NP & PA Student Blog : General Interest

How to Grow Into a Full-Blown NP or PA

Caroline Pilgrim — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 21:10:00 GMT

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...(read more)

Conference Craze

Caroline Pilgrim — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 19:36:00 GMT

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...(read more)

Lessons Learned in my Clinical Year

Olga Trouskova — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 17:26:00 GMT

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...(read more)

The Real Price of Medical Education

Terrance Clarke — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 13:19:00 GMT

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...(read more)

Smells as a Diagnostic Clue

Caroline Pilgrim — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 18:48:00 GMT

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...(read more)

Embracing Old Age

Olga Trouskova — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:10:00 GMT

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,...(read more)

My First Job as an Accelerated NP Student

Terrance Clarke — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 15:26:00 GMT

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...(read more)

My "Smeducation" in Patient Smells

Caroline Pilgrim — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:30:00 GMT

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...(read more)

Becoming an NP Online

Stacey Snodgrass — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 17:21:00 GMT

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,...(read more)

Patient Non-Compliance

Olga Trouskova — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 14:28:00 GMT

"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...(read more)

Become the Eight Percent

Caroline Pilgrim — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 21:01:00 GMT

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...(read more)

Traversing the Finals Steps of NP Education

Stacey Snodgrass — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 15:26:00 GMT

Yes! I proclaim with clinched fists, because I have passed yet another class on my journey to become an FNP. I have only two classes left, and though these two classes are intense, and will occur over the course of the next year, I am beginning to glimpse...(read more)

The Importance of Medication Lists

Olga Trouskova — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 16:29:00 GMT

During my first rotation in family medicine, we had a patient present to the clinic with a random collection of symptoms that seemed to come and go with no particular pattern. She had been experiencing sweating, dizziness, nausea and shock-like sensations...(read more)

A Grim Outlook on Nursing

Terrance Clarke — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:18:00 GMT

I am currently in a class called "Societal Forces" as a precursor to my first semester of advanced assessment in the Adult/Gero Primary Care Nurse Practitioner track. The teachers are passionate and well informed. The speakers are excellent, but the subject...(read more)

My First Day of Rotations

Caroline Pilgrim — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 14:17:00 GMT

"The first month of a job is the worst and you basically have that for a whole year." And that is how my friend described this next year of my life. November began the clinical year of PA school for me and she's not too far wrong in observing the first...(read more)