Moved!

         Moving day #1 of 2 = COMPLETE!!!  I completely emptied out the storage unit of all of my boxes and tote bins today!  Now on Saturday I only have the large pieces of furniture to move (bedroom set, couch, recliner, etc.)  My mom came over to the new place today so that should could help me clean while the guys made the storage unit runs.  I must say, we got a lot done today.  Pretty much the entire kitchen is all set up and we have most of the boxes either unpacked or at least in the room that the contents belong in so thats a good start.  Hopefully by Sunday evening we will be seeing the place as home and enjoying a nice relaxing night in our new place all set up!
         
         The only other things that I have to move on Saturday besides the big furniture and my clothes are my school supplies.

So as you can see, not too much yet.  I am still waiting on a few more textbooks to come in and then that will be all set (I decided to buy a pathology book and still waiting on 2 pharm books).  My supplies are all packed up to be brought over, just actually have to get them over there now :)  I have heard that a smaller white board is an good way to study so, as you can see, I am going to give it a whirl. 

       So that is what is going on in this neck of the woods.  Start PA school in 10 days!! Wow, this is suddenly starting to feel real now that the holidays are over!

       Also, I am so excited that I got my first 2 comments today.  I greatly appreciate the advice and support from you so far.  Please feel free to ask any questions you may have about the PA school interview process, CASPA applying process, or any pre-PA questions that I my answer for you.  Have a great week!



2 Weeks!

Oh gosh...just realized how soon we start classes!  Orientation is 2 weeks from today...actually in 2 weeks from now I will have already completed my orientation for the program. 
Christmas eve is tomorrow! I have a tradition in my family that we just started about 3 years ago for Christmas eve.  We go out for Chinese food. Then hopefully I can go home and sleep so Christmas morning can be here!  I am anxious, just a big kid at heart here around the holidays!
I wish I had known I was going to PA school this soon before I had to make up my Christmas lists for my family.  I would have asked from some gift cards to clothing stores to get more business casual/dressier outfits to wear to class.  My program does not allow jeans or t-shirts.  You must wear closed toed shoes, collared shirts, and white coat at all times while on the school grounds.  This is a far cry from my jeans and sweatshirt look that lasted me all through undergrad. 
For my birthday in June, I had already known that I wanted to go to PA school and had already just about finished my applications.  My in-laws gave me a stethoscope for my birthday and I could not have been more excited! Although I already somewhat had an idea that I might be getting one I was so shocked when I saw it was a Littman Cardiology III; by far one of the best grade stethoscopes out there.  I can't wait to put it to use in probably just another month or 2.

So since I will not be blogging tomorrow or the day after, I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!  Enjoy the day; be worry free from school work and the stress of everything, and just relax.  Spend it with the ones you love and be merry!
xoxo

Moving!

Wow..and my crazy month of December just got even crazier!
So I finished undergrad in May (as previously mentioned).  My husband and I had decided to move back to our home state at the beginning of May because there was nothing holding us in the state I went to college in.  We both missed being close to our families and the lifestyle of our state so back we moved on April 30th.  We actually ended up moving in with my in laws just to do the fact that I did not want to sign a lease since I did not know where and when I would be going to grad school, so I would not be locked into an apartment contract.  That and the fact that we both moved back home with no jobs up here made us move in with his folks.  It has actually worked out really well!
Now, when I was supposed to be starting school in September, we were not planning on moving out until August (just to save money).  Once I found out I would be starting in January, I figured we could move over my spring break (March 5-9).  Yeah, not so much.  My husband must be really ready to move out because yesterday he made an appointment for us to see a place about 25 minutes away from my school in his hometown.  I figured we could at least look to see if it is a place we could consider.  Needless to say, we ended up really loving the size and layout of the place and we put down our security deposit yesterday!  So now we are moving BEFORE I start classes in 3 weeks.  Yes...that is right.
It will be good to be settled before I start classes so I will not have to waste a weekend of studying and instead spend it as a weekend moving (which I really do appreciate).  But it is just so fast! We are getting the keys on December 27th and we will have our real moving day on Saturday the 31st (yes, New Years eve day).  So we will be in our brand new place before classes start! I am really excited and am absolutely looking forward to having our own space again. 
Wow..i better get started on packing I guess!
16 days until moving day!
22 days until orientation!!!

Holiday Season

As I sit here with my feet up on the computer desk, keyboard in my lap, and listening to Christmas carols, I can finally say that I am feeling to be in the Christmas spirit (I guess just a cup of hot cocoa or eggnog could complete this). 
It is approx. 12:30am on Sunday night and I have tomorrow off of work.  I am not tired at all and all I can thnks of is how much I wish my medical terminology book was finally here so I would have something to do that would actually be a good use of my time this evening.  The book was shipped to me from Amazon about a week ago and the killer is that the book was scanned into my hometown post office on Saturday morning and of course I could not get it today due to it being Sunday and all.  So tomorrow it is!  Then the race is on to make sure I am prepared for this exam during the first week.
As mentioned before, PA student orientation is on January 6 and ends just before 5pm.  We were just informed that from 5-6 there will be a family orientation that our spouses, children, and parents are welcome to attend.   I was wondering what would be involved during this family orientation and luckily someone on my class's facebook page had already asked.  I must say I love the response we got from a first year in the program now "It's to prep your family for what you will be going through. Try to help them understand the time constraints so they will understand when you come home and kick the family pet."  Yeah...I suppose that is definitely a way to sum it up. 
Ok, nothing further to say for today other than it is 2 weeks from Christmas as of now!!  Have you finished your holiday shopping yet??

