So far...

so i've been reflecting on my rotations so far. i'm officially one semester down. grades are already in the bank and i'm moving on. two semesters to go and then graduation in august. it actually seems attainable now. i have 2 weeks off right now and then i start in a pediatric clinic. what have i been doing on my time off? well, i'm lying in bed typing right now, haven't gotten up other than to yell at the dog and tell her to lie down and leave me alone....that's pretty much what i've been up to. some lunches w/ friends, some shopping, some movie watching. generally just being lazy and happy. some of my classmates are using the time to get back in shape or to clean their houses. not so much on this end. that would involve getting out of bed, right?

on my rotations i've seen a lot and learned an incredible amount of medicine, exam skills, and patient interviewing tricks of the trade. also how to be a student out in the real world and to make myself useful.

this year is completely different from last year. my husband was reminding me recently how last year i wouldn't even go to the grocery store for an hour because i felt like i couldn't stand to lose that much study time. not so this year. we've had weekend get aways and i'm staying on top of cleaning the house, cooking actual meals at night. it's great. some of the rotations have long hours, and i haven't done internal medicine or ER yet, so i might still have some long hours ahead of me, but overall, i have so much more time to myself. and less guilt about not spending every waking minute reading/reviewing medical text.

and it's so much more fun to be practicing on actual patients with actual ailments than on our fellow students who are faking heart attacks and ear infections and such. it's really rewarding. i feel like this is pay off for all the work of last year. and i've felt very confident in my decision to become a PA. the more time i spend around medical settings, the more i want to be there. i have no regrets about choosing to be a PA instead of an MD or anything. most PA's are impressive w/ how much they do/know and pretty much practice like docs, but w/ a little less pressure and responsibility. i like that.

i do wish i had retained more of the knowledge i learned last year. there's a lot of reviewing and learning to be done right now. i think that's just how it works. with a patient sitting in front of you, it's a lot harder to come up with a diagnosis than it is when given a case study w/ all the buzz words of the condition.

overall, i'm very satisfied at this point. perhaps lying in bed all the time puts me in a good mood. that is entirely possible.