I'm A&W (alive and well)

Hello world!  Wow...I can not believe I have not updated this blog in about 3 months almost!! First off, my apologies!!

Next, I completed my last class of didactic year yesterday!!!  All I have left to stand between me and clinical rotations is 5 finals next week and then I am free to relax and enjoy the holidays!!
I can not even begin to describe how much fun this semester was and how fast it went by.  I feel like I just updated this blog last week and here we are in December.

So a quick wrap up of the semester!
First off, I left you all on a cliff hanger about getting my rotations schedule which I received about 2 days after posting last.  I got my rotation schedule and got my elective in orthopedic surgery (yay!) and all of my other sites.  I will be staying in the same city my school is for all of my rotation which is extremely convenient.  I originally was slightly disappointed that I would not be traveling to other nearby states to try some other locations but then I stepped back and thought about the fact that I do not have to worry about housing or driving long distances to far away sites.  I also am excited to be doing 5 rotations at one big hospital nearby which will hopefully get me some connections for a future position there (fingers crossed). 

So this semester in clin med we covered neurology, hematology, oncology, nephrology, genitourinary, psychiatry, and nutrition.  A pretty fully schedule but I rather enjoyed most of these topics we covered.  I found out I am better at psych than I expected I would be and it was rather interesting to hear about the disorders some people suffer through that I can never imagine having.  Hematology was not my favorite but I loved the oncology unit.  We didn't get too into it but I think it would be an amazing experience to work in oncology someday if I chose to.  GU was a great module that I not only enjoyed but I also was good at which surprised me, so this is something else I hope to be able to see more of on rotations.  Our final for this course is the only cumulative one we have this semester - so I really gotta study up on some of the topics covered back in September/October!

In special populations, we did a module on pediatrics, women's health, and geriatrics.  I LOVED learning about women's health! It has always been a clinical interest of mine and being able to spend more than a month covering it 3x per week with my favorite professor (an OB/GYN MD and out program director) was great.   Learning about certain aspects of geriatrics was extremely interesting.  That is what I am studying now since that was our last module for this course and what our final exam will consist of.  I think a lot of geriatrics is stuff that should be "common sense" about how to treat them but it is good that it has been reiterated to us.  I found some lecture extremely fascinating - especially those on sexual dysfunction in the elderly and the lecture we had on death and dying.  It is important to remember how sexuality is common in the elderly and should be something that more people are educated about.  Also learning more about how dying patients feel during end of  life care is an extremely neglected topic that in reality could be a whole course on its own.

Medical surgery and procedures definitely turned out to be the most exciting class I had this semester.  I was disappointed we only had it once a week on Tuesdays and then had lab directly after lecture.  We learned how to do sutures (as shown in my previous post) and we even got to go to the nearby medical school and suture on their cadavers for practice of each type of suture we learned.  This was an extremely humbling experience that I can not explain very well to someone who has not done it before.  All I can say it that it was great to have the chance to suture on what is as close to living human skin as we can get but it was in a whole new dynamic knowing I was in the presence of self-less individuals who donated their bodies to helping me become the best clinician I can be.  There is no better gift that I can think of.  We also learned surgical gowning and gloving.  On a Saturday (yes, a weekend day) in October, my whole class got to go to a nearby surgical center and learn how to scrub into a surgery and how to gown and glove in the operating room.  We learned proper OR techniques and what to do when you are in there for your first time (DON'T touch anything blue/sterile; if someone says you broke sterility, don't fight with them, just go rescrub).  We also learned how to put in nasogastric (NG) tubes, foley catheters, IVs, and different injections (subcutaneous, intramuscular, intradermal).  We also did a splinting and casting lab with one of our ortho PA lectures. This was a lot of fun!  We got to keep the splints that we made for ourselves which was a lot of fun.  This class really continued to bring our class together and made us all very anxious to start rotations so soon!!!

And in other news, this is the first semester I can say that I am doing very well in pharmacology!! yay!!! FINALLY!

We ended our last day of classes with a bang - just like we would want to - a flash mob (yes, our second of the year) to "Everybody Dance Now" and "Gangnam Style".  Of course the students at our satellite campus and the professor over there was not expecting it, so it was a surprise and a perfect, fun way, to end the best year I have ever had or could expect :)

The night of my last finals next week, we are having a big cocktail party at a nearby restaurant so the whole class can celebrate.  I can not believe that I made it.  I can not believe that it is already over already! I never imagined didactic year would be this fast!! It was by far the best experience and the hardest one at the same time.  I feel so lucky to be able to say that I really do love the group of people I have had in my class this past year.  They are all wonderful people who really have the drive to become a competent practitioner and they were amazing this year.  We all continued to have the best attitude we could, even when we were in the midst of a crazy week.  I will miss them all in January when we are on rotations and only see each other once every 5 weeks - but I know that weekend every 5 weeks is going to be fantastic!
So I leave you with some pictures of our last semester as PA students :) Next time I write, I will be a second year on clinical rotations! (And will be better about updating this blog, promise!)

Is anyone starting PA school in Janurary or recently accepted to a program that starts in the Fall??  Congrats to you all - you are in for an amazing experience!!!

Our cookies we had made to pass out for National PA Week!

Some of us at a nearby hospital passing out info to spread the word about what a PA is and does!

Just practicing :-)

 

Ready to scrub in!

