Déjà Vu and the All-Too-Familiar Beginning
At the University of North Texas Health Science Center, the fall semester of 2009 begins this week. The new students have become acclimated through orientation while the veterans move forward with
déjà vu on their minds. With new beginnings in the air, every student looks ahead wondering what lies beyond the ridge of the unknown. We tend to compare our past with what we think the future will hold. However, each day seems unlike what we anticipated. Welcome to the transformation process of the PA student to a certified physician assistant!
PA school has the propensity to stretch people beyond what seems possible. I remember wondering how in the world I would make it through the first semester with all that was expected of me. Surprisingly, that survival mentality drove me beyond the perceived limits. A certain tolerance and proclivity developed that later became instinctual. This was more like an adaptation that could not be forced.
It is hard to explain to a stressed out newbie that "things will only get better." Their jaw drops as they glance at the courses in the coming years. Back in high school, I desperately wanted to be a clinician but cringed at the reality of what I needed to know. When we become caught up in the final product, we miss out on the steps to becoming just that. Why is the first of PA school stressful? Because you are not accustomed to what is expected. As the years pass us by, PA school never gets easier but our brains become more proficient. The nearer we come to graduation, that same sense of anxiousness hits as we wonder if we can actually be a PA. As these déjà vu thoughts re-enter our minds, it is imperative to remember the transformation process. Every step along the PA school path makes us that much more of a physician assistant. It is funny how the advice we give to new students continues to be applicable as we move forward.