Once Again...

the new module starts and I am already feeling behind. Heck, I even read a bit over my BREAK to try and see if I would feel any different. Well I guess I didn't feel as behind as I normally do, but I still felt behind, like usual. I have to say that it is a very common feeling among my classmates and I after the first day. It's sorta a joke now. We will go up to eachother and say something like, "How's it going?", to which the answerer would reply something to the effect of, "Psh, I have NO clue what they heck just happened in there!"

I have so many things to get done this week it is going to be interesting to see how things play out. I have to send out a message again real quick to those wanting to go to PA school ... what I am about to describe is NOT uncommon in PA school. In fact, I would say it is more the rule than the exception.

This week I need to/have to:

1) Write my SOAP note from one of the patients I had seen during my mentoring.

2) Finish up the 53 question take home pharm quiz (that covered about four chapters out of a book our prof printed off for us).

3) Finish a ~about 173 page book for my Patient Health and Promotions class that I then have to attend a discussion meeting about the book during my lunch break, and then write a 1 page response to the discussion group (and that was the easiest option for one of our assignments we have to do).

4) Read up on Anatomy because we are going over the muscles in the entire body and the first lecture covered about 12 pages of notes already.

5) Read 2 case studies on Diabetes and answer the corresponding questions (usually anywhere from 10-15 questions per case) due this Friday.

6) Read a couple chapters in my pathophysiology book

7) Start studying up on the disease states for this module

8) Study the lecture notes and patho book from today and this thursday for a 20 question quiz on friday.

9) Meet with my Professional Issues group to start researching our topic and begin writing up our presentation due in the 1st week of April.

10) Meet with my other group the next day (for Health and Promotions) and start writing the script for the "bad outcome patient scenario" that we have to do and figure out how/when we are going to tape/edit it.

11) Participate in my programs last interview session all of Friday afternoon.

12) Oh yea and sleep, eat, go to class ~42 hrs this week, make sure the "other things NOT in PA school" don't fall apart, etc etc.

I'm not whinning (really), just giving you a taste of what this week will hold for me. I am sure I am forgetting something, if that is possible haha! See why we say it isn't the material that is hard it's the amount of material and other stuff you have to do in the short period of time you have to do it that makes PA school so difficult?? Not enough days in the week and hours in the day! Just gotta take one thing at a time and prioritize the BEST you can.

Well ... back to work!!

M-R

End of Break Blues

Well, as you can tell by the image above, our next module is endocrine. Fortunatly we had some endocrine already throughout the year, and especially during the ob/gyn module. However, I started reading the beginning of the first chapter in our patho book and HOLY CRAP this is gonna get complicated ... fast!

I have to admit though, one of my biggest down falls in PA school is that I learn best if I understand/know WHY something works, rather than just memorizing THAT it works. Hopefully that makes sense. Innately that may not seem like a bad thing, and on the surface (and maybe about an inch deep), it may seem like a good thing. It is ... to a degree. However, sometimes I get so wrapped up in having to know exactly what is going on that I waste WAAAY too much time trying to find the answer to a simple step, which we most likely will not be tested on anyhow. I know that some may be thinking, well at least you know that REALLY well. ... Yes, true, I do. However, with the amount of material we have to get through in the short period of time alotted, you really can't afford to get hung up on minute details.

Now listen carefully all you pre-PAs, Sometimes knowing THAT it works is good enough. Trust me, you dont want to spend most of your precious study time on what is happening at the cellular level in a disease, ESPECIALLY if it isn't all that clinically significant. -- I'm trying to walk a fine line because I don't want to discourage people from learning all they can. I'm simply sending out a suggestion that if you are finding yourself beating your head on the patho book/Cecils and getting incredibly frustrated move on and ask about it later in class. Just trust me!