All of us ready to get into the OR

A perfect splint for a boxer's fracture :)

 

 

Lots of Labs!

We have had so much going on already this semester and it is exciting to finally be hands on!!

So for the semester we have just finished up our neurology module in clinical medicine - we have an exam on that this coming Friday.  We are about half way done with our pediatrics lectures, and we have our first pharm test on Tuesday. 
On top of all that regular class stuff, we have been a lot more hands on in the labs already this semester :)  Our third day back was our first lab for special populations.  We learned how to do male and female genitalia exams as well as breast exams.  Then, the next week in medical procedures and surgery lab we started learning how to do sutures!  So yeah, this last semester is already lots of fun!

Ok..let me now relax and actually put in an organized fashion how everything is going :)

So for our special populations class (includes geriatrics, peds, and women's health) - we have started with pediatrics.  We have focused solely on that so far besides that one lab I mentioned above about the male and female exams.  We did this the first week with our realistic models because throughout the next four weeks, groups of 4 at a time are going to the lab at our nearby medical center and actually practicing on live models.  Basically these are people in the profession or people who have been trained to know how a genital exam should feel like and what it should feel like when you palpate each internal structure (cervix, ovaries, etc.).  The first group from my class went this past week and I will be going the second week of October to work with the live models.  I am looking forward to it, I have heard it is a great experience and that you learn a lot and gain confidence doing the exams so that will definitely be helpful. 

In medical procedures and surgery we are learning mostly about wound healing and suturing so far.  It is a lot of fun!  The first lecture was taught about how a wound heals and how to know if someone needs sutures or not and when to not give sutures, etc.  The first lab we did was learning how to do hand ties.  These are mainly done in surgery in areas where it is too deep to give sutures (think internal abdomen).  So we did those for the first week - I have to say, reminded me a bit of when I did cat's cradle when I was younger (sorry if that is dating myself lol).  Then this past week we learned how to do a simple stitch and a "vertical mattress" stitch which is actual suturing with a needle through the skin.  We also received practice pads to be able to go home and practice becauseee.....on Monday we go to the cadaver lab and practice on the bodies!  I am very excited to have this opportunity to be able to practice on these people who have so generously given their bodies up for science and for us to be able to be better practitioners.  So I am very excited to tell you all how that goes.  But, until then, here are some pictures of me working on the practice pads - not perfect but getting there :)

All set up and ready to start!

First throw done

Trying to stay even...

Not too bad


If this does not get you excited for PA school, I do not know what will :)

But other than that we are plugging a long here.  We had another orientation to clinical on Wednesday and it looks like I should get my schedule for my  entire clinical year by October 1st!!! So maybe next time I write I will already know where I will be going for each and every rotation of clinical year.  I hope so!
Until next time, happy fall everyone!!

Wow...Hello Again!!

Hello again everyone!!
So sorry I ignored this blog for a bit.  We finally ended the summer semester that ripped me to shreds on August 9th (and by ripped med to shreds, I mean that it took all of my free time and all of my energy to finish). 

Summer semester was the most time consuming time I have ever had in school.  I can not imagine having to go through it again and am thankful that it is over.  We had a 16 week semester crammed into 12 weeks including the same number of exams, quizzes, practicals, and projects as a normal semester.  And, to top it all off, we finished with 4 final exams in a row that were all (but one) cumulative from the semester.  BUT...I can thankfully say that I finished with an even better GPA than I got my first semester.  So for that, I am extremely thankful and just happy to have had the past 3 weeks on vacation.

This past week we got to start choosing our clinical rotation sites!! I can not believe I am already at the point in my program that I am starting to think about rotations..only one more didactic semester left.  So for our choosing sites we choose based on counties in the New England area.  You rank the counties you would want from 1-10 of where you would like to be placed for each rotation.  Then a computer goes through and makes a selection for each person in the class taking our ranking into consideration and trying to get as many top choices as it can for each student.  I have chosen mostly close to home and a couple near my undergrad college where I still have many friends living so I know I would have a place to stay during my 5 week rotation.   We do nine 5-week rotations for clinical year (lasting from January till December) with 3 one week breaks scattered throughout the year.
The rotations that we do are: 
    2 General Medicine
    1 Primary Care
    1 Emergency Medicine
    1 Women's Health
    1 Surgery
    1 Psychology
    1 Pediatrics
    1 Elective (Ortho Surg is my chosen elective)

Choosing the sites has gotten me really excited for the next semester and learning a lot more clinical hands on procedures.  The college definitely chose the right time to get us excited and ready for classes again :) 
These are my classes for this semester:
Pharmacology III
Clinical Medicine III
Health Care Issues III
Medical Procedures and Surgery
Special Populations (which include Peds, Geriatrics, and Women's Health)
Emergency Medicine

I have already received a few e-mails from professors with our schedule for the classes and I am getting excited to see what we are going to be doing, especially in medical procedures and surgery (NG tubes, injections, IV lines, suturing, etc.).  We also already learned that on the 24th of this month, we will be headed to the nearby medical school to use their cadaver lab to practice suturing. 

I am getting very excited to start this coming semester.  I also have hopes that it will not be as crazy as last semester was so that I can continue to update this blog as frequently as I used to.  But thank you all that have contacted me privately to wish me well and for the continued support! 
Please feel free to ask more questions and I will write soon!

