Life Of A PA – A Day In The Life Of A Physician Assistant|The Every Day Life Of A Physician Assistant

I am sorry to everyone that has been looking for this site.  I had been sending in new post via my Iphone almost everyday now for a few weeks.  It wasn’t until someone e-mailed me to ask what had happened to the site.  I had no idea that the site was down.

Apparently my host was once again hijacked by a hacker.  Luckily I suffered nothing from this other than a lot of down time of the site.  Well, I also lost all the post that I have been making for the past few week

Everything should back up and running now.

I have also written myself a script so that I will be alerted the moment that the website goes down.  So from now on I will have an idea of what is going on and have it fixed ASAP.

Look for new post tomorrow and the coming days!

So I have had this website going for quite a while now and it has been quite fun.  It started as an adventure that I wanted to happen everyday.  The idea was to post the day to day happenings.  That happened for a while, but then the hustle of PA school set in and I started posting whenever I had the time.

Little did I know that the biggest part of this website would be the e-mails.  People have been using the contact form quite a lot to ask me questions and get advice.  This is not a complaint!  Keep sending in all your questions and comments!

If you have submitted a comment or e-mail via the contact form and have not heard anything back, i’m getting to you

Now to the point of this post…

I was working in the ER on my last rotation, look for another post soon talking about my experiences on my ER rotation, and something odd happened.

I went in to see a patient did a H&P and was fixing to leave to present to the attending when the patient’s husband stopped me.

His exact question was, “Are you the PA student with that blog?”

After being totally caught off guard for a moment I said yes.

He told me that his son was on the waiting list to get into the PA program at MCG and that he had used my site to help with this interview and application process.

He also told me that his son had asked me a question via this blog and that I had typed up a long meaningful response that helped his son out quite a bit.

I think this sums up everything I ever wanted this blog to do.

I have always wanted to get out the word about physician assistants and give everyone that cares a look into the life of a PA student.

So, keep the comments and questions coming and I promise I get to them all in due time.

Now my only question is… how in the world did the father know I was the one with the blog? !  I mean there were 50 MCG PA students?!

So for my elective rotation I went with orthopaedic surgery.  More specially orthopaedic hand surgery.

Well to be clear the doctor I was with was a hand specialist, but saw patients with any type of orthopaedic problem.

I was really caught off guard by how much I enjoyed this rotation. There was a good balance between clinic work and time spent in surgery.

I actually got to assist in many hand surgeries such as carpal tunnel and trigger fingers and also got to do total knee and hip replacements.  There were actually a few times I got to assist other doctors with things like ACL repairs, clavicle repair and amputations.

The one thing I can say about orthopaedics is that it is a field of its own.  Like a lot of fields in medicine, there is a whole different language for orthopaedics.

I have to say, I went into this rotation thinking I was pretty good at reading x-rays, but quickly found out there was a lot to learn.  I think I came out of this rotation being able to quickly and effectively read x-rays.

One of the tricks that I learned was to look at the site of injury last.  For example, if you know that the patient hurt their right wrist, look at the fingers and distal forearm first and then look at the wrist.  I was told this is a good way to make sure you don’t miss anything.  Lets say you get really focused on the wrist injury and only look at that on the x-ray.  There may have been a secondary break somewhere that isn’t hurting yet that you missed on the x-ray but could have found.

Anyway, so i’m now sure that orthopaedics is where I want to end up!

OK now for books and things that are a real help for orthopaedics:

http://www.wheelessonline.com/ -Not really a book, but it has everything you will need as a student and then some.  There are many pictures and everthing is in an outline form that is easy to read and understand.  Best of all you can click on a bone of the skeleton and learn about anything you could ever want to know about it.

I’m looking for a South University PA student.  That would be South University in Savannah, GA.  If you are a student there  currently in clinical rotations or about to be in clinical rotations could you please use the CONTACT US link on the top bar and just send me a comment saying you are a student.  I have a question that only a South Student can answer!

Thanks so much!

So for the past month I have been on my Psychiatry rotation at the Medical College of Georgia.

One of the first things I can say about this rotation is that you are always working with Residents.  I get more into that in a moment.

I was actually on this rotation with another of my fellow PA students.  The every first day of the rotation we were split up and put onto different teams.  There were actually 3 teams on the Psych ward.  There was a team dealing mainly with schizophrenic patients, a team dealing with personality disorders, detox and the such and a team that dealt only with geriatrics.

I was placed on the team that dealt with schizophrenic patients first.  On this team I was working with two residents and a medical student.  The man role that we, the students played was collateral gatherers.  On this team we were to arrive at 7am and starting seeing our patients, type up a note and start calling people to get collateral information.  The residents would arrive around 8am and then we would round with the Attending physician at 9am.  All and all I really only saw the Attending physician for 30 minutes a day on this team.  Pretty much the Attending did all the interviews during rounds.