Sorry, that was a bit of a tangent/soap box rant. Helpful? Hopefully. I think the reason I said all that was because endocrine is a lot of minute things going on that have major effects, hence the reason I am a little timid going into this module. I just hope I can get myself focused on the bigpicture/clinically important aspects and not get hung up on memorizing what proteins are being activated exactly and in what order. Otherwise this is going to be a rough next few weeks!

On another note, I am a little sad. Break was good, and even though I was getting a little bored there for a bit because I am so used to being busy all that time, it's still a little sad that it's over already. Eh, when does a break seem long enough though, right? I guess I am dredding going back because we have a couple group projects, a patient research project, a SOAP note write-up, and a full H&P write up (along with the usual quizzes and module exams) that are going to be due throughout this next ~5 weeks. It's gonna be a lot of work, and to tell ya the truth I really don't want to do it. Oh well though. I gotta do what I gotta do to get to next year.

Anyway, 9AM the fun begins again!! Hope your week is exciting and fun-filled as mine will be!! :0)

M-R

We've Crossed the Half Way Point!

Well this post is way, way over due. I dont really know if many people are really following this blog or not, but I guess I will keep typing away. Maybe somebody will come across this sometime.

Anyway, my absence from this blog has been due to the fact that I have a lot of free time on my hands and have been spending it playing my guitar, video games, and spending time with my girlfriend ... .... Yea, yea I know you aren't buyin it, of course that is a lie. I have had my face in the books for the past month and a half now first learning about the kidneys, and then OB/GYN (female-land as my anatomy prof put it)!!

But there is some good news to be shared, we have finally made it to the half way point through the first year!!! That is definitly something to celebrate, and boy did we as a class after our OB/GYN module exam. It feels good to sit back and realize how far my class and I have come in just this short 6 month period. I gotta hand it to my program, it really does a good job. Despite all the bickering, doubt and reisistance on our part, I think I can say that I have finally come to the realization that this is just how things are in PA school. It's stressful, and at times seems impossible, but some how we are getting through it, learning a ton, and slowly but surely becoming clinicians.

Right now we are on Spring break which could not have come at a better time because I was starting to get a bit burned out, crispy even. I know what you are thinking, "Again M-R?" Yes .. again. I swear, it's a wonder that we made it through last semester. We went pretty much straight through until Christmas break (besides the two days we had off for T-Day) and had one of the more difficult modules (Cardio) right at the end before break. No wonder a portion of us were thinking we weren't going to be able to make it. That's a long time going at a constant 150mph with no stops along the way. -- I am enjoying Spring break, even though I did not actually go on a trip. It has been great catching up with friends/family and being able to actually see my GF for longer than a couple of hours before I would go to the library again. Heck, I even got a chance to pick up the ol' guitar and play a few songs. The other thing that we have been working on accomplishing is getting this house back in order. It got crazy there for a little while!! I mean I am no clean freak or anything, but there comes a point when enough is enough and that point came and went, but neither of us had the time to get on it. So that was definitly the first thing to get caught up on.

All in all things are going pretty well. I did really well on the renal exam (the second hardest exam of the year), which felt great and gave me a little boost in my confidence. I did well on the OB/GYN exam as well. I tell ya, I am really glad to be done with that module! The one nice thing about that module was I didn't have any moments where I was thinking, "Crap, I think I have that!!" during lecture :-)

I finished up my last week at the family practice clinic I was at for my mentoring. It was a great 6 weeks, and I am going to miss working with my PA and the rest of the staff, and patients. I hope that the rest of my mentors are as easy going and as great of a teacher as this one was. On my last day, I got to do two knee injections on my own!! That was pretty sweet I must say, and to add to it I didn't hurt the patient when I did it either! I was pretty nervous, but had to keep my poker face on and act like I had done it a thousand times before. -- I am starting to gain some confidence in my clinical skills and decisions, even though that isn't necessarily the point of mentoring. Yet, it still surprises me when I throw out a correct suggestion to my mentor of what a patient may have going on with them or what the plan should be. I swear I am going to catch the person who whispers those ideas in my ear one of these days!! :-)

M-R