Whoa!

Wow....I can not believe how crazy stressful and busy this semester has been so far.  I apologize for not writing sooner but I have legitamately not had any time to do so.  We have so much left to do for the semester and only 6 weeks left to do everything so I doubt I will be able to write much between now and the second week of August, so forgive me now for the lack of future writings for the summer. 
    We have had a ton of exams and quizes and too many projects to count.  Im just so stressed and exhausted, and with that, we have had some amazing weather recently which makes it even harder to stay inside and study.
     And the autopsy, wow! What an amazing experience.  Very hard to watch at points but so unbelievable.  I can not talk much about it due to a confidentiality contract I had to sign but there was a lot of pathology to see in this particular person and the story as to how they died really hit home with me.  It really puts into perspective that this person is someone's loved one and it is hard to detatch from that. 
   Ok, well I am so busy doing a pharm assignment and studying for an exam in pharm on Friday that I have to cut this post short.  So sorry everyone.  I will do my best to update you within the next month, if not, I am so sorry! Don't forget to visit the blog once in awhile!! 

Autopsy

Saw an autopsy today!!! Just starting class, will tell later :-)

Fast paced summer semester!

Hi all! Sorry I did not post sooner. Unfortunately no autopsy update for you all. There was only one autopsy on Monday and it was a criminal investigation case (which students can not watch) so hopefully next week! But other than that, this semester is going so fast and we have so much to cover/do in just another 2 months!
We are stil chugging along with cardiovascular diseases in clinical medicine and working on some anticoagulant drug therapy in pharmacology. I am surprised at just how much we have to be aware of in the thousands of cardiomyopathies and heart defects. I am starting to feel a bit overwhelmed...but then I tell myself that this is our last week doing CV health and I still feel like I don't know enough lol. After this, we are headed into the world of gastrointestinal diseases and management. I am looking forward to this module since I do have some interest in it. I myself have been diagnosed with a GI disease and have been suffering through it for the past six years or so. I also have a sister who suffered from an eating disorder and hence was malnourished for quite some time. And (last but not least), my father had emergency surgery when I was younger to take out his gangrenous appendix. Because of these personal experiences I have had, I am really looking forward to getting to the "fun stuff".
We have exam on Friday in pathophysiology, covering GI and musculoskeletal pathologies. Love this class! Probably my favorite. We are in our second semester and it is so much information but I really love it, and the doctor who teaches it seems to be a unanimous favorite for the class. So far what I have done to study for not only this exam, but the entire last semsester, is to make notecards off of the outline we are provided for each module. Then I go through and try to master each system at a time, yesterday I spent studying the GI system and today is the musculoskeletal. Then on Thursday, the day before the exam, I combine them and shuffle them and then study both by myself and with friends just shooting questions to one another. So far it has proven successful for this class so I hope it can help you all in the future.

Ok, well I am off to study during my lunch break! Have a great week and hopefully I can update you all early next week!

Random about me..

Well this was supposed to have posted about 4-5 weeks ago but just realized it did not while looking through my posts.  Oh well, better late than never. Enjoy!

Ok, so I figured I always write just about PA school so I got this off another blog I follow so you will get to know me outside of classes better! (Sorry for those who only follow to hear about PA school experiences)
reading: "Outlander" by Diana Gabalden. (yes, for avid readers like myself, there is still time to read if you wish during PA school)
eating: vanilla yogurt and granola
drinking: iced coffee :) my savior as a grad student
wearing: Blue knee length flowy skirt, white shirt
jewelry: long blue/silver earrings, 2 silver bangles, wedding & engagement rings, silver multi loop ring
craving: papa Gino's pizza (yes, it just tastes different than any other pizza)
wishing I was in: Walt Disney World :)
dreading: this exam tomorrow, I wish the weekend was not as nice so I studied more
missing: my roommates from college
glad it's: going to be 87 again today!
hoping I'll be called by: I'm not waiting for any calls...
crushing on (my dreams): Ryan Reynolds
tired of: reality shows about people's everyday lives.. Really could care less
can't get enough of: gorgeous weather and water sports
can't stand: Beets. Yes, I just hate them.
glad about: the way my life is headed and that I am going on vacation with friends in August :)
thankful I'm not: still waitressing!
fascinated by: celebrity gossip (except for the aforementioned reality "stars")
believing in: the plan that has been laid out for me


So sorry for this extra bit about me but hopefully it was a nice break from your day as it was for me. Happy Tuesday!  (as previously mentioned, this was written on a Tuesday when I originally did it :) )

Back in Full Swing

Well, back in full swing we go.....well, except for today off :)  Gotta love a Memorial Day weekend filled with nothing but sun!! This weekend consisted of studying, reading, cooking out, ice cream sundaes, relaxing with family and friends, boating, and sleeping <--all of my favorite things!

Been back to classes for two weeks now and so far so good for summer semester!   But there is a dark side to PA school that I had not really put much thought into before the first day back from break.  I walked in my normal self, excited to be back (to some extent) and ready to not only learn but catch up with my friends.  I was not expecting to see some of my fellow classmates gone.
One of my good friends in the program is no longer in our class along with two others who I did not get to know as well but still was friendly with.  It never passed through my mind that some of my classmates would no longer be continuing this journey with us and it kind of shook our framework as a united class.  We are very much a cooperative program, helping everyone through it as we go and we just never expected this.  I hope to see their faces back next year.

