First year of PA school - Lessons learned

I wanted to take some time and reflect on the last year. Here are some lessons that I’ve learned especially from our last week when we had 5 exams in a row.

1.      Keep organized

2.      Learning and understanding is more important than grades

3.      Don’t rely on cramming for an exam

4.      Classmates are a wonderful support

5.      Don’t dwell and keep moving forward

6.      Remember to check in with family and friends

I feel like the dog :p

The last year has been a whirlwind and I feel as though I’ve been smacked in the face with a whack load of information and still recovering from the impact. At this point I can’t imagine myself doing anything else and I’m proud of my class for entering the next stage of the program. 

Class celebration after exams. 1st year of PA school officially done.

 First Week Back

Our 3 weeks of vacation has officially ended. We started back to school yesterday, yes on a Sunday, and dove straight into ACLS (acute cardiac life support). ACLS is a certification course where you learn the algorithms on how to treat patients with arrhythmias (abnormal rhythms of the heart). We learned how to run a “code blue” this is what you normally see on TV shows like grey’s anatomy. I found this course to be very fun. We role played through the different algorithms, each getting the chance to be the leader who gives the orders and decides which medications/actions to do.

Tomorrow and Wednesday we have information sessions about what to expect for our rotations which starts this Thursday. We are also taking what is a called the PACKRAT exam. This is used to tell us what subject areas we are weak on and therefore focus on for the certification exam next year.

Rotations 

 

My first rotation is in Emergency and as I mentioned I start this Thursday. :S We are excited, worried and anxious. The question that has been on everyone's mind is, Am I ready? I hope so :)

Wish me luck!