Clerkship 1: Behavioral Medicine (Psychiatry)

At my program we have several one month clerkships and also a 4 month preceptorship in primary care. The preceptorship is either at the beginning or end of the clinical phase. Mine is at the end, so I'm doing the clerkships first.

My first clerkship was in psychiatry, and the setting was a public hospital. I was on one of the inpatient teams. Our team was led by an attending. We also had a PA, and half of the time we had a resident. There were two students on my team, a 3rd year Med student and myself!
We saw psychosis, mood disorders, eating disorders, along with complications from TBI and/or substance use.  I learned about medications and also about CBT, DBT, and other therapies.

I really enjoyed this rotation. I was able to start interviewing patients on the 2nd day of my rotation. I wrote progress notes, interim summaries, and discharge summaries on my patients. The Med student and I chose a couple of patients each for those tasks, and we split up tasks for other patients, like obtaining collateral or getting referrals, etc.

I had an opportunity to visit one of the state mental hospitals. The most eye-opening part for me was visiting the area that housed only children. The forensic area was also interesting. I also witnessed patients receiving ECT treatment. It's very benign these days, nothing like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, if you even know what that is. It's not barbaric at all. It's a very good treatment for certain conditions, including major depression, and very safe for pregnant women!

I went to lunch conferences twice weekly and to didactics also once or twice a week, which were always informative and helpful. I learned so much in this rotation.
I would like working in psychiatry, but I know for sure that in most every discipline, a knowledge of psychiatry will be essential to treating our patients to the best of our abilities! And also knowing when to refer!

A helpful book for your psych rotation: First Aid Psychiatry clerkship. https://www.amazon.com/First-Aid-Psychiatry-Clerkship-Fourth/dp/0071841741/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1476657629&sr=8-1&keywords=first+aid+psychiatry+4th+edition

During my psych rotation

For a reason, and for a season...

Summer session is quickly coming to a close and we are getting ready for new beginnings, life in the clinic!
While this portion of our training is often the most anticipated, I am feeling less than prepared. 

 
It is in times like these that I must remember that I really know more than I think I do. We crammed a lot into our brains over the last 15 months or so, not to mention all of the experience we acquired in the years leading up to this journey.

As I reflect on my time in PA school thus far, I feel stretched, supported, and a kinship with my classmates because they are the only ones who can truly understand what this ride has been like.

I am also a part of a prayer group which has been a Godsend, truly an answered prayer. This spiritual support has truly made all of the difference for me. 




I wish I had more time to blog about my experiences in didactic year, but I hope to at least make one entry per clinical rotation.

First up in a just over a week... Psychiatry!

Some of us during an optional POC ultrasound course this summer.

Why PA? Why now?

Call it divine intervention, call it coincidence, call it whatever you'd like, but I truly believe that God has opened doors in my life, and He has closed some too.

I am a person who enjoys a challenge, enjoys learning, and advancing. I enjoyed my career as a Radiographer, and ultimately branched into another field, Nuclear Medicine. 

Working in PET/CT primarily, I encountered some of the most courageous people who were either facing a diagnosis, or who were dealing with a diagnosis of cancer. I truly loved the relationships that I formed with the patients who would return to follow up scans. But, I felt stagnant.  It was during that time that I pursued a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration.

With my two youngest children at my graduation Dec 2010

I thought that maybe I would pursue opportunities in pharmaceutical sales, preferably radiopharmaceutical sales, education, management, or applications training. After graduating I pursued some of those things, but none of them panned out as I had hoped. I had also advanced as far as I could in my position, and there are very few Nuclear Medicine Technologist positions where I lived. I held on to my job for a long time, and I also found that while I enjoyed some of the administrative aspects of healthcare, I preferred patient care. Many years prior, while in Nuclear Medicine school, I looked into PA school, but decided to just focus on the program I was in at the time. I didn't have the bachelor's degree yet, and truthfully I was a little intimated at the time.

I can tell so many examples of how I saw God create opportunities for me and opened doors for me to get to where I am today as a PA student. Of course I had to work very hard, manage my time, and maintain a focused determination. And I'm thankful to have amazingly supportive family and friends. 

So, why PA? Because I want to do more. I want to have skills that can help people, and to increase access to healthcare for the underserved. I want to be a life long learner. I want to be an example to my kids.

Why now? This is the time for me to do this. It wouldn't have worked out 10 years ago, 5 years, ago, etc. The time is now. I believe in divine appointments.

I don't mean to sound preachy, but I am a faith-filled person, and this is a major part of my story. Until next time! 

The beginning... Kind of

So, to make a long story short. I am a wife and mother who decided to go back to school to become a Physician Assistant. My healthcare experience is in Nuclear Medicine, mostly in PET/CT imaging. I have also worked as a Radiographer.

I have thought about going to PA school for many, many years. This desire just never left me, and it actually became stronger because God's timing is simply perfect! I made the decision in late 2012, with the support of my husband, to pursue this goal. I went back to school at the local state college to finish up my premed prerequisites from May 2013 through December 2014, while working full time.

My career in medical imaging has been good to me for over 13 years. It has led me to a new and exciting career path, and a very big life change!

These are some of the lyrics to my favorite song. I played it on the way to school, and really all of the time.

I literally put out someone's fire in the Chemistry lab. My first time ever using a fire extinguisher!

A better day in chemistry:

 
It was really very challenging to balance a full-time job, a family, and challenging science courses. Here I am studying Chem I on my laptop, with my trusty periodic table, while also gearing up for my daughter's 2nd grade year in the Fall of 2013!

Last Chem II Lab, Spring 2014: This is so true. I am not a chemistry lover... but I made it through!

Anatomy & Physiology II lab (Fall 2014):