 Okay, next, here is a quick run down of our day to day classes of this 12 week summer semester:

Mondays:
  10-12: Pharm
  1-2:30: Patient Assessment
  3-5: Clin Med

Tuesdays:
  8-9:30: Patient Assessment
  10-12: Patient Assessment Lab

Wednesday:
  8-10: Clin Med
  10:30-12: Pathophys
  1-3: Health Care Issues
  3-5: Clin Med

Thursday:
  8-10: Pharm

Friday:
  8-10: Pathophys
  10-12: Clin Med
  1-4: Recitation Time (time for extra classes/makeups which is used pretty much every week to squish in more info as needed)

So luckily, they have a few days in our schedule that allows us to enjoy our summer as well (or at least study outside).  These past 2 weeks we have started our cardiology module, focusing mainly on hypertension, cardiovascular disease and heart failure.  This is a lot more intense since the heart can have so many things wrong with it (which then causes a domino effect it seems) but so far it is really interesting and the pharmacology makes sense.  Looking forward to this next week to see how it continues!
Also, some exciting news, next Monday (or the Monday after that depending on circumstances), I will be watch an autopsy!  I am very much looking forward to this if you can't tell already :)  The pathology professors at my school both happen to be state medical examiners and have invited us to watch an autopsy in groups of four and my group is the next to go.  So pending there is an autopsy scheduled, I should be going on Monday!   I will definitely keep you all up to date on how it goes.

But for right now, we have our first two exams of the semester starting this week.  Clin med on Wednesday and pharm on Friday.  I just finished an assignment for pharm and a bloodborne pathogens quiz for health care issues (which is required to be completed before rotations, so out of the way nice and early).  Now, off to get some sleep to be ready for the 4 day school week ahead.
Hope you all got to enjoy your Memorial Day! Let me know if you did anything fun!

Break, Interview

     So more than half-way through break already...wow, did that go by fast!  I have spent most of my time just relaxing around the house, reading, catching up on some movies and TV shows, going to the zoo, and seeing some friends from home and undergrad.  It has been so nice to decide what I want to do each day and enjoy myself.    Although, I was on BlackBoard today (website where they post all of our grades and lectures for class) and they have already posted our schedule for next semester in clin med...looks like I should enjoy the free time while I can!  We will be learning cardiovascular, GI, and musculoskeletal diseases and treatments, as well as infectious diseases.  Looks like a lot of work but I am definitely looking forward to it :)
     Over break I also did an interview for a pre-PA student located in the Texas area.  He has a blog that includes many interviews with practicing PAs and PA students that is extremely helpful to anyone looking into the profession!  You should definitely check out his blog and my interview here! 
     I also wanted to give a shout out to "mrsmacschlep" here on blogger!  I help out with doing tours at my school for students who are interviewing for the program.  I help to answer any concerns or questions they have and show them our facilities.  I was lucky enough to meet my first reader on this past Monday's interview day!  Good luck to you mrsmacschlep and I wish you the best with this and other interviews you may have! 
    So for today over break?  Doing some reading, updating my iPod for some good study/workout music (suggestions always welcomed), and meeting up with my mom and niece for lunch!  Loving this thing called break :)   Have a wonderful rest of the week everyone!

I Did It!

I have officially completed my first semester of PA school!   Grades are in and it is official!!

My schedule these past few weeks has been so crazy with studying that I pretty much neglected to blog, so I am so sorry.  But I am back now!  I have 2 weeks off and start back up with my second semester on May 14th.

So last week I had a final each day of the week: Patient assessment on Monday, Pharm on Tuesday, Clin Med on Wednesday, Pathophys on Thursday, Anatomy on Friday (not to mention a pt. assessment and anatomy practical the week before).  So needless to say, I have been a hermit the past few weeks...it's great to be out again :)

 So my pt assessment final consisted of going into the exam room, 8 students at a time.  There were 8 stations set up and before we went in you drew a card to let you know which 2 stations you were going to.  Once at the station it has a sign saying what exam you will have to perform on the "patient" (actor) or you will have to draw a card letting you know what exam to perform.  The faculty member watching you just stood there with a clipboard and checked off each part of the exam as you did it.  Not only did you have to do each part of the exam, but during each part your have to say what you are looking at and different pathologies you should be aware of that you would be looking for.  Then the faculty member could ask you questions related to different pathologies you may find and then that was it.  You had 10 minutes to complete each exam and you did not know how you did when you walked out, I had to wait over a week and a half to get my results but I got a 96 and was thrilled.
Then we had our anatomy practical.  Same as last time, 84 questions were spread throughout the room and you had 20 seconds at each question before you had to rotate.  Purely identifying the labels or says an action a muscle does or what innervates each muscle.   I only have my final grade for this class so far, do not know how I did on the practical.
Next was the start of finals week.  Patient assessment was the first final.  Since there are future students of my program reading this, I can not divulge how the rest of these exams were set up.  I can say that it took a lot of studying to do well on these exams but it was totally worth it :)
In my program, you must maintain a 3.0 average GPA (a B or 83%) to stay in the program and you can not receive a grade lower than a C.  I am thrilled to be doing well and going on into the next semester and to tell you all how the summer session goes
Thank you for staying with me throughout my short hiatus and I look forward to letting you all know how my break went!  Hope everyone is enjoying their first taste of summer and enjoys every minute of it.  I will update you all soon!!

