they have, perhaps they have painful knees from arthritis or they want me to check that they are fully better after a chest infection. After these appointments my day is filled with around 20 appointments for people who have called up that day who want to be seen by myself or a doctor. These appointments are to deal with problems which need to be seen quickly such as injuries or infections and could get worse if patients have to wait in order to seek somebody.
I see theses patients mainly face to face. I carry out a lot of tests on the patients and I start any treatment which needs to be prescribed such as antibiotics or pain relief. If the patient needs any tests such as an x ray or blood tests, I arrange these, taking blood samples myself or ordering the tests to be done elsewhere.
What I enjoy most
As most of my patients are suffering with acute illnesses or injuries it is very rewarding to be able to start investigation or treatment of their problem quickly. Lots of people worry about having to wait for treatment so are very pleased to be able to see someone quickly.
Challenges
On challenge of my job is meeting people’s expectations. A patient might have a simple cough caused by a virus but they are worried that they need antibiotics to make them better. A lot of people want medications for whatever problem they have because they believe it will make them better. Sometimes however injuries and illnesses need time, rest, or exercise to get better. Some conditions do not get better no what we do. Those patients are difficult because we all want to make people better and it can be challenging and upsetting when that is not possible.
Skills you need
In addition to the knowledge you will learn during training and the skills of performing medical examinations such as measuring blood pressure, listening to lung, heart and abdominal sounds and examining joints you also need to be very patient and be a very good listener. Without listening to patients fully you will never get to the bottom of their problem and therefore you wont be able to help fix it!
My advice
Don't be afraid to try something new. It is always best to try something, even if you need help with it. Nobody expects you to be able to do everything right on the first try.
Read more 'Day in the life' of primary care workers
We've pulled together all these personal journeys to showcase the diversity of primary care roles and give a hollistic, honest view of the highs and lows that come with the job. We believe primary care is a rewarding career path and our goal is make Nottingham and Nottinghamshire a great place to work, so our workforce can deliver the best possible care.
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