Reflection On Patient Shadowing

This summer I completed my field experience by shadowing a physician assistant named Adam Strantz. He works in a primary care office in Fremont, Michigan. The office, Spectrum Health Medical Group, was fairly small and included only two PAs and one physician. Before starting my shadowing, I set a few goals for myself to learn during my time there. Each and every one of my goals were met through my time there.
These included topics like communication between the physician assistant and his patients and also between his co workers. The PA whom I shadowed showed good communication for most of the time. An example where his non-verbal communication lacked was when he was with a patient there were times when he would be looking at his computer and typing while the patient was explaining their problems instead of looking at the patient. Overall, his verbal communication was excellent. There was a time when a Spanish speaking family came in and they knew very little English. Instead of trying to guess what they were trying to say, he asked one of the nurses to get a translator on the phone. Since there were phones in every room, he was able to put the translator on speaker and continue with the …show more content…
This environment affected the physician/patient relationship because the physicians and physician assistants get to know their patients at a deeper level. There were multiple times when the physician assistant would greet their patients as if they were friends. Having this laid back relationship makes the patient feel more comfortable and increases their trust with their physician. Most of them live in the same community as the patients and also see them often because it is the only doctor’s office in the area. It is important in this situation especially, that the medical professionals protect the privacy of their patients and keep their information and relationship