One More Final!!!

I have just one more final tomorrow morning at 10 and then I am officially done with my first semester of PA school!!!  1 down, 2 more didactic semesters to go!!!  I will update you all on how finals went this weekend! Thanks for hanging around everyone!

2 Weeks of Finals!

Hi Everyone! Here is my lastest blog/vlog post! Sorry this is more or less a video blog now..i just have a lot to tell you all and not enough time to sit down and type it all out ;)

2 Weeks after break

haha found a way to upload to my blog and to even have the audio/video sync! yay!

Sorry it has been a little while since I updated! Was getting back into the swing of things after break and it has been farrr too gorgeous outside to stay in and blog :) Hope everyone is enjoying the spring weather and please let me know if you have questions!

End of Spring Break..Back to Reality

     Well...spring break is officially over.  It is 11:30 on Sunday night, and I have classes tomorrow morning at 8 am....I suppose that means it is bed time very very soon.
     Break was great, I got to catch up with my family and my gorgeous 2 year old niece.  It was nice to see them all and plan a big St. Patty's day feast for this coming Friday night (you know us Bostonians).  I got to read a book for leisure of break which is something I really missed.  I went from reading about a book a week to none at all once school started.  I read The Pact by Jodi Picoult, it was a good read.  Not my favorite but definitely something I would recommend.  I also cleaned the house (yay!) and went shopping (YAY!) for some new clothes. 
     Oh, and 1 last thing before I really need to sleep!  I decided today to get an iPad 2 for class notes.  Seeing how easy it is for others to take notes and to save paper, it just seems like a great option,  Plus, since the new iPad is coming out really soon, they just dropped the price!  So I am excited to buy one asap (once that money just appears).
   Alright, full day tomorrow!  Clin med exam on pulmonary restrictive diseases, pulmonary venous diseases, and others of the sort! Feeling good about it so far!  Other than that a full day 8am-5pm.  Classes include health care issues, service learning, patient assessment, pharmacology, and clin med.
 Back to reality.
 Night all!

Answers

I recently had a comment on my blog that I thought I would share the answers with everyone since some of them seem pertinent to pre-PAs!

-I wrote my own blog and I was wonder how difficult it was for you to do the video blog? (I am assuming when I start PA school I will have less time, but would still like to keep updating the blog, and I hope making a video is easy.)
      The video blog was beyond easy to make since I have a webcam in my laptop. Just hit record and go!  Now, the only issue I am having is how to sync the video and auido...now that's another story! (and if anyone knows, please message me and help me out lol)  But definitely a lot less time consuming than writing a blog and very easy.  Plus, you can relay more information in a shorter period of time this way as well. 

-What kind of study methods do you use? I have a good idea of what works for me but I am always curious how other people do it. Plus I want to see what works in PA school and it sounds like you are rocking PA school with some very high grades!
      Well thank you first off, I am really glad to see that my studies are paying off since I do put a lot of time and effort into them :)
      But what I do is study on my own first.  I make study guides on my own based off of the material covered in class.  Each night I try to sit down and write out a portion of the study guide that I learned that day (while still fresh in my mind) so that it is all ready and I am not rushing to finish it a couple days before the exam.  Then I highlight the important parts and read up on what I do not understand.  From there, I make notecards on what I am still not grasping and study them.  Once I feel confident that I get the material I meet up with my study group.  The number of people in the group change debating on who decides they want to study together or not for that exam but it ranges anywhere from 2-5 of us.  Then we just shoot questions off of each other until we all understand the info.  If someone else asks you a question and you can sufficiently explain it to them, you know that material. 
   This is just something that works well for me so I hope it helps!

- Do recommend reading up on anything during the summer prior to PA school?
     There are 2 things I reccomend doing. 
          1) Brush up on your anatomy!   Know the flow of blood through the heart to the body, know what different muscles do throughout the body, learn your cranial nerves, etc.  This will only help you since, in my program, anatomy is only 1 semester...16 weeks.  To know the WHOLE body.  So yes, brush up on that :)
           2) Learn common medical terminology.  I had an exam the first day of class on med term and it will only help you in the long run to know this.
 
  Hope this helps Chase and all of those reading this!  Please feel free to ask anything else as well :)

Video Blog

So I did a video blog for the first time today.  Lets see how this works...

Video Blog!

Ok...can't seem to embed it for some reason... But the link is above :)


Please leave a comment saying if you like this format or just a written blog better, thanks for watching!!! :)

Midterms Week

Yes, this is the same blog as before.

Lol, before you all wonder who took over my blog and revamped the look of it, no worries all, it is still me.  Sorry it has been a bit since I have posted but wow did PA school get real, espcially these last few weeks.  We are officially full swing and in the middle of midterms, ughh! 
     I have a huge pharm exam on Monday which I am getting more and more nervous about along with a clin med exam.  Then a practicle in patient assessment on Wednesday and an anatomy practicle on Thursday.  So this weekend consists of studying my behind off and trying to be prepared...this picture about sums it up

    But I have to say, behind all of my complaining, I am loving my program.  The faculty is very dedicated to making sure we do well and my classmates are great.  We always e-mail each other different study guides and mneumonics that have helped us and it is a great cooperative learning environment.  I don't know if I could make it in a "competative program" where everyone is just trying to be the best, it is so much nicer this way.
  But enough with that, I am off to go memorize more drugs so keep the questions coming and I will update at the end of this week when midterms are over and it is break!
xoxo

Week 6

Hi all, sorry it has been awhile since I posted.  We had our first crazy week last week with 2 exams and a quiz in one week.  I know it may not sound like much but with the amount of material on each, it was very busy.

