After spending so many hours with text books, pictures on slides and endless PowerPoints, it was nice to go to work and see what it all looks like again....but this time when I walked into the ER I heard the chatter of the PA's and Doctors about patient cases ... and actually knew or was familiar with nearly everything they said! My ears perked up with I heard one of the physicians say "right middle lobe infiltrates. Unchanged pneumothorax on left side," before when I was working I would only kind of know what infiltrates were and what a pneumothorax was but definitely did not know imaging modalities, treatments and prognosis of those respiratory findings. When he said that I instantly pictured a CXR with those findings and wondered... is the patient in respiratory distress, acidosis? So quickly taking a glance at the ABG results I saw that the patient was in compensated respiratory acidosis! ... Obviously, this is not the best news for the patient as they were sick in the ER, but it was a great learning experience for me. I can spend day in and day out learning from textbooks but applying it to real life engraves it in my memory better than any words on a page.
Many people think I'm crazy going to work when we should be relaxing, but this is just as much of a vacation for me as it is for others because I am "having fun," I am surrounded by medicine and passively applying things that I have been studying the last 6 months and absorbing new things while working. I know that rotations are a year away, but I am so excited to be able to go to a workplace and have more responsibility than simply drawing blood and doing EKG's.
YOU CAN NEVER GET TOO MUCH CLINICAL EXPERIENCE BEFORE PA SCHOOL.
If you are thinking of applying, keep working and get as much time with patients as possible. You will surprise yourself with how much it helps with learning material and how it helps with long term memory.
Many people think I'm crazy going to work when we should be relaxing, but this is just as much of a vacation for me as it is for others because I am "having fun," I am surrounded by medicine and passively applying things that I have been studying the last 6 months and absorbing new things while working. I know that rotations are a year away, but I am so excited to be able to go to a workplace and have more responsibility than simply drawing blood and doing EKG's.
YOU CAN NEVER GET TOO MUCH CLINICAL EXPERIENCE BEFORE PA SCHOOL.
If you are thinking of applying, keep working and get as much time with patients as possible. You will surprise yourself with how much it helps with learning material and how it helps with long term memory.