Today at 1:00 will be the mark of my Easter break! After we come back, we have a week of class then finals! 2 weeks and 9 exams stand in my way of 2nd semester being done! Wow. Seriously everyone, it goes by so fast. I feel like I just started this 2nd semester.


This semester has been quite interesting to say the least. I feel in a way im in so many classes that I can't keep up with what day I have a certain class. We have crunched in a lot of subjects. Pathophysiology has included Cardio, Pulmonary, Renal, and Hematology. My trilogy course has included: Geriatrics, OBGYN, and Peds. Add on to that pharm II, Physical Diagnosis II, Human behavior and psychology, and surgical principles.

We are getting to the point where new information is coming in, some old information arises, and you search your brain for old pieces to piece together with the new ones.

I have to say that by this time in school, I teach myself a lot of the information. Sure, I listen in class, but a lot of it is self taught too. I have definitely learned my limits as to when I need to study, or what I will learn in a certain amount of time. As I have said before, it is important to take time to yourself while your in PA school. If you study study study all the time, you will go crazy. I think every student goes through this phase.

The most stressful times for me are finals week. I am always on the brink of receiving an A in the class or have an A and have a chance of losing it. In the end, grades dont really matter. As long as you pass, you are golden. Of course you dont want C's across the board. I know at my school we have a probation period if you get below a certain GPA. So therefore, you want to at least get A's and B's. But like I said, grades in the end dont matter. When you pass the PANCE (your boards), jobs dont ask for your transcripts or grades.

Next blog will be about talking to the staff about rotations (very weird to be at that stage already) and also will be about finals week.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask! 

It has been a while since I have updated. Sorry for such the long break in posts. I wanted to write about a few things and I will start off with Venipuncture. A few weeks back, we had a venipuncture lab. I was really excited to do this because it was the first time I would be performing the procedure with a 21 gage needle. Normally, I have used a butterfly needle, which I wrote about prior. I have to say, the guys who have the biggest veins in the class, were the biggest babies about getting their arms pricked with a needle. While many of the girl offered both arms for people to practice on. My first prick was on my best friend in the class. No one was successful in getting a vein on her. This was actually the first time I wasn't successful in drawing blood. I decided to try again a second time another classmate and was successful.



Before spring break, we learned intubation. They said if we were successful on intubating a dummy in physical diagnosis class, we would be successful in real life. They said it was harder to intubate on the dummy than a real live person. I was successful in intubating an adult and infant. It was really cool to do intubation just because I have seen it so many times from watching rescue 911 as a kid, and then trauma in the ER when I was older. I can't wait to practice more so I will feel more comfortable. Sorry I have no pictures from that lab.

We just got back from Spring break. It was much needed for many of us in the class. I went to the beach with my friend, saw the holocaust museum, went shoe shopping (woowho) went to a boat show, went home for a few days to see my family, relaxed, slept in, and ate good food. It was a great spring break and I was so happy to have some time off from school.

Sutures. Who doesn't want to learn sutures? Anyone who is in the medical profession gets excited when it comes to learning sutures. I really enjoyed this class.

Last week, we were taught how to suture two pieces of masking tape together. I am sure some of you in PA school are saying, "What? masking tape? What about pigs feet or chickens?" Supposedly, previous students at my school had mentioned to the faculty that they would have liked to have more practice on sutures before rotations. So, they decided to start making those changes with my class.

We learned a simple interrupted suture and a simple running suture. We also learned one handed tie and a two handed tie. I took two pictures for your blog enjoyment. The first one is of my first run of sutures. You may not be able to tell but they accidentally gave me clear sutures then I switched to black. The next picture is of the whole setup and her first run. Thanks to my neighbor in class. Big shout out to her! :)

By the way, we will be practicing later on within the semester on pigs feet. ;) Just haven't gotten there yet.

This is one of the main questions I get asked by students who interview at my school, but also my readers. So I figured I would blog on it. :)

For of you that do read, thanks for reading the blog! I really appreciate it and I am so glad that you do "follow me" through this journey of mine.

Being that my school is a satellite school, it was one of my concerns also. All of the professors are not teaching from miami. They switch back and forth all the time. Some days we can just have lectures here in st pete and some days they may just be in miami..but a lot of times they are mixed (mostly mixed 80% of the time). It really depends on the classes. This 2nd semester we have had a lot more professors speak here (in st pete). Sometimes though, professors from Miami will drive down and lecture from st. pete or vice versa. They do that so we get a chance to meet with them in person.

