| Course | PA 601 PA Prof Prac Seminar III |
|---|---|
| Week | 6 |
| Paper type | Documentation backlog memo |
| Length | About 600 words, 4 pages |
| Format | Memo with APA 7 citations |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PA 601 Week 6
Memorandum
To: Supervising PA, Bluestem Family Clinic
From: PA student, family medicine rotation
Date: Friday, week 6
Re: Unclosed notes: 23 encounters, 4 blocking other work, and a request for two protected half hours
The Position in Figures
I have 23 encounters with unsigned notes. The oldest is from last Friday, six days ago. Four of them are blocking something else: a dermatology referral that cannot be sent until the note is signed, a work note a patient needs by Monday, a home health order and a prior authorization for a knee MRI. The rest are complete in my head and partly on screen.
Grouped, Not Listed
Table 1
Backlog by Group
| Group | Count | What remains | Estimated time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blocking another person or process | 4 | Assessment and plan, signature | 40 minutes |
| Complex visits, more than one problem | 7 | Assessment and plan sections | 70 minutes |
| Straightforward visits, one problem | 10 | Final review and signature | 30 minutes |
| Procedures | 2 | Procedure note template and signature | 10 minutes |
Note. Note. Estimates are mine and include final review by the supervising PA.
Grouping matters because the groups need different things: the blocking notes need speed, the complex ones need memory and the straightforward ones only need a signature.
Detail Has a Half-Life
The complex notes are the urgent ones even when nothing is waiting on them. My memory of what B.L. said about falls, or what R.A.'s interpreter clarified about insulin timing, fades by the day. A note written a week late is less accurate and harder to defend.
Somebody Is Waiting on Some of These
The four blocking notes come first. The patient needing the work note has called twice. The dermatology referral has a three-week wait already, and every day of delay in sending it adds to that.
How It Happened
In primary care, documentation and inbox work take a large share of clinicians' time; in one study using EHR event logs, family physicians spent about half of their workday in the EHR (Arndt et al., 2017). As a student I am slower than that. Thursday's atrial fibrillation transfer consumed the notes block, and two days of afternoon visits that ran late did the rest. This memo is not an apology; it is a plan.
A Memo Asks for Something
I am asking for two protected half hours, Monday and Tuesday at 12:00, when no patients or messages are routed to me. With those and my own time, the backlog would be cleared by Wednesday at close of clinic, in the order shown in the table. I am also asking that from next week my schedule include a fifteen-minute documentation block after every fourth visit, at least until my note time comes down. When observers shadowed office physicians in four specialties, screen and paperwork time came to roughly double the time those physicians spent in the room with patients (Sinsky et al., 2016), a schedule with no time for that work guarantees it is done late.
Say What You Will Carry
I will close the four blocking notes tonight on my own time, before either protected half hour. I will stop starting the next visit before the previous note's assessment and plan are written. I will report the backlog figure to you each Friday until it is under five.
Not a Document About Character
I would rather the backlog be read as a problem of schedule design than of effort, because only the first can be fixed by a change to the template. If the change does not work in two weeks, the figures will show it.
References
Arndt, B. G., Beasley, J. W., Watkinson, M. D., Temte, J. L., Tuan, W.-J., Sinsky, C. A., & Gilchrist, V. J. (2017). Tethered to the EHR: Primary care physician workload assessment using EHR event log data and time-motion observations. Annals of Family Medicine, 15(5), 419-426. https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.2121
Sinsky, C., Colligan, L., Li, L., Prgomet, M., Reynolds, S., Goeders, L., Westbrook, J., Tutty, M., & Blike, G. (2016). Allocation of physician time in ambulatory practice: A time and motion study in 4 specialties. Annals of Internal Medicine, 165(11), 753-760. https://doi.org/10.7326/M16-0961
PA 601 Week 6 instructions, in plain terms
The sixth week asks for a memo to the person who controls your schedule about a backlog of unfinished notes. Open with the position in figures: how many encounters are unclosed, how old the oldest one is and what is waiting on them. Group the items by what each needs rather than listing them one by one; twenty light notes and twenty complex ones are different problems. Explain why delay matters beyond tidiness, including the fading of detail and the people waiting on blocked items. The memo must ask for something specific that the reader could grant, with a date for clearing the backlog. Say what you will do yourself. Avoid turning the memo into an account of your character or an apology. Cite evidence on documentation workload where it helps the request.
Inside the PA 601 Week 6 example
The memo is addressed to the supervising PA and dated Friday of week 6. Its first section gives 23 unclosed encounters, the oldest from the previous Friday, and four that block a referral, a work note, a home health order and a knee MRI authorization. A table groups the backlog into blocking, complex, straightforward and procedure notes with counts, what remains and estimated minutes. Short sections explain that memory of complex visits fades and that the work note patient has called twice. A cause section cites Arndt et al. (2017) on time in the EHR and names the atrial fibrillation transfer. The request section asks for protected half hours on Monday and Tuesday and a fifteen-minute block after every fourth visit, citing Sinsky et al. (2016). The writer commits to closing the blocking notes that night and to weekly Friday figures.
PA 601 Week 6 rubric: what full points look like
Where this memo fails worst is in the confession, a page explaining why the writer is behind and asking for nothing a reader could grant. Next comes the backlog reported as a single number, which hides the difference between light and heavy items. Faculty then deduct for memos that never state what is blocked or who is waiting. Credit goes to an opening in figures, items grouped by what they need and a request that is specific and dated. Saying what the writer will carry alone earns a separate share, since it shows the request is not a handoff of responsibility. Evidence on documentation time, used to support the request rather than as an excuse, earns further marks. Memo format, a named reader and APA citations close the rubric.
PA 601 Week 6 help from the desk
Backlog memos often read as apologies, with long explanations and no request at all. Another problem is one number, such as "I am behind on 23 notes," with no hint which ones matter. A third is a request so broad, such as "more time," that the reader cannot act on it. If your backlog is different, for example discharge summaries on an inpatient rotation or procedure notes after a surgical week, send the figures and the name of the person you report to; a memo written for you would open with the numbers, group the items, show what is blocked, ask for a specific change with a completion date and say what you will do yourself. If your program has a policy on note completion times, it would be cited by name.
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PA 601 Week 6 questions, answered
Who should the memo be addressed to?
Whoever can change something. A supervising physician can alter what gets delegated; a practice manager can alter the template. Sections that leave the reader unspecified are effectively asking you to choose one and justify the choice, and a sentence doing that at the top usually earns more than it costs.
Should I include actual note contents?
No, and most scenarios do not want them. The memo works at the level of categories and counts: how many are open, which group each belongs to, what is blocked behind them. Clinical content pulls the document toward documentation practice, which is another course's ground, and it adds nothing the reader of a memo would use.
Is proposing a closing order really necessary?
In most sections it is the part being marked. Anybody can report that work is outstanding; the judgment is in what gets closed first and what that choice sacrifices. An order with a stated principle underneath it, recoverability or blocking or something else you can defend, is what turns the memo from a report into an argument.
Where can I find a free PA 601 Week 6 sample paper?
This page holds a complete PA 601 Week 6 memo on a backlog of twenty-three unsigned notes, grouped by what each needs, with a dated request.
What does the PA 601 Week 6 memo ask for?
Two protected half hours on Monday and Tuesday and a fifteen-minute documentation block after every fourth visit until note time comes down.