  On Friday we had an anatomy exam on the neck and head, then on Monday we had an exam in pharm and a quiz in clinical medicine and then on Friday had an exam in pathophysiology.  Needless to say last weekend did not consist of watching the superbowl like I wanted but oh well.  Another exciting thing was that on Tuesday we received out medical equipment supply package that was included in our tuition! 

We received a stethoscope, otoscope, reflex hammer, sphygmomanometer (adult and pediatric cuffs), eye chart, tuning forks, pen light, tape measure, and EKG caliper.  It was seriously like christmas day for PA students.  After that we had our lab on vital signs and patient history. 
    This coming Tuesday I have my first simulated patient.  This is when an actor comes in and portrays a patient and we have to take our history on them.  This is by far something I am really nervous about because you are not only interviewing them, you ar edoing so in front of 3 classmates and a faculty advisor.  I am nervous but excited to get going with this and gain more confidence.  Ok, well just finishing up some ENT studying for a clin med quiz tomorrow and to finish watching the Grammys!  Have a great week everyone! Any questions, just ask! :)
xoxo

Superbowl

Watching the superbowl while studying for pharmacology and clin med exams tomorrow = not happening...ugh.

I'm a Slacker...

     This week, we had 1 exam and 1 quiz.  I have to admit.  I was feeling lazy this week.   I have been having a lot of problems with my eyes for some reason.  They have become very inflammed and have produced dry skin on both the upper and lower lid.  My eyes have been tearing a lot the past few days and it has gotten to the point that the outer corner of my eye has started to become very raw and almost split.  I was hoping I could diagnose myself this week (since we are in our derm lecture and this is looking more severe each day), but no such luck.  Thankfully I am heading to the doctors tomorrow to get it checked out.  But, needless to say, i have been very lazy this week and somewhat unproductive until today just based on the fact that I physically can not keep my eyes open.  With that said, I still got a 87 and a 88 in both of my quizzes this week.  Not bad for not doing full quality work, especially in grad school.  Hoping to continue with a grade in the A to A- range next week, but I will be a very happy camper to graduate with my MPAS with a strong B+ average.
   Next week, on Monday, we have our weekly Clin Med quiz/exam (Monday), an anatomy lab quiz (Thursday, weekly as well), and an anatomy exam (Friday).  I also have a group assignment of 4 derm case studies due on Monday which I am happy to say was finished and submitted this past Monday.  And on Thursday I have a group project/presentation in anatomy for our head module.  We have to review the head anatomy, describe the condition of normal pressure hyrocephalus, and an overview of how to put in a VP (ventricular peritoneal) shunt.  I can say with complete confidence that this will be a very busy weekend!
    Alright, off to study my 201 slides of dermatological conditions/pathology!

Crazy has started.

Gotta love medical humor.

You will need it when you start the rigors of PA school.

    This has been an absolutely crazy past week or so. All of the studying and assignments are beginning to build up.  I never understood why so many PA students created blogs and then never followed through with keeping them updated. Now I know why.

    This past week I had an exam. No big deal. One and done.  This coming week I have 1 exam and 1 quiz, and a group assignment due. Next week 1 quiz and 2 exams as well as a group presentation.  Now I am really starting to get stressed but am working through it.   Right now studying for dermatology and anatomy.  For derm we need to know at least 50+ lesions and how to distinguish between different lesions and diff diagnoses and treatment, etc. Anatomy still finishing up the head and neck for our quiz on Thursday.  So lots and lots to do! 

    Tomorrow we have our first patient assessment lecture were we actually get to go into our lab bays (which look like real pt. exam rooms) and start to do history and physicals and start pt exams.  Looking forward to it!



Bookstand

Just a quick aside while I am working on my study guide tonight.

Buy a bookstand.

Just do it.

This is my first time using it and I have one little equation for you.

Bookstand = Love.

Ok, sorry, back to work!

Questions?

Any pre-PA questions out there that I can answer based on my experience? Feel free to ask!

First Exam Complete!

I know I said that I would not write a post again until later this week, but I can not contain myself! 

      We had our first clin med exam today (as mentioned in the previous post).  So excited because I just got my grade posted on blackboard and I got a 96!   Feeling good about how this program is starting!
      Today was Wednesday, clinical medicine day again, and it went great! Well..pretty well.  Our first lecture was supposed to be taugh by the same PA who taught us lab medicine last week (as this was the final part of the module) but unfortunately she did not make it because of icy roads I guess.  So we had our exam first and then had a little break before our next 2 lectures.  We learned of different skin cancers and how to diagnose and treat each.  The doctor who taught today's lecture was actually a general surgeon in my schools town for the last 30 years, so his experience and stories today during our lecture were beyond amazing to hear.  I can not wait to hear more throughout the next two years!
   Off to study and write up some notes! 
    

PA-S!

