NP & PA Student Blog

Finishing My PA Education

2013-05-06T15:17:00Z

With snow still falling in Minnesota in May, my graduation on May 4 th was a memorable one! PA school has been a long journey for me and my classmates with its own share of challenges or "fires" as we called them. It consumed our lives. So, it is a bitter-sweet moment as we leave the known and move into a new phase in our lives. This new reality has not quite set in yet, but I feel ready. As I reflect back on my educational experience, I realize that I could not have done this alone. I've been blessed...(read more)

How to Grow Into a Full-Blown NP or PA

2013-04-22T21:10:00Z

If there's any lesson I've learned in PA school, it is that mistakes are the fertilizer to grow a healthy clinical year. This month is me versus the OR (operating room) and if I didn't contaminate my glove, then I accidently bumped my head into the surgeons or didn't bury the knot correctly on my suture. Some of these mistakes I've made four or five times, but by that fourth exasperated, "OH MAN! Again!" some synapse in my brain is marred to never ever do that again. Then there's this mistake: When...(read more)

Addressing Patient Psychosocial Issues

2013-04-08T12:56:00Z

My first encounter with homelessness was while living in Ecuador. Homelessness there is pervasive and hard to miss. It is present on most street corners and does not discriminate, affecting both old and young; it is quite merciless and ruthless. I remember seeing kids as young as 3 years old with plastic cups begging on the streets. They had a job to carry out, day after day, regardless of weather, mood or age. Their survival depended on it. Homelessness, however, is not just their personal problem—it’s...(read more)

Conference Craze

2013-03-25T19:36:00Z

For those of you just entering the healthcare world, you may have noticed that any and every field has a conference. Having lived in Orlando for 5 years, I know about conferences (Orlando is probably the conference capital of the east coast). So, why all these conferences? What's the point, besides the CME for actual professionals? Can't you just learn stuff on your own or via webcast without traveling cross-country to get to them? Well, obviously, yes, but perhaps the reason conferences are so abundant...(read more)

Lessons Learned in my Clinical Year

2013-03-11T17:26:00Z

Graduation day is just around the corner (but who is counting?), so I've decided to reflect back on the "lessons learned" during my clinical year of PA school. It has been a challenging and rewarding experience for me. There have been ups and downs; both were very much needed. Live and learn, as they say. Avoid asking questions that start with "Why?" It may seem judgmental. I learned this the hard way. Always check to make sure you have the right patient. I spent 30 minutes interviewing the wrong...(read more)

The Real Price of Medical Education

2013-03-04T13:19:00Z

The real tragedy of getting a medical education is not the understanding of your own mortality or quantification of personal risk factors. It's not even the fact that friends and colleagues want you to look at something awful that is growing out of their body (I was sure that was a myth). It is the loss of good television. An EMT friend of mine warned me that knowledge came with a price. That price came due this week. One of the heroes of the cop procedural drama I use to ease my mind after work...(read more)

Smells as a Diagnostic Clue

2013-02-25T18:48:00Z

Consider this post "part II" in response to faithful reader of our student blog, Mark Behar of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His comment challenged me to follow up on the use of odors and smells to diagnose, or at least give us clues to how best to treat our patients' underlying pathologies. I can't refuse a good challenge. Thanks, Mark, because you made me do a little research that no doubt will help me become a more excellent PA. First, to help our learning, a brief case study: HPI: An 8-day-old white...(read more)

The Hardest Semester Ever

2013-02-18T16:04:00Z

This has been one of the hardest semesters ever. It isn't just that my clinical hours have doubled, but I am coordinating a couple of different clinical sites, and the work load seems overwhelming. I feel as if I am perpetually behind, behind in reading, behind in studying for the midterm. I rush to enter my Typhon logs within the seven days following a clinical experience, and barely make the deadline for my discussion posts. I know, I am whining, I am trying to convince myself that whining is therapeutic....(read more)

Embracing Old Age

2013-02-11T17:10:00Z

The other day, I came across a poem that was written by an older man who was living in a nursing home. It is a touching poem, so I've decided to share it with you. Although the poem addresses nurses specifically, I believe that its message is to everyone, regardless of one's profession. It is a reminder that, despite our age or state of health, we're always human beings deep inside. Crabby Old Man What do you see nurses? . . . What do you see? What are you thinking . . . When you're looking at me?...(read more)

My First Job as an Accelerated NP Student

2013-02-04T15:26:00Z

It is tough for new nurses in accelerated nurse practitioner courses to find a first job. A lot of the places willing to hire new grads want them full time, which is impossible with the work load our training requires. There are some employers that require new nurses to sign a binding agreement to complete a certain amount of hours or pay a steep penalty. Others have an unwritten policy not to hire students from programs like mine because they are looking for those willing to make a long term commitment...(read more)

My "Smeducation" in Patient Smells

2013-01-28T17:30:00Z

If I could give any future medical student advice about the ER, my three most important words would be: Vicks Vapor Rub. When I first entered the ER, I was prepared to be jaded, but I was not prepared for the smells: abscesses, STDs, rotten teeth, body odor, mildewed t-shirts, alcoholics, chain smokers, drug-addicts, and diarrhea diapers, to name a few. I have worked in a nursing home, so I have smelled my fair share and this month in the ER has added significantly to my repertoire because I've learned...(read more)

Becoming an NP Online

2013-01-21T17:21:00Z

Last month during the lull of winter break, I had a sudden fear that I would not be able to find a job after graduation. I guess it was because of the lull, no case studies to do, clinical hours completed for the semester, and final grade deemed passing, that I had the time to contemplate a life after school. This month, as my classes resume and I look through my syllabus and assignments, and the clinical hours, I now am struck with the fear of, what if I can't do this? After all, the last two semesters...(read more)

Patient Non-Compliance

2013-01-14T14:28:00Z

"Mr. Lee" is a 35-year old Asian male with HTN, HLP and DMII who had s/p stent placement in his LAD two years ago. He has stopped taking simvastatin, lisinopril, Metformin and aspirin, does not exercise, continues to smoke, and does not check his blood glucose at home. Despite adequate amounts of patient education (and a psych evaluation), Mr. Lee refuses to adhere to medications or to implement any lifestyle changes to reduce his risk factors. His reason: "I'm tired of popping pills. This is America....(read more)

Ghost Stories

2013-01-08T16:36:00Z

I am sitting in a building erected in a decade when buildings were square and walls could never be thick enough. Brown ivy climbs a brick exterior white-washed so many times that it seems smooth. The old steel radiators chitter like a multitude of sparrows and my seat was built for someone with a smaller number of dietary choices. The nurse who shows me around is a lifer, 18 years in. She is jovial and compassionate as our illusions crumble. "This place is old, lots of stories AND ... it's haunted....(read more)

Become the Eight Percent

2012-12-27T21:01:00Z

Was it losing weight? Spending more time with your family? Dragging your body to the gym? Reading more books? When's the last year you set a new year's resolution? And how far did you get before you broke it? And why are you so discouraged about trying again in 2013? We students in the medical field are required to study behavior change and learn how to counsel patients. The classic question, "On a scale from one to ten, ten being very motivated, how motivated are you to make ___ change?" allows...(read more)