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Research Assessment #9

Date: ​10/31/19

Subject: ​Orthopaedics Physician Assistant

Source:

Randolph, Travis. “A Day in the Life of a PA in Orthopaedics.” ​AAPA​, 29 July 2019,

www.aapa.org/news-central/2018/04/day-life-pa-orthopaedics/.

Assessment:

The article titled “A Day in the Life of a PA in Orthopaedic,” Travis Randolph PA-C,

ATC accounts for his daily routine as a working physician assistant in an orthopedic specialty.

He first gives a brief description of his job, why he loves it, and his educational background.

Randolph finds joy in being able to help someone routine to a daily, essential part of their lives.

For example, “reconstructing an ACL for an athlete to return to competition, fixing a fracture

that allows someone to walk again, or replacing an arthritic hip joint so a patient can continue

fishing,” Randolph states in the article (Randolph 2). After his brief descriptions or introduction,

Randolph breaks down one of his days working as an orthopedic sports medicine physician

assistant. His breakdown of his day is packed full of patients, meetings, and appointments;

leaving little free time. However, Randolph enjoys the hecticness of his job and loves all the

different roles he gets to enjoy by being an orthopedic sports medicine physician assistant.

The information is relevant to me and my journey in Independent and Study Mentorship

(ISM) because the article is a personal journal from an orthopedic sports medicine physician

assistant, which is the area of topic I would love to study and pursue throughout the year in this

class. The article gave me a great, detailed understanding of what it entails being a working
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physician assistant specializing in orthopedic sports medicine. Not only this, but the article gave

me a better look into the specific speciality of orthopedic sports medicine and the variety the

speciality has to offer. The article further piqued my interest in orthopedic sports medicine and I

plan to further research it. From reading this article, I was able to learn that I love how many

different roles and duties being a physician assistant in orthopedic sports medicine entails. Also,

I believe that specializing as a physician assistant in orthopedic sports medicine would be

“tremendously satisfying [due to the fact that you] can improve my patients’ quality of life,” as

stated by Randolph in his article (Randolph 2).

I plan to use the information that I gained from this educational article in my research

speech that I plan to given in my Independent and Study Mentorship class. Additionally, the

information I learned about the specialty of orthopedic sports medicine will be beneficial to me

as I pursue mentor visits this year. The new knowledge I gained was surprising and exciting all at

the same time. For instance, I was excited by how diverse and impactful the role a physician

assistant plays in the orthopedic sports medicine field. I was surprised by just how much

Randolph was able to complete in just one day. For example, he first assisted in surgery, treated

and diagnosed many patients in clinic, and had business meetings. Overall, I found the article to

be insightful and great educational read as an aspiring physician assistant. The knowledge I

gained helped to broaden my already previous knowledge and put me on a great track for the

future.