Remember how last week I said I was going to work on my empathy?

SPs Part II

Quick update on the SP from last week. Nailed the diagnosis. Lucked out. I always feel like I luck out. Maybe I need to learn to give myself more credit. OK I am just that good. Hehehe.

I'm sure they're just starting us off easy but overall, it was actually, dare I say it, fun :) All those repetitive, draining SP encounters during H&P are paying off. Felt like I had a mystery to solve, and it was really cool to be able to say to a patient for the first time, "I think you have _____, and I'll prescribe you ____ which should take care of it." Then, after feeling on top of the world, this happens:

I debated whether or not I should post this but the message I'm trying to drive home is that PA school is great and making you feel average. Can't let it get to you. Above is how my standardized patient rated me. Our PARS scores don't really affect our grade - they're for our reference, and if anything alarming shows up, your advisor will sit down with you and address it. They explain to the SPs to rate us VERY critically, which is why the scale is from 1-9 rather than, say, 1-5. You rarely get 8s and 9s. Also, every patient rates slightly differently. In general, they say to focus more on the comments on the bottom. Sometimes you walk out of the exam room like you own the place and then you get your PARS score and it's all 4s. Other times you think "Crap I blew it...," turn to look at your classmate who also just exited their exam room next to yours, the look on their face says "Yup I blew it too,"...and then you get back your scores and it's 6s and 7s.  The one that really frustrates me is "Demonstrated empathy." I mean, how many times can I say "That must be really frustrating to work through," "Oh I know it hurts, I'll try to be gentle," "I'm so sorry your posterior nasal drip is waking you up at night!" to my fake patient with a fake illness before I start sounding over-the-top fake myself?!?

Anyway, last time my focus was on getting a gauge for our new 25 minute time limit and being thorough, which I feel I accomplished. Next time...I guess I'll work on my empathy.

Leaving you with a photo of how Jeremiah organizes his tools for the comprehensive neuro exam because you really do need tubes of cinnamon water and cotton swabs snapped in half. People who sew, better start making your tool belts now:

I'm half PA book smart

The heme exam I was studying for on new years was fine. I feel like some clin med exam topics are harder than others but in the end I always score about the same anyway. Not sure what that means.

Last week my advisor sent out an e-mail mentioning that we had already completed 31 weeks of school, and had 31 remaining until rotations. Which means that as of today, we are more than halfway done with didactic...and I have only blogged 4 times...I'll work on that. Anyway. Crazy. 30 weeks left. Felt like only yesterday when this photo was taken:

white coat swag

You mean that at this point I should be half book-smart to being a real PA?? Hah yeah right. Yesterday was our first Clinical Seminar small group meeting. This is where one student pretends to be the patient, another is chosen to be the PA, and as a group we chug through the differential, H&P, diagnostic studies, diagnosis, and treatment. The faculty seem to get really excited about students who go all out and dress the part of the patient (for example, old people, street walkers, using puppets...). I'm sure for them, they've done this so many times that it's like "meh...*yawn*." Don't worry teachers, I'll do something good when it's my turn!!

I was nervous because I didn't want to get called on to be the first PA. Thankfully I wasn't...but then I was called to be the scribe. This gives me anxiety because I write like a dude and I'm really embarrassed about it, but hey here is a photo and don't judge my handwriting!

Mrs. D did not seem pleased I was busting out my iPhone photography in the middle of seminar but I tried to explain to her that I'm the official class blogger and the authenticity of my posts would be severely jeopardized if there was a lack of photos!!!!!

Alec the PA (bottom left) was killing it up there. After narrowing down the differential, we figured out Mrs. D gave away that Jillian (bottom right) had mycoplasma pneumonia, an atypical pneumonia that tends to affect younger patients living in crowded areas and is characterized by having a slow-onset of generally mild symptoms, including cough with absence of sputum, headache, fever, sore throat, and fatigue. Unilateral lung consolidation in the lower lobe is usually found upon physical exam, and it is treated with macrolides (erythro, clarithro, or z-pack). Applicants, now you have one less condition to know when you get into PA school.