    Hi all, so I do not have  a lot of time to post right now.  I have my first clin med exam tomorrow morning that I have to get studying for.  But first, I thought I would let you all know that today was our white coat ceremony!!  So it is official, I have my white coat, school crest pin, and PA-S name badge to prove it!  I am really excited to be considered a part of the PA medical community now that I have this honor of wearing a white coat. And, if I do say so myself, I look pretty good in it ;)
     I took a couple of pictures, sorry for the random circles covering my school name and my full name (trying to keep this anonymous as possible). So here you are, hopefully someday all of you reading this blog will be excited to share your white coat pictures as well someday!

I'm a PA-S!

The white coat!

 I am still at the point where I am beyond excited to wear this around (required to wear at every class and clinical rotation) but I can gaurentee that I will be sick of this coat in about 2 weeks probably :)

    Alright, well I have to get back to studying for my clin med exam (on pathology of inflammation and lab medicine/immunology) or else I will be in trouble with myself tomorrow!

   I will update you all on classes later this week!
 xoxo

Schedule

           I hit 500 blog views today! Thank you all for the support. It has been quiet in the comment section but I am glad that this site seems to be a good read for all of you out there.  Let me know if the majority of you are pre-PAs, PA students, or just reading for fun! :)

           So today I got my last two course syllabi and and schedules so I finally have my calendar completely filled in (pending snow days and such).  So I took a picture of my calendar for each month to show you all of the scheduled exams and tests that I know of so far.  Enjoy...

       My clinical medicine professor decided that it would be less stressful and probably more effect to have a quiz (as she calls them, "small exams") once a week instead of 3 huge exams per semester.  All of the green highlights are quizes, all the pink are exams, and the orange are assignments that are due that day.  I will show you my daily schedule later...it's already crazy.
        As of today and getting all of my schedules, I am officially overwhelmed with the amount of work ahead!
       Tomorrow I have pathology/pathophysiology from 8:30-9:30 and then anatomy lecture from 9:30-12:00.  This is the first time I am having these two classes seeing as though they are only on Thursdays and Fridays.  I am so thankful I have a radiology background now, after looking over the first module, I already have a basic understanding.  Let's see how long this will be helpful for now lol. 
      Then, after classes, I have my service learning orientation with the community program I am going to be involved in.  I am anxious to see exactly what I will be helping with while doing my two hours each week! Until next time, enjoy your long weekend everyone!
  xoxo

Clinical Medicine

   Once you are in PA school, this is the name of the class that will begin to take over your life.  As my professors call it, it is the "meat and potatoes" of PA school.
   Today we had 6 hours of clinical medicine.  This is our typical Wednesday, 4 hours of clin med in the morning, a one hour lunch break, and 2 hours of clin med in the afternoon (followed by another 2 hours class).  So Wednesday is one of our longest days on campus. The first hour of class each week is our pathology class time taught by the medical examiner of our program.  Today it was on inflammation.  It was rather "dry" as our professor told us (no pun intended), but was very fast paced and our first real taste as to what this year would be like.  Then we had lab medicine and immunology for the last 5 hours of the day. This was the most exciting topic I have covered in the past 3 days! Our professor is actually a practicing PA who graduated from my program in their first class.  She has been practicing for over 12 years.  She is teaching this module because she was a med lab tech before becoming a PA.  We learned normal lab values, different tests to order for diagnosis of diseases, different panels, and then the immunology portion of the body.  I can tell I am going to like this class :)
     Tomorrow was supposed to be our white coat ceremony but unfortunately it got postponed until Tuesday due to weather conditions.  So tomorrow we have no classes which is good because I have notes that I need to type up.  So, busy busy I will be tonight and tomorrow! Wish me luck!  My first quiz is on Wednesday on everything we learned in clin med today so I better get on those notes!
xoxo

Oh! I almost forgot, I got a 91 on my first exam in PA school (our self taught medical terminology exam we had on the first day)!  I will take it :)

Day One

Day 1 of PA Classes = Complete!

So today was my first day and it went very well!  I left my house earlier than I needed to just because I had never parked in the garage I will be parking in before and I wanted to make sure my garage pass worked, I had enough time to walk from the garage to my class building, and that the class was in the classroom that was listed (there has been a lot of construction going on in the building since it was just taken over by the school last year and they are just finishing converting it into a school....it is SOO nice!)  But anyways, I got to class about 10 minutes early.  So I will go over my classes one by one (which I am sure will be the first and last time due to the massive amount of work headed my way really soon!)

