Shadowing over Christmas Break...

Yay! I'm halfway through the didactic year. I had the opportunity to shadow a Cardiology PA for 2 days (maybe more... haven't decided if I'm going back tomorrow) over my Christmas break, and really enjoyed it. Hospital consults, stress tests, and CHF clinic... I learned tons in 2 days...?? My brain is going to explode by the time I graduate.

Rotations... Jobs... I'm getting way ahead of myself!

Is it too soon to worry about getting a job? Or about setting up my own rotation in Colorado? Too bad, I am a natural worrier, so I'm already working on it.

Denver.... 2011.... Awesome job paying >$80K/year.....sending positive brain waves.....

I made the mistake of reading someone's desperate post on Denver craigslist basically begging for a job at any low salary. I really hope the job market isn't that bad!

Here's the post:

Hello -

I am a certified Physician Assistant. I have my Colorado Medical License, and am ACLS and BLS certified. Since I am a new graduate, I need experience!

If you are a doctor’s office or clinic who needs help, but cannot afford today’s market prices for a Physician Assistant. I think we can help each other! In exchange for the experience, I am willing to work evenings, weekends, on-call, etc at a much reduced rate.

I am available immediately, so please call or email for resume, references and interviews.

CRAP!!!!

So if you are an experienced PA, send me your free advice on what I could be doing now to land that great job in 1.5 yrs.

MCG Fall semester update

UPDATES

• It's not as bad (so far) as I expected. Two days a week we usually are not in the classroom all day.
• I joined a spin class, cut my hair, and found Lucy doggie daycare!!
• I've gained more weight though. oops. Still working on that.

Classes are more hands-on and practical, but pharmacology, physiology, and currently Lab medicine are so time consuming that I feel like I'm neglecting my physical assessment class :-( I hope to squeeze in some more practice time.

For any future PA-S out there, time management is key. But you still need to take occasional breaks, but make sure they don't take up your entire afternoon. Read, read, read. The more you can expose yourself to material, the better.

Back to the books!

White Coat Ceremony

White Coat Ceremony

September 12, 2009

Medical College of Georgia

Physician Assistant c/o 2011

What an awesome day! Me and my closest 49 new pals were officially handed our white coats and pinned, marking our new journey as PA-S!!

(I'm on the back row, far right)

Strategies for the Fall semester

Fall semester begins in 2 days. Holy crap. I decided to put in writing some of the strategies I've been thinking about for the past week that may help me survive the new semester. Since it seems noone really reads this blog anyway, I don't mind rambling on about my own minutia.

#1. Get reading glasses so I don't get a headache daily. CHECK. Got 'em. I'm off to a good start with my whole turning over a new leaf thing.

#2. Haircut. CHECK. ok, this isn't really a strategy, but I figure having shorter hair will mean less time wasted in the bathroom in the morning.

#3. Bring my own lunch and snacks. I gained 4 lbs since the beginning of the summer semester, probably from my newfound LOVE for Chick-fil-A and Zaxby's. I'm such a sucker for fried chicken and tasty dipping sauces.

#4. EXERCISE. Gawd the thought of sitting in the same chair from 8 a.m. til 5 p.m. seems awful, but I used to do it when i had a desk job. So, I figure I'll survive. But I don't want to get fat. So, I'll need to squeeze in a few workouts during the week. Realistic goal#1 is to get up on time in the morning, and walk Lucy for 30 mins. No more of this waking up at the last minute crap. BUT, I would love to squeeze in a workout at the gym. So, i'm thinking that I'll go to the free early morning spin class once a week, then try to lift at least 2x/week in the morning. I have to figure out what to do with my poor little LuLu though... :-(

#5. Read lecture powerpoints before class. Take notes by hand. Read assigned reading as it is assigned and not right before the test!!!!

So my TO DO list for Sunday (day before new semester) is as follows:

1. inventory closet. pick out what to wear for the week.

2. grocery store. plan lunches and snacks for the week.

3. call doggy daycare and see if they can keep Lucy until 5:30 pm even though they technically close at 5 pm. ughghghghhghg

4. get new ink cartidge for printer. print out powerpoints for the week.

5. set up new notebooks for the semester.

Oh yeah, and if I don't get to campus early, i'll never find decent parking because med students start on Monday too. So I may be scooting to school more than I had planned.

Summer semester.... COMPLETE!!!

WOW!! Summer semester of PA school is over my friends.

How was it, you may ask? Well...it was sort of like the best ass-whoopin' my momma ever gave me as a child.... repeated daily for 3 months.

Here's a break down of what I learned this summer:

Anatomy

• Dissected a human cadaver, Jim, a 79 y/o truck driver who died of lung cancer. What did I learn? I don't like working in groups, you can get high off the fumes of a preserved body, how to use a bone saw to removed a skull (eww! watch out Jeffery Dahmer... I got skills!), and oh yeah, pretty much every part of the human body and how they work minus the facial structures.

Intro to Clinical Medicine

• Death by powerpoint. Death by scantron multiple choice tests. Nah, it wasn't too bad. I learned a little about disease, pathology, and how to read an EKG, very poorly might I add. I plan on studying EKG over the break. Also, we learned how to identify pathologies on clinical radiology procedures... mainly when something is really wrong, like a pneumothorax or widespread metastatic bone cancer. I guess learning the subtleties will come with time.