Tomorrow is our first standardized patient encounter of the term. This one is different from our previous encounters because we will do a directed history and physical rather than a comprehensive. This will also be the first time that we'll be on our own with the emphasis on attempting to hash out a diagnosis on the spot. After a whole term of seeing weekly SPs, I've realized the following things help get me through it:

1. Don't freak out.

2. Get yourself pumped! Don't be so worried about doing poorly that you start dreading it. Just remind yourself that this is a simulation of what you have always wanted to do and sometimes the SPs are fun and down to joke around and you're going to make mistakes and miss things and not nearly know everything but as long as you don't do anything malpractice-worthy it's cool.

3. Dress cute. Ok maybe that's just me but whatever.

4. Don't freak out. This really applies to PA school in general.

Waiting in the hallway just before our final SP encounter of fall term. Don't know why we were so excited about it because it wasn't like we weren't going to have SPs for the rest of the year...

I will let you know how the SPs go. Really though, I'm stoked. School is getting real. Also, for those of you lucky enough to be interviewing 1/18 next Friday afternoon, Camilla and I will be leading the tour. Can't wait to meet some of you! Interviewees always look like nervous uptight penguins walking around campus and it cracks me up (don't be ashamed, we've all been there). They put you in this waiting room with glass walls that faces the lobby and every time I walk by, I'm tempted to make funny faces against the glass and do the dougie or something, but then I think, "hmmm...better not."

Happy 2013!

Yes, I am blogging at 12:55 am on New Years Day. In my attempt to give an honest account of the experience of PA school, I just want everyone to know that we have a huge Hematology exam on Jan 2nd at 9am. Therefore, I am studying. Am I ashamed? No. Do I feel lame for not celebrating New Years the way other people out there in the world are? Eh...yeah maybe a little, but then again, what I would probably be doing is paying $80+ for some New Years party that isn't that much different from any other night of going out. Does writing this post make me feel a little better? Yup. When you put things in perspective, it's not so bad. As much as it sucks when PA school makes you miss things like your aunt's wedding ceremony (true story) or NYE, I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else right now. Just small sacrifices to make for a very delayed, big reward at the end of the road. Thankful that it is 2013, which is just one year off from graduation in 2014. Also, I'm totally gonna ace this exam =P

I'll leave you all with a few photos of the guys in our class from "Movember", when they grew mustaches during the month of November to raise awareness and funds for testicular cancer, because we've been on break for 10 days and so nothing really exciting has happened. Not sure how much money they raised, and I'm pretty sure they would've done it for free....but aren't they a studly looking group??

Happy New Year!

Winter Term

Well, first let me explain my absence. We had fall term finals right before Thanksgiving, and then as soon as that was over, BAM got hit in the face with the start of Clin Med for Winter. It's definitely a bit of an adjustment going from H&P to Clin Med. H&P is really hands on and you just barely scratch the surface when it comes to symptoms and conditions. Clin Med is everything we've been waiting for and dreading at the same time: Epidemiology, etiology, signs, symptoms, risk factors, treatment, complications, going from one body system to the next, bam bam bam. I'm generally one of the more "chill" students in the class, I don't tend to freak out too much, but even I'm starting to feel the pressure. It's OK though, I'm confident that after a nice relaxing winter break back home in California with my friends and family (who I'm missing dearly right now...only been home once since school started in June), I'll have recharged and find a way to get into the swing of Clin Med. It definitely feels like one of those things that's a little overwhelming at first, until you figure out how to best study for. Probably doesn't get "easier", but you just get better at handling it.

PCOM held a free holiday luncheon for us last Friday. One thing you will learn is that free food in grad school can easily become the highlight of your day/week/life. It was actually pretty neat; the faculty (including the President Dr. Schure) served us with a smile, the roast beef and turkey weren't dry, there was a nice little dessert array, and they had that chocolate fondue fountain that they seem to bust out for every special occasion here. How many other PA programs can boast a chocolate fondue fountain?!? Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the fountain, but here's a few others:

In the upper left corner serving food and wearing the maroon shirt is Sean, one of the PA faculty. In the bottom right, sitting at the table from L-R are Sydney, Aly, and Christina. They are awesome.