Class Schedule

Oh, and just to let you all know the classes I will be taking this first semester:
 - Health Care Issues I
 - Clinical Medicine I
 - Patient Assessment I
 - Pharmacology I
 - Clinical Anatomy
 - Physiology/Pathophysiology I
 - Service Learning

Got my books!

Books, oh joy...the whole lot of them = $$$

My class received our booklist of the books needed for our fist 2 terms (spring and summer).  There are 21 books on the list that comprise of both "required" and "reccomended" materials. 
I (thankfully) know a current student in my upcoming program.  She is just finishing her didactic year and I decided to turn to her for advice as to which books I will actually open throughout the course of my classwork.  After going through with her and deciding on my own which ones I thought sounded the most important, here are the ones that I bought:
 - Harrisons Principle of Internal Medicine, 18th edition
 - Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, 11th edition
 - Textbook of Physical Diagnosis: History and Examination
 - Documentation for Physician Assistants
 - The Sanford Guide to Antimicrobial Therapy
 - Classroom to Clinic Study System
 - Clinically Oriented Anatomy
 - Rapid Interpretation of EKG's, 6th edition
(and I have heard abut how great this little book is to I bought it)
 - Maxwell Quick Medical Reference
I was very plesantly surprised when I saw that the total of these books plus shipping was just under $500!  Gotta love amazon over buying from the school bookstore.

My class also received our first assignments which must be completed before we start classes on the 1/6.  The first is to get a book called Medical Terminology Basics and study it.  We received a study guide as to some key sections to focus on and there will be a test given during the first week of classes on this information.  I am not necessarily worried about this exam, just due to the fact that I have learned a lot of this information prior to this while I was in radiography school; but, I will definitely be kept busy with this until classes start. 
The other assignment was to read a book called

"The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures".  The book was assigned to us to prepare us for two classes:service learning and health care issues I.  I am only 5% done with the book (according to my kindle) but I am already enthralled by the story.  If you get the chance, I highly reccomend picking up this book.

Now I just can't wait to get all of my school books in and feel completely ready to start!

29 days away from orientation!

the rush of it all...

Wow...where to even begin...
I began college in 2007 with the sole decision to get my bachelors of science with a concentration in radiography (aka:x-rays).  My mom had mentioned to me years prior that a physician assistant degree would be something rewarding to look into but I pretty much ignored her having never heard of the profession before.  Now fast forward to 2009 when I am a sophomore in college and I realize how fascinating being a PA was when I started doing clinical rotations in my program.  I instantly decided that I wanted to be more involved in my patient's care than I was and began to say that in the future I wanted to go to school to become a physician assistant. 
I graduated undergrad in May of 2011 with that BS in radiography.  I knew that I had all of my pre-reqs done for a masters program and that I had a year of working as an x-ray tech under my belt.  I procrastinated a bit and applied a little later in the CASPA cycle than most seem to (mid-late July 2011).  I was beyond excited to get my first interview invite about 4 weeks later from the school that is only 20 minutes away from my house (by far the closest one to me).  The interview I thought was a little short (the actual interview, not the whole day) but I felt ok about it.  I was waiting to hear back (which we were told would be about a month) when I received an invite to interview at another college in my state capital.  A few days before the next interview I received my response letter from the first school saying I had been waitlisted.  I was devastated since I felt like I basically had put my eggs all in one basket since it was so close to home and it was a reputable program.  
   I more or less lost motivation to interview at this next school but it actually worked to my advantage because I was not nervous at all going into the day.  I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the day and the attitude of the faculty/other interviewees.  I really ended up enjoying the day and walked out feeling like I totally aced the interview.  I interviewed on Friday, 9/30 and 3 days later (that Monday) I got a phone call saying I was one of their top candidates from my interview date and was offered a spot in their incoming class starting September 2012. It was so hard to keep my composure while continuing the conversation with the assistant program director.  As soon as we said goodbye I starting having a party by myself in the kitchen!  Jumping up and down and then went downstairs to tell me dad and then to tell my mom who were both more than excited for me as well :)  
   Two days ago, I got a call from the first school saying that I was next on the waitlist and a spot opened for me if I was still willing to take it.  Mind you that this phone call is coming exactly 1 month prior to their orientation date.  I had one day to decide if I wanted to start next month or next fall.  After weighing the pros and cons with my family for about 2 hours, I had made my decision to go for it and take the plunge and start in 1 month instead of in another 8 months. 
   So, that leads us to now.  In the past 2 days I have filled out my FAFSA, applied for student grad plus loans, received my immunization record from my old doctor, went to my new doctor to fill out the immunization sheet, get my TB test, get the necessary titters (blood work) to complete the health form, gone to my new school to pick up my welcome packet, met with a financial aide counselor at my school, filled out and sent in my enrollment form and deposit, completed parking forms, completed forms to receive my white coat and name tag on time for the white coat ceremony, and signed up for my BLS certification renewal.  All of which is required prior to matriculation on January 6, 2012.  Wow....talk about a busy past couple of days. 
   So now I write because I realized how much I have truly enjoyed reading other PA student blogs throughout the past 4 years while I have been a pre-PA dreaming of being in their position.  I hope that with this blog I will not only be able to document the crazy next two years of my life so I can look back someday and see all that I achieved (which I am sure will be a blur by then); but also so other pre-PA students and PA students will have another source of information for what day to day life as a PA-S is like and to ask all the questions you want to get answered. 
  So welcome to my blog and I really look forward to this journey that we are all about to embark upon together!