1st Blog of Year 2

Hey guys,

Sorry for the long absence. I don't know if people are actually stopping by anymore. Frankly, I probably would have stopped too. I am often times really busy, and even when I do "have time" to get on here I either want to sleep, or I actually should be studying. Either way, I finally made it to the second year!!!! Woo Hoo!! -- For all those just not starting the 1st year some words of advice: 1) Remember that it is only temporary, 2) Study as much as you can but realize that realistically you can't learn it all in the short period of time you have - get the just and move on, 3) Stay away from negativity - it truly will only bring you down as well and God knows you won't need any help, 4) Try to remember your health - as hard as it will be to do that, 5) You won't like every professor and chances are you will find something about each one that you don't like - do what you can with what they give you and then be a big boy or girl and find out what you need to do to get the information you need to pass, 6) Probably most importantly - if you have a significant other/bestfriend/close family member(s) DONT FORGET ABOUT THEM - set aside one night a week where you spend time with that person and carve that time out early!!, 7) Remember, you aren't going to get an A on every test/assignment/check-off, get over that quickly and save yourself the stress, do the best you can and move on, 8) If you aren't getting the grades you think you deserve figure out why and change whatever it is that you need to change in order to get what you think you deserve - whatever that means for you.

Those are just a few things that come to mind at the moment. I don't mean to sound harsh but this is the reality of PA school. A lot of the time it is going to suck, and it is going to be really hard. But honestly ask yourself, "What did I expect?" Now I will agree that you most likely did not expect this. But if you sit down and analyze the situation for a second it may make sense. You are in an accelerated "medical school" program. Of course it is going to be difficult, and of course it is going to seem like there is no way you can learn it all, because you can't! To be perfectly honest, no one expects you to know it all right now; that would be impossible. However, you will learn. You will learn more than you think you are. Just when it seems as though your brain can't hold another single fact about the cardiac system, low and behold it gets in there somehow.

It's an intense ride, but it is a worthwhile one (see blog title above). As long as you can keep that perspective you will be able to get through it. God speed and happy reading!

M-R

P.S. - My internet access is limited at my current rotation so it may be another while before I can get back on here. However, I will do my best to update you guys on my rotations so far. See ya then!

Half of ACLS Certification In The Bag!

Well today I was tested on my ability to lead a team of 5 other people in a "megacode" in the SIM lab. I have to say that I was pretty nervous going into the testing portion. I'm not exactly sure why I was so nervous, because I knew I knew the algorithms for each of the different potential rhythms. I guess it puts a different spin on things when you are not practicing anymore and the instructors expect you to know what you are doing. Not only know what YOU are doing, but know what the other members of your team are doing and change things if need be.

It wasn't too bad though. Like I said, I knew what I had to do. I guess I was just psyching myself out right before. The rest of my team did really well too. -- For a second I thought we were going to have to push the mannequin off the table and put a couple of our team members on the monitor because they were so nervous. -- It really isn't too bad. Apparently it used to be WAY worse than it is now. Before, you didn't leave ACLS without pretty much breaking down and crying, unless you really knew your stuff! From what we were told by our profs is that it was the worst part of PA school! (That's CRAZY!) Now it is a lot more laid back and ... dare I say fun? Well lets put it this way: after 10 months of sitting on your butt talking about doing medicine it is really nice to actually be able to DO medicine.

So anyways, we still have the written exam portion to take this coming Monday. Hopefully I pass that and I will officially be an ACLS certified provider-student.

On another related note, my girlfriend bought some CPR masks with one-way valves on them for the two of us to keep in our cars. I gotta say I was a little nervous taking it. I don't know why, but I guess I have this feeling that now that I have the mask either I am going to feel obligated to help out at say an accident, or that a situation will actually present itself for me to use the mask. Like I said in an earlier post, I really hope I never have to before CPR on someone, ESPECIALLY someone out and about. Its one thing to start on someone in a hospital where there is plenty of help from people who REALLY REALLY know what they are doing. But when you are out in the middle of a parking lot things are a bit different.

Alright, enough on here, I gotta get back to studying surgery. We have our suture lab coming up Thurs. Let's see how good I am with my hands!

See ya 'til then,

M-R

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

And So It Begins

Greetings from my local coffee shop. I am typing this entry on my phone because I thought this place had free wifi and it turns out you have to pay for it. So since I am not going to do that let me apologize now for any misspelled words and aweful grammer.

With that being said hAaappyg NeW yeer! :-) OK, for real this time Happy New Year! Another year come and gone. Well classes started up again this past Monday. The morning before class started my gf had just gotten home from work (she is a peds nurse), and she asked me how I was feeling about classes started again. I was honestly having mixed feelings. Besides the fact that my stomach was upset because it had not required to work before 12pm over break, I was excited, anxious, sad, eeger, and scared outta my mind. I was sad because I knew that school starting up meant that the time I would get to spend with my gf, and friends, was going to be cut extremely short again. It was going to go back to seeing eachother for maybe an hour or so over dinner, if we are LUCKY!

I was excited and eeger because it meant that we would be working and getting closer to graduating. Also this semester we start mentoring. What that basically means is that for one half day a week we work/follow a PA or doc and actually get to start seeing patients and practicing exam skills we know and taking patient histories, and even practice writing orders and diagnosing patients! However, this is also the source of my feeling of anxiety and fear. Wait, you mean you are sending me out into the world?!? Hold it, you want me to see REAL patients and practice on them!?! Hang on, you want me to show my mentor what I am made of and be aggressive enough and put myself in situations that give me opportunities to do this!??! O....K... Ill do my best.

Lets be honest here folks, this is sorta terrifying lol. What if I look like a complete putz and leave my mentor wondering, "Is this kid really in PA school?" What if the patients I see think I am a fool and ask to see the actual PA/doc because I clearly do not know what I am doing? Am I ready for this? I guess I better get ready, because ready or not they are sending me out. If you get sick don't go to the clinic for awhile! :-)

To be honest, I do have those things running in my head, but I am honestly excited and, I believe, ready to get my hands dirty (so to speak). I have been told that it gets better and the more you DO the more comfortable you become. However, I've also been told that if you are not somewhat aggressive it is really to just sit back and sit in the corner watching and never doing. However, that isn't going to help anything. I WANT to get more confident. I WANT to get more comfortable, and I WANT to look back on my mentoring and know that I got out of it everything I could, and sisnt waste any opportunity or chance to learn and improve.

Well, we don't start that for a couple of weeks. Right now there is a more pressing issue and that is that we got a great welcome back gift from our program. We started dermatology, guess what the 'gift' was? Hey, welcome back, how was your break? here's your derm book and oh yea you have A WEEK to learn it, test is next Monday! Talk about not wasting any time, huh? Oh well, what better way to get back into study mode than being forced to learn an entire system in a week? Do you think some of PA school is like an initiation process, kinda like a gang where you get beat up for awhile before they let you in or a frat with hell week? ;-)

Anyway, its too bad that derm is only a week. Not just because I have no idea how I am going to learn this stuff in a week, but because the prof that is teaching this module is awesome! We don't get to have him teach us often because of his heavy involvement in the AAPA, and it sucks because he is a great guy and teacher. Oh well, I guess that's life right?

Until next time, hang in there, keep pushing forward and doing your best, that's all anyone can ask of you.

M-R