Mandatory PA Fun Day

Even though this happened about a month ago, I think it's still quite a blog-worthy event. Every class goes on a retreat during their first fall quarter. Think of 6th grade science camp 2.0. We ended up at YMCA Camp Ockanickon and spent the day answering trivia, playing team building games, doing a scavenger hunt, boat racing, and concluded with our team skits. Our class is broken up into 4 teams, and if you can imagine, all of us type-A PA students can get very competitive with each other. We come up with songs, slogans, custom T-shirts...the works. Here was the team breakdown:

Red team: Hemoglobin Trotters
Blue team: Blue Steel
Yellow team: Cremasters
Green team: Carpe Scrotum

At the end of the day, the Cremasters lifted themselves up (nerd humor haha get it?!) and were victorious. The faculty concluded with a short but meaningful message: There are some things that simply can not be taught in the classroom. Sometimes you need to be reminded how important things like team-building, empathy, and planning ahead are in this career path. We're all in this together! Also, they expressed concern as to why our class was so obsessed with male genitalia....yeah I have no clue either, I personally did not come up with any of those names.

Ok onto photos!

serious business

I'm pretty sure there's a lot more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking. And I plan on finding out what that is.

someone palpating Lindsey's ischial tuberosity

Our VP, Melissa (far R) managed to rent out a school bus for us!

we are real professionals here

jumping into a boat to start a race and realizing there are no oars - what taking PA school exams can feel like at times

me with my team, the hemoglobin trotters

Items we had to retrieve during the scavenger hunt. Question for our faculty: what's a "DOPLPHIN?" :P

PAs come in all sizes, including fold-away

Red team's skit song about Standardized Patients (SPs), performed to the tune of Justin Beiber's "Baby". Credits to the fab Camilla Chou PA-S for the lyrics.

Cremasters skit

Blue Steel's skit about PA school interviews

....aaaaand an Instagram filter just to make things look extra special and vintage

The FIRST post dun dun dun

Trying to make this snappy, because let's be real here - PA students have to manage their spare time wisely!

My name: Snow (Yes, that is my given name. Don't laugh.)

yours truly

College: UC San Diego c/o 2010

Major: B.S. Biochemistry/Cell Biology

Minor: Psychology, Theatre

Why I decided to become a PA: My story is simple. I was always fascinated by medicine ever since I was little, but never felt that a career as a Physician was right for me. My sophomore year of college, a friend was telling me his girlfriend in PA school, something clicked, and I basically had the "PA school and I, we were meant to be soul mates..." feeling. The more I read about the career, the more I thought, "Hey this really suits me." After graduating, getting some experience as an EMT, then spending 6 months in Guatemala on an amazing pre-health cultural immersion/volunteer program sponsored by USC (check it out here: www.somoshermanos.org), here I am at PCOM!

Why I chose PCOM: Because it's awesome. Also because I'm a California girl at heart that loves to globe hop. More on this later. But really, PCOM makes something as grueling and overwhelming as PA school manageable. I really fell for this school during interviews. From the anatomy lab, to the faculty, to the gym (where the Philadelphia 76ers practice and I try to holler when I can haha), to being surrounded by other health profession grad students, to their 7-year maximum accreditation renewal, to Miss Debbie who will yell to you "HAPPY FRIDAYS' EVE!!! And you look absolutely beautiful today!" from across the lobby on Thursday at 8am, this is a great place to begin your PA journey. Really though, I should eventually devote an entire post on this, so I'll save details for later.

Since we're already about 4 months into PA school, there have been a ton of big events that have already occurred. I'll try to address them as much as I can in later posts, but for now, this is where we're at: two-thirds of the way into fall term. Our biggest course right now is History Taking and Physical Examination, aka H&P, aka the first time you palpate a liver/use a tuning fork/see an eardrum/feel awkward asking people about the frequency of their BMs and sexual history....Basically we learn the full techniques of H&P before we dive into Clinical Medicine next quarter. Anyway, since I'm a visual learner, I'm all about photos. Here are some of my top instagrams of H&P thus far:

In lab. Our first day learning how to use the otoscope and perhaps the only time we will ever have the chance to see our own tympanic membranes as they are projected onto the big screen. I'm in the lower right box. On the lower left, that's Brian testing Tyler's gag reflex (for Cranial Nerve IX/X!) and faculty member Paul in the back, chuckling at all of us for finding this amusing.

Getting some musculoskeletal practice in and practicing our tattoo artists skills at the same time. Drawing the palpable landmarks helps visualize exactly what is going on in the joint.

Spending time in the sim lab, where my years of playing Street Fighter and mortal combat FINALLY come in handy. We were able to practice laparoscopic surgery techniques, and do cool things like a cholecystectomy and tubal ligation. Bet you can't beat my high score!

Much more awesome, insider-scoop to come. I promise you this is going to be unlike ANY other PA student blog you've ever read. Stay tuned!!!