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