One month down, 26 to go

So, here I am one month into my PA education. All I can say is, the next 26 months better go by fast. While I am enjoying learning to do a lot of the hands on work (venipunctures, glucose monitoring, hemotocrit, and of course those smelly cadavers), it's hard to appreciate school because we need to learn so much so fast. There's no time to soak it up and get into it. Hear it in lecture, memorize it, test it, move on. I am constantly on the go and I've been working hard to build up my stamina. How do I have time to write this blog you ask? Well so far on this today I: woke up at 6:30 AM to pick up some classmates and drive to Yale to review for my cadaver lab practical this week, spent 2 hours there, drove back, ate a quick lunch, drove to the libraray and studied for pathology there from 12-4, went grocery shopping, came back home, called my mom and practiced doing a mock interview and oral presentation so I am ready for the real thing on Tuesay (she was a superb patient), studied more patho, cooked dinner for myself and my roomates, read for my interviewing class, studied more patho, and here i am now, in a state of exhaustion, stress, and fear for the approaching week ahead and badly needing to vent....hence the blog update.

This all sounds very negative, and while I can't say I've fallen in love with school, I am somehow coping. I have found my little niche of friends within the program and we enjoy Friday night dinners out or wine nights at various apartments. Friday nights are the one night off from studying. We often talk about things such as "how many days until August break" or "I can't wait for clinical rotations". My feelings about school pretty much sum up how everyone else feels. I am missing a lot of the aspects of undergrad such as being able to be friends with people outside your major, having time to do extracurricular activities (i miss chorus), and in general having time to just shut off every once in a while.

"One day at a time, one day at a time" is often what i hear from classmates, family, friends. It's true so I wrote it here to remind myself.

Until the next time when I'm burnt out....ta ta. Oh and by the way, don't ever smoke...it's turns respiratory pseudostratified squamous epithelium into simple squamous epithelium through the process of metaplasia therefore causing infectious agents and foreign particules to invade leading to increased risk of bronchogenic carcinomas. Next time you see someone smoking, tell them that exact sentence...good lord that sentence alone would freak me out enough to quit cold turkey.