It's been s while...

Hello friends!!

I've been slacking a bit, but it's not entirely my fault. I swear. My wonderful MacBook took a poop back in January, so I've been using my iPad for everything. Unfortunately, i haven't found a blogger app for the iPad that allows me to upload photos and do other fun stuff. So, I haven't blogged. Lame, but true.

I jut finished another unit of PA school!! It was our endocrine and OB/GYN unit. Lots of baby stuff and thyroid stuff. Very interesting, but I'll tell you honestly. I've never seen anything more disturbing than live, vaginal childbirth. Ugh. One the other hand, I don't think anything has made me smile quite like an ultrasound of a 20 week fetus. Absolutely heartwarming. She had the hiccups and you could see her wiggle with each hiccup. It was absolutely thrilling. Almost makes my biological clock start ticking a little louder. And then I remember the video of childbirth and i gag a little bit!

Anyway. It was another long unit and I'm glad it's over. Just one more unit to complete before the year of rotations begins. Right now we're doing seminar week where we get to learn all kinds of cool hands-on stuff. On Friday we learned knot tying, suturing (on pigs feet!), how to start an IV, IM/SubQ injections, NG/OG tubes, and catheters. There's a ton more we'll be learning throughout this week. :)

Next Sunday I'll be boarding a plane to Miami to hang out with my family. I can't wait to see them. I plan to just hang out with them and spend lots of time in my parents' backyard soaking up some sunshine. Can't freaking wait.

I hope everyone is good. :) Till next time!

Unit 2 Completed!!

Hello friends!!

It's been a while, but I've got good news. I've successfully completed Unit 2 of phase I of PA school! What a relief. Only 3 more units in phase I. It feels like forever, but it's really just 8 more months on campus in Carbondale. Thank the good lord!

Testing ended on Wednesday afternoon (3 long days of testing). We celebrated a birthday and the end of finals that night, and then partook of some retail therapy all day Thursday, before heading home for a week off. I am currently reading a book that has NOTHING to do with school and also watching all kinds of movies. Life is wonderful again. :) Here are some pics of Wednesday night's fun.

Fujiyama Japanese Steak House in Carbondale. Our grill guy rocked. He threw chicken at me and I caught it in my mouth (on the second try!)

Can you see the Mickey in my rice? I'm corny. I know. It must be really obvious, cause the cook definitely noticed!

Pretty PA ladies :)

Drunken roomies. This was at the Blue Martin - a really cute martini bar in Carbondale. Loved this place. Really tasty drinks.

After this we went next door to the gay bar named Traz (I think this is the name) and danced like crazy people until after 1am. It was pretty fantastic. There was even karaoke!

Midterms!

So... today was the first day of our 4th week of PA school. We spent ALLLLL day taking unit one midterms. It was a chance for us to see what the test format is like, and to also see whether our study technique is adequate or lacking.

I have a study group with some AWESOME ladies and let me tell you... we put in close to 30 hours of study time between Saturday and Sunday this past weekend. It was intense. I am soooo glad that I'm part of this little group, because together we were able to cover an incredible amount of material. After just 3 weeks of classes, this is what my LI (learning issue) binder looks like.

I've mentioned before that my program is based on a self-directed learning module. This means that whenever a topic comes up in out tutor group sessions that we're not sure of, it becomes a "learning issue". These learning issues get divvied up between group members. For each topic you write a mini research paper containing all pertinent information regarding diagnosis, lab tests, pathophysiology of the condition, differential diagnoses, treatment, patient education, etc. The blue binder contains the LIs from out first 3 cases. We have 5 units with 7 cases each!!

I'm gonna be filling up binders like CRAZY!

Anyway, midterms were really intense. My brain feels filled to capacity and completely fried. I feel like I did alright on my exams, but who knows. We'll find out our grades on Thursday morning. We're already working on a new case, so I'm ready for more.

Oh, to unwind after exams we spent a few hours just chatting and laughing at a local winery. It was incredible hot, but totally awesome to have a few free hours. I'm realllllly looking forward to heading back home this weekend. YAY for long weekends!!!

Everyone have a GREAT week. :)