Will I ever get over The Impostor Syndrome?

        As a PA, as you mature and grow professionally you will eventually come to a point where you stop seeking professional validation from your colleagues or supervising physician(s). Moreover, many mid-career or senior PAs can’t recall exactly when this occurred in their career, but suffice it to say that level of clinical comfort comes to fruition around your 3rd or even 5th year of clinical practice--maybe a little sooner or a little bit later. Everyone learns and assimilates differently. Just ask your peers.

        You may still feel like a fraud ( aka The Impostor Syndrome ) even with many years of experience under your belt. In fact, even despite the years of CMEs, conferences, and practice skillset refinement & continual enhancement of your knowledge base, it is not uncommon to still feel that you don't measure up in the eyes of others including yourself.

        But rest assured,  as you grow and continue your professional development in your career journey, you will find out you no longer feel like you're a clinical fraud and know nothing at all! In fact, it will all come together and those insecure professional emotions and self-felt insecurities will vanish away. I have precepted numerous PA students during their second-year rotations over the years. All of my students have gone on and done well and I am proud to call them colleagues. While working with these students for 8-week rotations, I have made great friendships. Many have shared their concerns and uncertainty in their readiness to practice. I have also seen their triumphs and watched many grow in their skills and become great PAs. I have also heard their fears. 

        Eventually, you will realize that little nervousness and apprehension you felt and experienced almost daily immediately post-PA school during your early career while going it "alone” or without any mentoring will come to pass too. This is not to say you will never have your fair share of trying times, or difficult patients, nor toxic colleagues/workplaces,  or changing employers several times early on, etc.

        Remember, as the old saying goes: pace yourself; is not a sprint! I now find myself approaching my retirement after 35 years as a surgical PA. Naturally, I feel more comfortable in many areas of medicine than I ever did before; but truth be told, I still feel like I don’t know enough at times. Why? Because medicine is always evolving at a dizzying pace--we all know that. And among the PAs or physicians who have practiced longer than myself, I am sure they would attest to that or feel the same way.

        So, will you ever get over the Impostor Syndrome? Yes, and no. You might not feel any longer nervous or apprehensive about your knowledge base or skill set; rather, more self-aware of what you need to continue learning, and know that learning is a life-long endeavor. Yet, we must recognize and accept many of us in practice tend to see other experienced providers as “experts” in their careers. And in my view that’s okay! Again, Medicine is too vast to be an expert in everything. A PA wanting to be successful (and sane) knows when to ask for help or where to look for the answers.

      Reflecting back at my career thus far, I have concluded that we never really get over The Impostor Syndrome,  but instead, we slowly can become better providers by self-validating our clinical selves knowing that your “training” to be a PA did not end at graduation. The first several years in practice and thereafter will help mold you into the PA you will become thus giving you your very own and unique PA identity.