National Physician Assistant Day!! Nov. 27th

The day was a big success! There was an awesome turn out at the Health Science Centre. We were giving away free cake and it disappeared in an hour! I had some good conversations about the PA profession. Here are some pictures of the event. :)

What our T-shirts say! :)

The 3 week craze begins!

( We got to dress up into our "PA clothes" last Friday to take pictures for program promotion. I put some random action shots and fun pictures randomly within this post. enjoy! :) 

We have 3 more weeks to go until our first semester of PA school is over. It went by super fast but there is a lot left to do. Here is the agenda for this week.

Monday - Physiology test #2 
This will be on cardiovascular physiology. Including heart function, valve disease, heart failure, blood flow, vessel regulation and the infamous EKGs. 

Tuesday - Patient Assessment Formative Final
A formal practice before our actual standardized patient exam. 
**Also PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT DAY**!!! we will be wearing our spiffy new t-shirts and will be serving cake at the Health Science Center, William entrance at lunch time! (Look forward to pictures)

Thursday - Patient assessment written exam
All material is coming out of our handbook. We are being tested on how to take a general history and the Head, Eyes, Ears, Neck & Throat Exam (HEENT). 







Friday - OSCE/Standardized patient exam

Do I look the part?

I'm nervous for this one. I think it's because this is the first time I've had a practical exam before. This is how it will go. The program brings in actors to play our patient. They will have a problem with one of the systems we studied in the HEENT exam. We read the nurse's note in the front of the door and go in to take a history. Afterwards we do a focused physical exam then vocalize our findings to our preceptor. We also have to think of some differentials and a plan for our patient. Our differentials and plan are still superficial at this point because we have not yet taken adult medicine (That's next semester). Afterwards we have 15 min to write a detailed note.  

 

EKG FUN!

Torsade de pointes - also my "Halloween" costume this year :P

After a few confusing lectures on EKGs (Electrocardiogram or ECG) our Curriculum Integration (CI) class decided to give us some extra exposure. At the beginning of the week we went into the hospital and one of our classmates was the guinea pig for an actual EKG. We were able to visualize an EKG exam and see where the electrodes go on the body. Today we had a mock EKG interpretation test. It will still take some time to learn the different diagnosis but I can say that I'm a little more comfortable with them. 


The classes are starting to meld together. We are currently learning the thorax in Anatomy and I was able to hold and look at a few hearts. We have learned angina and heart failure drugs in pharmacology and are now learning the pathophysiology of the heart. It is truly amazing. 

Papers Update 

I must admit that I've been slow to write them. I have finished my critical appraisals, bioethics paper and anatomy presentation. I plan this weekend to finish up my research proposal and presentation for professional studies. Here's hoping :)

View of the front of the University from the grad lounge after the weekend snow storm. (Yes the dots are on the window)

 

Papers on the Brain

 
Paper Time! 

I survived the triple exam whammy! My advice to future students is to study courses daily. Read the material and understand it. You don't realize how much you have to absorb and how hard it is to recall it in back to back exams. My downfall was a lack of sleep. From this experience I realized that I am not a 'crammer'. Luckily finals are not back to back. What a relief!

After the exams we ended the week by delving into the confusing world of EKGs. I was reminded that our finals begin in 3 weeks and that it was time to think of what most science students dread the most, PAPERS & PRESENTATIONS :)

So what do we have to do? Refer to the picture above...

1. Research & Clinical Practice
This course is to prepare us for our CAPSTONE project. The CAPSTONE project is our big research paper which is done in our second year. In this semester we are learning how to critically appraise articles and how to form our research question. 

2. Professional Studies
This course introduces us to physician assistant culture and to begin our understanding in our role in health care.   

 

**PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT DAY! NOV 27th, 2012**

Look forward to our plans for PA Day!