"PAs are to healthcare like stem cells are to the human body"
It's true if you think about it. Stem cells are the pluripotent cells of the human body...meaning they start unspecialized and then turn into a cell that is particularly needed at the time (such as a muscle cell, a neural cell, a heart cell, a skin cell...anything!). PAs are pretty much like that too. We start as basic practitioners but when the healthcare system needs more "hands on deck" for a particular area, we specialize to whatever needs us. If primary care needs us, we go there; if surgery needs us, we go there; if OBGYN needs us, we go there. That's what I love about the PA profession. You go where you are needed and you can switch around as much as you want! The choices are endless! MDs/NPs even nurses sometimes are usually stuck in a particular speciality or field once they dedicate themselves to a particular practice. PAs are like play doh. We're moldable and flexible. You can make anything out of us...just use your imagination. Oh, and who doesn't love play doh?
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Fall semester...a good start overall
Hey folks - sorry for the lack of updates. I have already started my fall semester after having a wonderful 3 weeks off for summer break and things are back in full swing again.
My vacation was VERY relaxing and fun....two essentials I sorely needed after that first semester. I got to catch up with a lot of friends; from high school, BU, and QU. I did miss out on my trip to Bermuda because of Hurricane Bill, but we made up for it with trips to Rockport, the Boston Harbor Islands, and Cape Cod where I did a lot of shopping and boating/water skiing which I hadn't done for a long time. I also ate lots of delicious food while home. Home cooking and going out for some fine dining with friends and family...yum! I was trying to gain some weight since I lost nearly 10 lbs over the summer semester from pure stress and long days where I wasn't consuming enough calories for what I was burning from using both my brain and body (standing for 6 hours and dissecting a cadaver was probably the biggest culprit for the calorie burnage.) Alas, I didn't gain the weight back, so I'm trying to do my best not to lose anymore this semester. Probably the most memorable moment of the summer was Siegelman Family bonding time when an elderly man tripped and fell on the boardwalk outside our condo. Mom (PT), Dad (DPT), and me (PA-S) assessed and treated the man who was hemorrhaging profusely from his nasal cavities and knee. We patched and cleaned him up and sent him on his way. He was very thankful that he fell right near us. My summer break concluded with Mom having a total knee replacement surgery. That I can't say was very fun for any of us (mostly Mom). I unforunately had to go back to school while she was still in the hospital, but I checked in with her everyday. She is doing extremely well despite only taking acetominophen and NSAIDs for pain (no opiates!) I am visiting home for the long weekend for Labor Day and helping around the house along with Dad and my lovely aunt who is visiting from Florida.
So only week one of fall semester has passed but I feel like I've learned a whole semester's worth of information already. This is going to be a tough one, like those 2nd and 3rd year students said. I'm taking 17 credits again: Principles of Medicine (it's a 6 credit course with many sub-sections - such as taking dermatology in one week, pulmonology for 3 weeks, rheumatic disease for 2 weeks, etc.), Pharmacology (online...ugh), Medical Mircobiology, Diagnostics (right now we're doing radiology...I learned to read a chest X-Ray in one class), and Physical Diagnosis. In Phys Dx (pronounced Fizz Dizz), we're are learning how to do a complete physical. Our final exam is to do a complete physical exam on a patient in 45 minutes in front of our professors. We're talking a physical like you've never had before. I mean really, have you ever had your cranial nerves tested at a your doctor's office before? Please move your tongue in all directions so I can see if your Hypoglossal Nerve (CN XII) is damaged? Yea, I don't think so. Literally I have to look the patient up and down, inside and out. Best part of this semester though is that we have a brand new, state of the art, graduate campus! It's quite a nice break from the old smelly shack the PA program used to call home. We have enormous classrooms with advanced teaching techology, incredible mock examination rooms, a CAFETERIA (sorry I get excited when there are other dining options other than peanut butter and jelly), and beautiful grounds (lakes, hiking trails, trees). I thouroughly enjoyed studying outside by the lake watching graceful white herons and ducks flying and swimming around. City girl has become nature girl? Who woulda thunk?