Genetics/Applied Physiology/Physiology

• These were 2 separate courses but taught by the same professor, who tended to overlap the info. Genetics concepts were pretty much a review - the new material reviewed genetic diseases/disorders. Applied physiology was tough for me... the inner workings of the respiratory system, renal system, reproductive system... lot of enzymes, formulas, graphs, etc. Exams were fairly tricky, so kudos to Prof. Martin for making me think!!
• Online physiology taught by Dr. Cannon (not PA faculty): challenging course for me (self-taught course basically) that will extend into the Fall semester.

Ethics/Cultural Competency

• Again, 2 separate courses, with several different guest speakers. A BRIEF overview of issues we'll encounter dealing with insurance companies, billing, patients of different ethnic/cultural origins, non-English speakers, etc. We hit a lot of the hot topics but it really felt like such a hodgepodge of important info that we'll just have to learn more about along the way. We had to write a final paper for ethics... I discussed prenatal genetic testing for Autism.... and we created a final powerpoint presentation with recorded audio for cultural competency.... my topic was Jehovah's Witnesses and blood transfusions.

Medical Communications

• Basically learned how to take a patient history and how to document the history. A series of pop quizzes, lectures, and our final learning exercise was a videotaped interview of myself taking a HPI (history of present illness) from an actor in the actual exam room. This was my favorite activity so far!! Too bad the video didn't turn out (I went first in my class) but I did get the audio and I think I did pretty well.

I feel like I've forgotten something... but if something profound hits me later, I'll add it to the list.

Physically, I feel tired. I've gained probably 5 lbs from the fast food and lack of exercise. Fall is supposed to be much worse, since we'll be in class all day (as opposed to half-days during the summer) and just as many tests.

Fun with Obama art

How do I look as an Obama poster child? This website is really fun, check it out!

http://obamiconme.pastemagazine.com/entries/new_obamicon.html

Letting my brain rest before school starts = Vacation!

The festivities began on Valentines day when I boarded the big ship in Miami headed for Cozumel and the Grand Caymans (see sprained ankle pics below).  Next stop, Singapore!! We had such an awesome time.  From the moment we stepped on the plane, it was an experience I'll never forget. I'm pretty proud of myself for surviving the longest leg of the trip - a 14-hr flight to Hong Kong from San Francisco... in coach. I was cursing all those bastards in first class the entire way.  Oh, and I left my Ipod on the flight. The only other bummer. Other than that, I took about 200 pictures, ate some crazy food, rode the subway, navigated taxis, hiked in 100 degree/100 % humidity, karaoke-d, segeway-ed, relaxed by the pool, shopped til we dropped, and battled some serious jet lag.  

Getting ready for May! Time to study???

I've received a few emails from my program in the past week or so.  First of all, we will have 2 tests the first week of school! Medical terminology and pathology.  

Secondly, we will be assigned a "big brother/sister" to show us the ropes and answer questions.  

The scary thing is, I'm looking forward to studying for my first two exams. Yeah bring it on. :-)

My ankle hurts

I definitely sprained my ankle. Now I have to figure out just how bad it is. It's very fat and ugly right now, and hurts!! I'm at work today but hope I don't have to do too much walking around. I may go to the doc tomorrow to get a second opinion.  By the way, check out the awesome beach wheelchair!!

Countdown to the first day of school... again. How did I get here?

Am I insane? yes. I am finishing my M.S. in Public Communication & Technology at Colorado State University (writing the thesis) and now cranking it into high gear to get my data collected before May.  Why May you ask? Because after 6 years of working in the "real world" I have realized that now is the time to pursue my dreams.  Since high school, I have wanted to be a "doctor." My parents wanted me to be a nurse. Now I have decided to go somewhere in-between and become a PA.  

Once the ball started rolling towards PA school, it all seemed to happen pretty fast. First, I enrolled in a graduate level Immunology course at CU Denver to boost my science GPA.  I also enrolled in the online Human A&P I and II sequence (prereq's at every PA program).  Whatdya know?? Five years after my last science class, I can still get an A!!

I also started volunteering in the ER at Exempla St. Joseph's Hospital in May of '08. I shadowed a PA (Mr. Milner) most of the time, so I apologize to the volunteer staff at St. Joe's because I didn't do a lot of "volunteering" unless you call getting coffee for Mr. Milner an act of selflessness.

Next step: quitting the desk job. Except for the huge pay cut, working at The Children's Hospital - instead of shuffling papers around, listening to people complain about their budgets, and trying to decipher my boss's manic, tangental rants - seemed like a vacation.  Since July '08, I have had a great time learning about patient care, psychiatry and working with a great group of folks.  I haven't found a PA to work with since Children's employs mainly NPs, but that hasn't dissuaded me from becoming a PA.

Finally, I spent many hours online filling out CASPA, ordering GRE scores, and obsessing over online PA forums.  Medical College of Georgia was the only non-CASPA program I applied to.  Strangely, MCG is the first and only interview and acceptance I got.  After getting the call from MCG, I withdrew my other applications.  

So, now it's January and my next steps are finding out how I'm going to pay for school.  Wish me luck!