A Word On Punctuality...

Hey guys,

I wanted to devote this next post to Punctuality. This is something that should be a no-brainer, but yet there have been many that have not adhered to this basic, yet fundamental concept. Please be on time to class. If you are not able to be on time to class, then please, in the name of all that is holy, do NOT walk into the classroom after class has already started. This is very distracting, disrespectful, and unprofessional in general. Also, if one of your friends happen to be the one locked outside, do NOT let them in. This is just as disrespectful as the guy walking into class late. There is a simple solution to this, if you must be late just wait outside the classroom until the class takes a break. Then, no harm no fowl.

I guess the bottom line here is I dont really care if people are late that much. What bugs the holy bahjesus outta me is when someone walks into class 40 mins late ... with coffee in hand!!!! Come on, really?!

Don't do it folks, unless you like the feeling of 35 pairs of eyes burning a hole straight through your soul! :-) Oh and remember this old saying and you shall never be late: "If you are on-time ... you're late."

Now, I know you must be thinking to yourself, "Now M-R, have you never been late?" Honestly, yes I have. But again, the point in this is NOT to make things worse by walking into the classroom after the class has already begun as if you are some sort of V.I.P. or something.

Respect your instructers and your fellow classmates; no matter how much they get under your skin. When you get into PA school you are now a professional. Do everything you can to work on being professional.

M-R

P.S. - The picture is supposed to be a joke. I'm really not THAT insensitive...

Surgery ... Not What I Was Expecting

Well our Surgery module is kicking my butt. Not necessarily because the material is hard, but because we have shunned all of our other classes away in order to fit surgery in one week. Here is our schedule for this week:

8AM - Meet in lecture room for Surgery topic lectures

12:30PM - Break for lunch (and you better woof it down fast)

1:00PM - Back to lecture room for more Surgery topic lectures
4:00PM - Either go home and start studying to try and catch up with the enormous amount of material given to you that day OR:

4-6PM - If it is your groups day you go to the suture and "how to gown up for surgery" lab room and practice, practice, practice.

So far it has been that schedule for the past 3 days. Needless to say (maybe?), this week has found me fighting every nerve and muscle in my body to stay awake during the 4 hour lecture marathons.

I thought that when we did surgery we would be talking a lot about procedures, how to do them, what to look out for, etc. Instead we have been more talking about when is it appropriate to do surgery, pre-op/post-op considerations, and prophylactic therapies. Much of what we have been talking about has been a lot of review from the GI module. We really havent talked much about cardiac surgeries or anything like that. I think it's because the PA teaching us right now is teaching us mainly from what he does at their hospital. That's fine I guess. I just wish we were getting a little more diverse exposure. But maybe thats what next year is for.

Well back to work!!

M-R

Update Coming Soon!!

Good Goly! I have not updated this thing in almost two months. Well just so you guys know I am still here. The semester got pretty busy there for awhile, and to be honest when I did get a second to not study the last thing I wanted to do was sit in front of a computer screen to update my blog. Sorry about that. I will get an official update on here soon. I just wanted to let everyone know I am still alive and well?? ... Yea something like that.

M-R

Mentoring Setup Woes

Well today I sort of get an ear full. Not really bad, but enough to make me realize I messed up! Yikes!

Let me explain ... before school started in the Fall we got this packet of info that had a bunch on information in it and some instruction on what to do with some of it. Part of that information regarded immunizations. Well, to try and make a long story short, I misunderstood what it was that we were supposed to do with our immunization information and almost ended up not being able to mentor. What happened was I thought, for some reason, that the only reason they wanted us to give our imms records to our student health center was so that they could look it over and tell us what we were missing and what not. For some reason it didn't click in my mind that the only way they can verify that we actually have our imms done is if we give them the information that we have on them. So instead I found my information on the MCIR (which is basically a database of imms records from childhood on) and found out what I was missing and what I needed to get. So I went and got that stuff done. Turns out I was supposed to give that info to our health center on campus as well! OOPS! So now I have to get up earlier than needed for class so that I can figure out this mess, because we need to send out this info to our mentoring sites by Monday.

Moral of the story? GET YOUR IMMUNIZATIONS AND THE TITERS DONE AS SOON AS YOU CAN!! It is just a mess when you don't follow/understand the directions completely lol! Also, for the parents out there, make sure your kid gets his imms done on time and when they are young. It's a pain to deal with when you are older and you have received your Hep B shots from three different providers!!!

M-R

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope it was as great for you as it has been for me so far!! Take care, be safe, and enjoy whatever family/friends you have as much as you can!!

M-R

Beginning Credits

Well I am finally getting around to writing in this thing. I am starting this a little late (I am on week 6 of PA school, I think) because I was trying to get my page organized and looking good before I started letting the public see it. However, with the way school is keeping me busy I fear that if I wait until I actually have time to figure it all out I will have graduated from PA school. :-) So please bare with me as I get this page polished up a bit. ... Moving on, since I am going to be writing my intro in the "about" section I will just let you guys know why it is I am doing this and maybe what I will be posting.

The two main reasons why I am writing this blog are so: 1) My family and friends can keep up with what is going on with me since I have little time to actually sit and talk with them about everything, and 2) so that I have something to look back on at the end of all of this and can see where I was, and where I am. I think self reflection is a great tool for learning and growing. The other reason I wanted to write this is because I know that there are a lot of pre-PAs out there, or people who may be remotely interested in becoming a PA, that are wondering what it is like in PA school. I know I heard a lot of stories about it before I went to PA school, but sometimes having someone who I could watch (or rather - read) go through it and see them over-come the hardships was an invaluable resource.

Now on to what it is I will be posting. I have seen and read through other PA-S (Physician Assistant Student) blogs and all of them had a different purpose in mind, it seemed, as to why they were posting. Some were posting merely as what seemed to keep there relatives and friends up-to-date with their life, and yet some others seem to be posting as an educational resource for those wanting to pursue PA school solely. I plan on doing a bit of both. I just want to have fun with this, and hopefully post at least once a week (and maybe sometimes more).

Alright that is enough for now. If you have any questions or comments while I am writing this, please feel free! I hope this can be of benefit to others as other PA-S blogs had been for me.

M-R