| Course | PA 601 PA Prof Prac Seminar III |
|---|---|
| Week | 1 |
| Paper type | Discussion post with two replies |
| Length | About 570 words |
| Format | Discussion post with APA 7 citations |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PA 601 Week 1
Week 1 Discussion: Initial Post
Re-Taking Every High Blood Pressure Myself: Three Minutes a Patient, Twenty-One Minutes a Day, and Whose Time Those Minutes Were Taken From at Bluestem Family Clinic
Pick a Habit, Not a Theme
My habit on this rotation is small. When the medical assistant's intake reading is 140/90 or higher, I take the blood pressure again myself before I say anything about it, after the patient has been seated quietly for a few minutes, with the arm supported and the right cuff. For one person it is plainly good practice: a single high office reading often comes down on a properly taken repeat, and a diagnosis or medication change based on the first number can be wrong. The American Heart Association's statement on measurement describes the preparation, cuff sizing and averaging of readings that a reliable office value needs (Muntner et al., 2019).
The Arithmetic
On my Tuesdays and Thursdays at Bluestem Family Clinic, a composite rural practice, about seven of the twenty patients I see have a first reading at or above 140/90. Each repeat costs me about three minutes once I wait for the patient to settle, find the large cuff and take two readings. That is twenty-one minutes a day.
The Displaced Minutes Have an Owner
The minutes are not free; they come from somewhere specific. Last Thursday I tracked it. Nine of the twenty-one minutes came out of the visits themselves, mostly out of the time I would otherwise have spent on the medication review at the end. Twelve minutes pushed the schedule back, so the patients at 11:20 and 11:40 waited longer, and one of them, a farmer who had come in from the field, left without the foot check we had planned. The rest of the cost was mine, in notes finished at 6:15 instead of 5:50.
Keep, Route or Drop
I do not want to drop the habit; the cost of acting on a wrong reading is real. But I can route it. Our medical assistants already use an automated cuff that can take three readings, five minutes after rest, while the patient waits in the room. If intake readings of 140/90 or above trigger that automated series before I enter, the information is better than my single repeat and the three minutes move to a period when the patient is waiting anyway. I asked my preceptor whether we could try this for two weeks; she agreed, provided the medical assistants agree it fits their work.
If the medical assistants find the automated series does not fit their intake, I will keep the habit but limit it to patients whose treatment would change on the number today.
Where PA-601 Starts and PA-501 Stopped
In the first seminar we argued what a physician assistant is allowed to do. This course seems to ask a different question: given what I can do, what should I do personally, and what should the system do for me? This habit is a small test of that.
What Replies Are For Here
Reply to Jordan: You say charting at night is "part of the job." Which of your evening tasks could be routed to someone else during the day, and which truly need you?
Reply to Alana: Your habit of calling every abnormal result yourself sounds valuable. How many calls a day is that, and whose time does it come from?
References
Muntner, P., Shimbo, D., Carey, R. M., Charleston, J. B., Gaillard, T., Misra, S., Myers, M. G., Ogedegbe, G., Schwartz, J. E., Townsend, R. R., Urbina, E. M., Viera, A. J., White, W. B., & Wright, J. T., Jr. (2019). Measurement of blood pressure in humans: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Hypertension, 73(5), e35-e66. https://doi.org/10.1161/HYP.0000000000000087
PA 601 Week 1 instructions, in plain terms
The opening discussion asks for one small clinical habit, examined honestly for what it costs. Start with the habit and one line on why it is good for a single patient. Then do the arithmetic: how often it happens, how many minutes each time and the daily total. The heart of the post is displacement: say exactly whose time those minutes were taken from, whether a later patient, a task left undone or your own evening. Then decide whether to keep the habit, route it to someone or something else, or drop it, with a reason. The prompt also asks how this course's question differs from the first professional seminar's. Two replies follow; they should push classmates to put a number and an owner on their own habits rather than simply agree that clinics are busy.
Inside the PA 601 Week 1 example
The first section describes the repeat reading, taken after quiet sitting with a supported arm and the right cuff, and cites Muntner et al. (2019) for what a reliable office value needs. The arithmetic section counts about seven of twenty patients at or above the threshold on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at three minutes each. The displacement section tracks one Thursday: nine minutes from medication reviews, twelve minutes pushed onto the 11:20 and 11:40 patients, one of whom left without a planned foot check, and notes closed at 6:15. The keep, route or drop section chooses routing, asking medical assistants to run a three-reading automated series before the clinician enters, with the preceptor's agreement for a two-week trial. A short section contrasts this course with PA 501. Replies ask Jordan which evening tasks could move to the day and Alana how many result calls she makes and at whose expense.
Reading the PA 601 Week 1 grading rubric
The steepest deduction in this post goes to writing about being busy in general. That describes a condition every classmate shares and examines nothing. The next largest loss falls on a habit priced without displacement, where the writer admits the time but never says what it was taken from. Faculty then look for arithmetic that is specific: frequency, minutes and a daily figure. A habit defended for one patient, with a reason a reader could check, earns early credit. Choosing among keeping, routing and dropping, with a concrete plan, carries a significant share, and fixes that depend only on trying harder lose points. The link back to the earlier seminar is graded briefly. A reply scores when it presses its classmate to name the cost and the owner of that classmate's habit, and any source cited needs APA form.
Common PA 601 Week 1 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Posts most often lose points by staying abstract, describing the pressure of clinic without a single habit or number in them. Another common gap is counting the minutes and stopping, as if the cost proved the habit wrong. A third is a fix that rests on willpower. If your habit is different, such as calling every family yourself or walking specimens to the lab, send it with a rough count from your own sessions; a post drafted for you would defend it for one patient, do the arithmetic, name whose time it took, choose to keep, route or drop it with a workable plan and link it to the earlier seminar. Paste the classmates' posts you need to answer, and each reply will press that classmate to price their own example.
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PA 601 Week 1 questions, answered
Does this post need a patient in it?
Usually only as an illustration. The unit of analysis is the habit and the session it sits inside, not a person's presentation, so two clauses of clinical detail are generally enough. Most sections mark the reasoning about repetition; a full history and exam fills the submission with material the week never requested.
Can I argue that the habit should be kept whatever it costs?
Yes, and some habits earn that answer. It has to be argued rather than asserted, which means naming what gets given up to protect it and saying why that trade is acceptable. A post that declares something non-negotiable and never says who pays for it reads as avoidance of the week's question.
How much of the session do I have to describe?
Enough that the count is believable. A sentence on the kind of session, roughly how many people are on it and how long the slots run gives the arithmetic somewhere to stand. Beyond that, detail about the setting competes with the argument, and sections marking this week reward the argument.
Where can I find a free PA 601 Week 1 sample paper?
This page has a full PA 601 Week 1 post that prices a blood pressure re-check habit at twenty-one minutes a day and traces whose time it took.
What does the PA 601 Week 1 sample decide about the habit?
It routes it rather than dropping it, asking medical assistants to run a three-reading automated series before the clinician enters the room.