8-9: Health Care Issues
   For this class we got the syllabus, went over it and the objectives of the class; then we basically just talked about PA school 101.  The ins and outs of studying and what to expect and how to handle it.  So basically a short review of orientation for 45 minuts..fun.
9-10: Service Learning
   Service learning is giving back to our community.  It is a class only done in the first semester of PA school and basically each person is assigned to a local non-profit organization or school or clinic to do a service to the community for 2 hours a week for 10 weeks.  I will be doing my service learning at an organization for low income families that need health screenings and nutritional advice.  My orientation for this is on Friday so I will find out more then.  So in class we just talked about what is expected of us during our site visits and what to expect.
10-12: Pt. Assessment
   After reviewing the syllabus we started our first lecture! We started to learn how to take a patient history by starting a patient interview and how to write a SOAP note (note that encompasses what each patient visit is about). We learned what observations go where, how to compile a SOAP note and about differential diagnoses in a note.  It was a rather repeatative class but I am excited about the direction it is taking!
12-1: lunch = free pizza! yay!  And we got to choose the medical equipment that we wanted that comes included in our tution! Double yay!  Hello purple stethoscope tubing (although I already have an amazing Litmann Cardiology III at home!)
1-3: Pharmacology
    Ouch.  So basically we went over the syllabus very quickly then went right into a 2 hour lecture on pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and about different drug receptors and characteristics.  As of right now the class is mostly review from undergrad but that will change by next week as we are moving right along!
3-4: Clinical Medicine
    The meat and potatoes of PA school.  Learning about different diseases and pathology and idiology.  Love it.  Today we just went over the syllabus and took our medical terminology exam (yes, exam on the first day of classes) because we have this class on day (6 hours) on Wednesday so we will just wait untilk them to start learning about lab test and normal vs. abnormal lab test values.  Should be good!
  But the exam went very well.  We were told to buy the med term book before school started and self study due to the exam during the first week of classes.  It went great and I am anxiously awaiting the grade to be posted on blackboard.  You need to get at least an 80 on this exam or you have to retake it and you will not get a grade higher than an 80 if you retake it.  Luckily I know I rocked that exam :)

Until next time, I have work to get done!

First Day of Classes in 10 hours!

Start classes in the moring! The day is 8-5 with only an hour break for lunch.

Tomorrow I have:
  8-9: Health Care Issues I
  9-10: Service Learning
  10-12: Patient Assessment Lecture
  1-3: Pharmacology
  3-5: Clinical Medicine (Med. Term. Exam from 4-5!)

So off I go to do one last self practice of my notecards for my exam and then off to bed to be sure I am wide awake for a full day of classes in the morning!  :-D

Here we goooo......

Orientation

    Wow. Orientation was yesterday and I do not even know where to begin.  It was definitely one of the most exhausting days I have had in awhile. 
     I arrived on campus at 7:30am for check in and a buffet breakfast with the rest of my classmates and the BSN students that also had orientation yesterday.  Then we had to take our student ID pictures for the Ids we have to wear at all times on campus (lkuckily I got a pretty good picture this time) and we sat down in a lecture style classroom to settle in for the day basically.
    We had an intro to all of our professors and from the dean and then we went over all the policies of the program (dress code, professionalism, attendence, etc.).  Then we had a discussion with some of the second year students and we got to talk candidly with them about their opinions of different professors/doctors and just basic questions about their opinion of aspects of the program.  After was lunch and then we came back to talk with more services that the school offers. 
    It was a long day...some of the professors scared us about the workload we are about to take on, others seemed very reassuring.  But the one thing I took out of this day was how wonderful my class seems to be.  We are all very open to making new friends, everyone is very friendly and I already have a lot of people that I can talk to which is great.  I think we are all going to share resources and study well together(I hope) and will pretty much be a good "family" for these next two years.
   I already have my first medical terminology exam on Monday, our first day of classes, and a lot of lecture notes to print and look over.  I am anxious for Monday and to fill you all in on how our first day of classes go!
xoxo

PA Adventure Starts now!

    Tomorrow is finally here, orientation at school.  I am so excited, nervous, anxious, and beyond thrilled for the day to finally be here!
     A couple of days ago I met up with not only 3 of my upcoming classmates, but 3 other students who just finished their didactic year at my school.  I am so happy to have had the oppourtunity to go to a local pub with them and get to know a few people before all 70 of us are in a room all new together.  I got along very well with these 3 new students and am really glad to have had the resource of the 2nd years to answer all of our worries and questions. 
     So tomorrow is the day! I have to figure out what business casual attire to wear tomorrow still!  Wish me luck, here I go!!! :-D
 xoxo

Less than 4 days!

Happy New Year!!!      2012!!!!  What are some of your resolutions??  Mine is not to procrastinate...but I suppose that it will be next to impossible to procrastinate in PA school anyways, so that works in my favor :)

    So my PA class orientation is on Friday!!  I can't believe how fast this came up, I feel like yesterday was Christmas.  Luckily I am all moved into my new apartment and today we put away the last of the boxes and totes that were strewn across our new place.  So we are very excited!
     Today I also got my first e-mails from one of my future professors who also happens to be the woman I interviewed with at the school.   She wrote:
      "I wanted to send you a quick note welcoming you to the PA studies program. I hope
       everyone enjoyed their holiday season. You are about to embark on a long but
       rewarding journey.  When you are tired and frustrated with studying just remember their is light
       at the end of the tunnel.  You will get through this year.
        I am sorry I am unable to be present for orientation. I am in Bolivia setting up a clinical
        rotation for the second year students. Hopefully it will be a success and something some of you
       will want to experience. I can´t wait to meet you all!"
So this was very exciting as my program already has a clinical rotation site in Belize as well.  It will be great to be offered the oppourtunity to experience a PA rotation in another country.   So we shall see what happens next year!

   Tomorrow I am meeting 2 of my classmates for the first time! I am currently friends with a woman who has just finished her didactic year at my program and she knows another student coming into the program with me as well as another girl.  So we are meeting tomorrow for lunch to chat and to exchange and questions we have.  I am excited to finally put a face to people I have been chatting with online on our program's facebook page.  I will let you all know how it goes!