We made it through one quarter of my first year as a physician assistant. Let's take this opportunity to reflect on some of the lessons learned during my first three months. It's sort of like your boss' 90-day evaluation, but without the sense of impending doom. Transition is Tough - Whether you are moving into a new career or a new city ...

As I approached high school graduation years ago, my Health Careers teacher shared the popular modern parable, Who Moved My Cheese? It is a story about mice and miniature people who look for cheese (a metaphor for happiness and success) in a maze. Silly, for sure, but I found that the story's lesson sticks its nose into my life on occasion. ...

The airplane shuddered around me and somewhere in the back a baby began to cry. I looked out of the window, past the carpet of clouds to the countryside that rolled in every direction. The plane shook again, even harder this time, and a few rows away a man cursed. I couldn't help but smile; I always loved the turbulence. A limousine driver ...

Saturday was National PA Day and PA Week runs Oct. 6-12th. This week is important for us students to educate our friends, family and communities on why in the world we disappear for 2 years and then come out of our education with amazing jobs and opportunities waiting for us. At Jefferson, we kicked off the celebration on Friday, Oct. 5. The ...

As I entered the patient's room, I introduced myself and asked if her name was ''Sarah.'' She said ''yes,'' nodding in my direction with a welcoming smile. Prior to entering the patient's room, I had diligently reviewed the chart. She was 93 and had been hospitalized after slipping and falling in her home, where she lived alone. Her husband had ...

Terry Clarke, student nurse here. I am in an accelerated nurse practitioner program at UMASS Worcester. We just finished our year-long RN BSN equivalency. I've been feeling like a hand-stamped 18-year-old at a bar, able to join the conversations but not order a beer. As my NCLEX draws nigh, I finally feel competent to write about this experience. ...

Last week, New Grad NP blogger Samantha Damren posted the struggle she encounters working with multiple physicians: memorizing the preferences and practices of each. On Facebook, reader Amber said, ''20 in my emergency physician group ... can get frustrating!'' On our blog, more readers weighed in. Here are some of their ...

I know, I know. You're all probably thinking that if you see another blog about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, you are going to need an emesis basin. Since the healthcare reform package was upheld by the Supreme Court, healthcare is back in the news and on the minds, lips and keyboards of just about everyone. I will attempt to ...

So now that the basic tenets of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are moving forward, who is going to provide all that primary care? A lot of people are counting on you to do it. But recent studies and surveys show that NPs and PAs are shifting to specialties and subspecialties at a fast clip. In response, thought leaders and family ...

''I should give her some vodka. That would make her feel much better. Ha ha!'' You would think that a statement like this would be made at a bar or a party. Unfortunately, it was made by the emergency room doctor, as he chuckled with the nursing staff about my grandmother's pain. Maybe I'm lacking a sense of humor here, but I did not find the ...