Notes from a PA Student

Thanks for Listening

2011-08-02T13:06:00Z

I am now able to say that I have officially graduated from PA school. I may not be able to add the "C" to the end of my title until I pass my boards, but I am able to say that I'm no longer a student. It's such a strange feeling to finally be done, because PA school so easily became such an identifying part of my life. Graduation was such a wonderful ceremony and so full of emotional moments. I had the chance to reflect on the last 26 months of my life -- with my friends, family and peers alongside...(read more)

‘The Last Week of My PA School Career’

2011-07-22T12:35:00Z

Today just so happened to be my final day on rotations, and while it was depressing to say goodbye to the outstanding team I’ve worked with here on my elective, I have been so thankful for the invaluable experience I’ve gained. This entire week has been unreal, and there has been hardly enough time to digest that next week is the last week of my PA school career. I’ve recently been scrambling to get everything together before graduation amidst aggressively applying to several local jobs. Just as...(read more)

The Night Shift

2011-07-14T11:47:00Z

This week I've been scheduled on nights, and it's been a completely different ER experience. While many of the chief complaints are the same as what I've seen during the day in the ER, the pace has been different. There is no doubt that things can get just as hectic at night as they do during the day, but for the most part, things usually tend to slow down at certain points during the night. Because I've been on a few nights in a row, I have been able to use this extra time as a valuable opportunity...(read more)

Finding Her Comfort Zone

2011-07-06T12:44:00Z

It’s been almost 9 months since I was in the emergency room on rotation, and I am loving every moment of being back. I’m easily putting in 40 hours a week at my elective, and while many students are using their elective as an opportunity to relax a little before graduation, I am soaking up every last minute. It’s not that I’m not looking forward to graduation, because I too am counting down the days, but out of all my rotations, I’ve never been so excited to go in each day as I am on this rotation....(read more)

The Light at the End of the PA School Tunnel

2011-06-30T13:13:00Z

Monday began the final rotation of my PA school career. It's certainly hard to believe how much has happened over the past 2 years, especially since the start of rotations. All of last week's testing went smoothly, and it was exciting to see how much easier the questions were, considering I've had the chance to learn hands-on in so many areas of medicine. After 2 straight years of academic stress and constant exams, I am finally able to say that I will never have to take another test in PA school...(read more)

Back to Class - One Last Time

2011-06-21T14:17:00Z

This week is chock full of final exams and with everyone from my class finally back in the area, there is much to be done. The beginning of the week consists of various lectures meant to comprise part of an all-inclusive review of more or less everything we’ve learned while in PA school. At the end of the week we have a directed practical on standardized patients, a randomly assigned test of our clinical skills on the spot, and a final comprehensive exam with 250 questions meant to mimic the boards....(read more)

Back to the Bedside

2011-06-14T19:11:00Z

I recently started my geriatric/long-term care rotation, and with it I jumped back into hands-on patient care. So far, my time on this rotation has been extremely useful in that every patient I’ve seen has an extensive medical history. In one short week, I’ve already learned so much again in regards to physical exam. While my time in psych was surely a valuable experience, it’s been good getting back to the bedside. Being away from the physical side of things for one short month definitely made me...(read more)

Psychiatry: A 'More Intimately Personal’ Rotation

2011-06-06T15:39:00Z

It's nearly the end of my final week here on my psychiatry rotation, and as I say my goodbyes to the patients I've grown close to over the last month, I'm feeling much differently than I'm used to. My preceptor made it clear on my first day to give my patients enough notice before my final day. She explained that students frequently come and go, and some of the patients have trouble constantly saying goodbye to those people they've gotten used to seeing and talking to each day. This rotation was...(read more)

'Everything I've Learned Since the Start of School’

2011-05-27T16:52:00Z

With 1 more week to go in psychiatry, and the start of summer just a few days away, I've been gearing up for a busy couple of months. In 3 weeks, once I've completed my psych rotation, as well as my 2 weeks in long-term care/geriatrics that are to follow, my class and I will have to face a week of comprehensive testing before setting out on our elective rotations. This includes a comprehensive practical that will test our directed history and physical examination skills on a standardized patient,...(read more)

Mental Illness and the Power of Presence

2011-05-20T16:42:00Z

Today I had the opportunity to sit down with one of the many patients I have gotten to know over the last 2 weeks. On my first day, I learned that prior to being hospitalized for schizoaffective and bipolar disorder, this patient was a brilliant student, eventually becoming the valedictorian of her high school. I came to find out that she was also an accomplished artist and had decided to major in art history in college just before her illness started to manifest itself. Unfortunately, despite intense...(read more)

The Challenge of Treating Mental Illness

2011-05-13T13:37:00Z

This week I began my psych rotation at a psychiatric hospital in Maryland. The hospital I’ll be working at is strictly an inpatient facility on an expansive private campus, with several buildings and wards. At the beginning of this week, after my orientation and tour of the impressive hospital grounds, my new preceptor introduced me not only to my daily duties, but also to each of the patients I will be getting to know and working closely with over the next 4 weeks. There are 22 patients in the ward...(read more)

Feeling Less Overwhelmed, But ...

2011-05-06T19:07:00Z

Now that my final research presentation and family medicine exam are officially out of the way, I am again feeling the familiar relief of being done with another clinical rotation. It’s wild to think that since last August, I’ve already completed six rotations. With only a combined psychiatric/long-term care rotation to go before my final elective rotation in the ER, I am ready to start preparing a CV and thinking about potential jobs. As hard as it is to believe that I’m already at that point in...(read more)

Preparing for a PA Career

2011-04-28T20:20:00Z

As I near the end of my fifth week in primary care, I am reminded again that it's almost time for this rotation to come to an end. With only two more rotations to go, I am starting to feel the weight of everything that needs to be done to prepare for graduation. So far, on many of my rotations I've noticed that toward the end, I usually have become so comfortable with the routine that sometimes it's easy for me to forget that I'm still in school. Next week, after this rotation ends, I have a thesis...(read more)

Learning Through Hands-On Experience

2011-04-20T13:46:00Z

Finding myself well into my fourth week here at an urban primary care office, I can say that I’m so much more comfortable now with the routine. Having two primary care rotations in a row, combined with the fact that I’ve found myself in an excellent learning environment on this rotation, has allowed me to take away so much already. At this rotation, there are several PA and medical students from different schools and years who work together every day. We all are granted a great deal of autonomy when...(read more)

More on the Mystery of Nonadherent Patients

2011-04-13T13:52:00Z

Today I had an encounter that left me feeling a bit unsettled. Last week I wrote about noncompliance, and today I found myself again meeting my first patient of the day, only to find a 32-year-old with alerts slipped into his chart about noncompliance with his medications. He had come in for his 3-month checkup, for which he showed up for loyally 4 times a year, and he informed me that he still was not taking the 2 medications that had been prescribed to him over almost 2 years ago. According to...(read more)