Day in the life of a surgical PA?

Hi all,

I'm currently an undergrad student who is very interested in medicine, namely surgery, but NOT very interested in medical school/residency. I work at a fairly large teaching hospital, and I've noticed a number of PAs in various surgical sub-specialties around the hospital.

What I am wondering is, what is a day in the life for one of these PAs like? Is most of the time spent first assisting, or is there a balance between rounding/clinic/OR time? Also, when you are first assisting, what are your duties? Are you basically doing the same stuff as the surgeon? What is the benefit of surgical PA over biting the bullet and becoming a surgeon? Is surgical residency necessary after graduation?

I'm hoping to shadow one of the aforementioned PAs, but would like a few answers before then. Thanks in advance!