"The best day of PA school"

This week in school was pretty good. I wish that things at home would have been better and the week would have been great. All four of us have been sick this week and we haven't gotten much sleep.

The week was mostly full of ENT stuff. We learned all about the wonderful ailments that come this time of year. The timing was very appropriate, both for the time of year and because of the nasty bugs that we have at home. We have the common Rhinovirus, acute sinusitis, conjunctivitis, a little pharyngitis, and something else that caused some vomiting.

We also began our Behavioral Medicine unit with a very basic introductory lecture, and a lecture on office and crisis counseling. Those were alright, not the most interesting.

We began our Patient Assessment course this week. We get to see patients at the hospital once a week to practice our history and physical skills. I saw my first patient and got a brief history as though I were admitting him to the hospital (in reality he had been admitted a few days prior). After our histories were taken we met in a small group and presented a written and oral history. This was the first time that I wore my white coat to the hospital. I must admit I felt very out of place. I didn't want anyone to mistake me for someone that may be able to help them with anything medically related. I sort of felt like an impostor.

Friday morning we had a lecture on Pulmonolgy. Pat, the program director, told us that we all looked depressed and said that we should be excited because "today is going to be the best day of PA school" because we were beginning the practical part of our Surgery unit.

We had an introductory lecture on the operating room. I am sure that most of the class is scared to death to scrub in now. I know it made me a little nervous. Friday we practiced putting on casts and tying knots for sutures. We put on a short arm cast and a short leg walking cast. I guess that is what Pat was talking about. It was a lot of fun and a nice break from everything else we had going on. Here are some pictures from casting.

This is me applying my first cast.

This is the finished product.