I don't feel like I am at a disadvantage because if I do have a question, I can also ask the prof via satellite. Then, if I didn't get the chance to ask him/her, then I can always email the professor which they are all pretty swift at returning a response.

I would say the hardest thing about satellite is-- sometimes if they are teaching in miami, it's hard to keep your focus on the lecture because they aren't standing right in front of you. You just have to press through it and keep focus as hard as you can.

If you have anymore questions feel free to ask me! I hope you continue to read the blog and I hope it helps you!

I can't sleep right now. In the back of my mind, I know I need to start going to bed earlier since school will be starting up again on the 10th. I don't even stay up this late when I am IN school.

I can't believe time is winding down and soon, I will be in full swing for the semester. 16 weeks, then another 10 for summer, then rotations-YIKES! In 8 short months I will be rotating which is so hard to believe. I wonder what knowledge and progression this semester will lead me to? I know we will start to learn casting, and venipuncture, and suturing this upcoming semester. I bought my suture supplies today off of amazon so I can practice.

I wonder, once I am out of school, how well the total 27 months will prepare me for the real world? I know that being a PA will be an ongoing learning process for the rest of my life. I have no doubt about that. However, I really wonder what my first job out of school will be, how well will I be at it, will I cave under pressure, will the doctor trust and rely on me? All these questions run through my mind.

I can only hope that I will be a compassionate, empathetic PA who listens to her patients and takes the time to help them. I don't want to just be good at my profession, but someone the doctor and patients can trust and rely on and keeping a smile on my face the whole time while doing just that.

I am sure some of you are wondering what the title has to do with PA school. Hopefully, I can express my feelings well enough that will tie it all together.

Since PA school, I am amazed by the friendships I have lost but also gained. I had friends going into school that I figured would give me the most support-- only to find they really could care less. Or, they would say "well, I figured you were so busy that you wouldn't have time to talk." PA school is busy, but it doesn't mean I don't have time for friends or to sit down and talk. It's sad that friends disappear when you become busy with something like PA school. Do I like studying all the time..No. Do I have to study all the time? Yes. Is this a time where I need friends and support the most? It sure is.

My father and mother always said that I will go through life only being able to count my closest friends on one hand. I truly believe that. These are not just friends you can call up on a whim. But, friends that you can trust with out a doubt and who will be there for you through the good and bad times.

In November, I was going through some personal stuff in my life. I fortunately have made one good friend in my class who I can trust with out a doubt. You see, most of the people in my class are married or have significant others so they spend their time with their significant others. I was fortunate to have my friend by my side. She listened to me cry, listened to me complain, did her best to make me laugh and I am so thankful for her.

Lastly, I also have to thank my family. Family will always be there for you. Even when those friendships do dissolve. They have supported me through PA school every step of the way so far.

Wednesday the 16th was the end of my first semester. I can't believe it. The semester really did fly by. I stayed strong through the semester, but by the time finals week came around, I was just exhausted. Finals week we had 5 finals in three days. 2 on Monday, 1 on Tuesday, and 2 on Wednesday. The last few weeks of school were busy. I was studying for exams and also decided to participate in the Nutcracker. I didn't think I would be able to dance while I was in PA school, but I made the time to do it and I am happy that I did. It feels good just to get out on the stage and forget about anatomy and physiology for a while. Dancing in general just makes me happy.

Next semester consists of:

Pharmacology II
Medical Pathophysiology
Human Behavior and Psyche
Physical Diagnosis II
Surgical Principles
Genetics
Trilogy course which consists of OB-GYN, Geriatrics, and Peds

There are 16 weeks in the 2nd semester and 10 weeks in the summer semester. I know it is going to go by fast, but I am prepared for the road ahead of me. The 2nd years say the rotation year is much much better. I have enjoyed this semester...ok maybe not so much the 45 exams, but I have enjoyed learning a lot of it.

Right now we are on holiday break which we get 3 weeks total. It is a really nice break but I am already feeling anxious like I should be studying for something. I am trying not to think about it by just spending time with my family. My sister and her husband came down from Chicago with my two nephews. One nephew is 3 years old and the other just turned 3 months today. It is the first time I have met my youngest nephew who is such a sweetheart.

I hope everyone has a great holiday season and a merry christmas. Lets all remember what this holiday is about! Below is a picture of my baby nephew and me. :)