So far, I've eased into this semester well, and I'm becoming friendlier with more of my classmates. Kawal and I had about 20 people over to our apartment on Friday for a wine and cheese party and we got a lot of positive responses from my classmates. We all agreed we need to stop being as "clique-y" as we were this summer and start making better friendships with one another. That started my weekend on a very positive note and while this semester may seem overwhelming and scary (what in PA school isn't overwhelming and scary?), I feel like it's a brand new start to things with the new campus, more clinically applicable course-load, and better friendships with classmates. Well, that is all I have for now. Off to study macules, papules, and vesicles and every skin disease known to mankind. By the way, I'm NOT by any circumstances going to specialize in derm. Skin = gross. Thought I'd share that intelligent thought with you.
Over and Out.
My vacation was VERY relaxing and fun....two essentials I sorely needed after that first semester. I got to catch up with a lot of friends; from high school, BU, and QU. I did miss out on my trip to Bermuda because of Hurricane Bill, but we made up for it with trips to Rockport, the Boston Harbor Islands, and Cape Cod where I did a lot of shopping and boating/water skiing which I hadn't done for a long time. I also ate lots of delicious food while home. Home cooking and going out for some fine dining with friends and family...yum! I was trying to gain some weight since I lost nearly 10 lbs over the summer semester from pure stress and long days where I wasn't consuming enough calories for what I was burning from using both my brain and body (standing for 6 hours and dissecting a cadaver was probably the biggest culprit for the calorie burnage.) Alas, I didn't gain the weight back, so I'm trying to do my best not to lose anymore this semester. Probably the most memorable moment of the summer was Siegelman Family bonding time when an elderly man tripped and fell on the boardwalk outside our condo. Mom (PT), Dad (DPT), and me (PA-S) assessed and treated the man who was hemorrhaging profusely from his nasal cavities and knee. We patched and cleaned him up and sent him on his way. He was very thankful that he fell right near us. My summer break concluded with Mom having a total knee replacement surgery. That I can't say was very fun for any of us (mostly Mom). I unforunately had to go back to school while she was still in the hospital, but I checked in with her everyday. She is doing extremely well despite only taking acetominophen and NSAIDs for pain (no opiates!) I am visiting home for the long weekend for Labor Day and helping around the house along with Dad and my lovely aunt who is visiting from Florida.
So only week one of fall semester has passed but I feel like I've learned a whole semester's worth of information already. This is going to be a tough one, like those 2nd and 3rd year students said. I'm taking 17 credits again: Principles of Medicine (it's a 6 credit course with many sub-sections - such as taking dermatology in one week, pulmonology for 3 weeks, rheumatic disease for 2 weeks, etc.), Pharmacology (online...ugh), Medical Mircobiology, Diagnostics (right now we're doing radiology...I learned to read a chest X-Ray in one class), and Physical Diagnosis. In Phys Dx (pronounced Fizz Dizz), we're are learning how to do a complete physical. Our final exam is to do a complete physical exam on a patient in 45 minutes in front of our professors. We're talking a physical like you've never had before. I mean really, have you ever had your cranial nerves tested at a your doctor's office before? Please move your tongue in all directions so I can see if your Hypoglossal Nerve (CN XII) is damaged? Yea, I don't think so. Literally I have to look the patient up and down, inside and out. Best part of this semester though is that we have a brand new, state of the art, graduate campus! It's quite a nice break from the old smelly shack the PA program used to call home. We have enormous classrooms with advanced teaching techology, incredible mock examination rooms, a CAFETERIA (sorry I get excited when there are other dining options other than peanut butter and jelly), and beautiful grounds (lakes, hiking trails, trees). I thouroughly enjoyed studying outside by the lake watching graceful white herons and ducks flying and swimming around. City girl has become nature girl? Who woulda thunk?
So far, I've eased into this semester well, and I'm becoming friendlier with more of my classmates. Kawal and I had about 20 people over to our apartment on Friday for a wine and cheese party and we got a lot of positive responses from my classmates. We all agreed we need to stop being as "clique-y" as we were this summer and start making better friendships with one another. That started my weekend on a very positive note and while this semester may seem overwhelming and scary (what in PA school isn't overwhelming and scary?), I feel like it's a brand new start to things with the new campus, more clinically applicable course-load, and better friendships with classmates. Well, that is all I have for now. Off to study macules, papules, and vesicles and every skin disease known to mankind. By the way, I'm NOT by any circumstances going to specialize in derm. Skin = gross. Thought I'd share that intelligent thought with you.
Over and Out.
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