This team also required us to read journal articles each week and to present them to the attending and other medical student.  Actually this wasn’t a bad thing as it did help in the learning process.

After two weeks on that team I was moved over to the team dealing with personality disorders, detox and the such.

I think I actually liked this team better.  Again, I worked with one resident and a medical student on this team.  The hours were a little easier was we didn’t have to arrive until 8am and we didn’t round until noon.  The intersting thing about this team was that the attending physician was really cool and laid back.  During rounds he had us interview our own patients in front of him.  If he had questions that he thought we forgot to ask he would chime in, but most the time he just sat back and would give feedback to us after the patient had left the room.

I think this was a great learning experience.  I really learned what to ask and how to respond to patients when they put you on the spot or some type of conflict arises.  Again, a large part of this team was getting collateral and sitting in on family meetings.  So lots of calling family members and talking to patients outpatient doctors.

All and all this was a fun rotation.  I think the residents are some of the easiest people to work with, at least where I was.  They were more than willing to help in anyway and were really willing to help teach things.

The only problem I ran into was with one of the attendings.  It seems that he forgot I was a PA student and kept comparing me to a medical student.  Which is fine, don’t get me wrong, but he has a little bit of a grading problem.

I was told early on that this attending did not give medical students high grades.  I was told me thought a “C” was good or average for a medical student and unless the student did something really really great then they would get a C.  I was also told that he usually took it easier on PA student and gave them a higher grade, usually a mid to high B.  He did this because he said he expected the medical students to know more then PA students.

Well, my grade reflected the fact that he thought I was a Medical students as I was given an AVERAGE grade.

Lucky for me, I talked to the other attending and he gave me a much higher grade.  So the two averaged out to be an OK grade.

Now, you may ask why I didn’t go and talk to the first attending who gave me the AVERAGE grade.

Well, he got a new job in Texas and filled out my grade on the afternoon that the left.  So when I actually saw the grade, he was already on a flight to Texas.
Fair?  I don’t think so, but it all worked out.

Now for books that were good…

1) Psychiatry Blueprints- this ended up being the only real book that I used and it was a good one!

Have you done a Psych rotation?  When Where?

So I actually have some free time…so I thought I would update the site with a few post about my past few rotations.

So at the beginning of this year, 2010, I did my Pediatric rotation with Dr. Renew of Augusta Georgia.

I have to admit that I was really unsure about my Pediatrics rotation.  This being so because I was not sure how well I would be around kids.  See, i’m an only child so dealing with small children is something new for me.

Little did I know that I would end up liking the rotation as much as I did.  And i’m sure a lot of that has to do with having such a great Doctor to work with.

One of the first things that I noticed was that the children did not cry nearly as much as I had anticipated.  Actually the Doctor pointed out how none of her patients were crying or misbehaving while I was in the room.  Be it a tall man figure in the room or whatever…it was nice to have them not cry and to be calm.

If I remember right, one parent noticed how well her child was being and stated to me “well you know children can sense how kind of a person or how caring a person you are and they respond according.” I think that may actually be quite true.

No on to the material of the rotation.

Pediatrics is like another world.  I really had to remember how to use all of my physical exam skills, especially auscultation.  I really got a good idea of how to listen for pneumonia and different heart murmurs.

I will agree that you do get your runny noses and common child injuries a lot, but you also get cool things every once in a while.

All and all Pediatrics was quite fun and I really enjoyed it.

I am actually thinking about looking for a pediatric surgery job.  So if you know anyone in Savannah GA looking for a new PA let me know!

I want to end by talking about which text books were the best for this rotation, as I just took the end of rotation test this past week.

1) Pediatrics Blueprints- this book was just great.  Had everything in an easy to read format and was straight to the point.

2)Pediatric Lange- Ok, this book is huge and has way too much Info, but it did come in handy when I saw something during the rotation and wanted to read more about it.  It also had the information that was asked of me, not really pimped, during my rotation

Have you done your Pediatrics rotation?

When? Where?  How was it? What books helped you?

I know this is way off topic from normal post, but seeing as I am on Christmas break, I have been playing with tons of new internet stuff.

I recently started using Google Wave and have really enjoyed it!  Its an awesome way to chat and talk with friends.

The only problem is that it is by invitation only at this moment.

And that is where I come in for you guys.

I really don’t have anyone to give my invitations away to, so i’m offering them up to all the visitors to this site.

So leave a comment or use the contact link at the top of the page and request an invitation.

If you don’t know what Google Invitation is check out the video below!

I have had a few fellow classmates and e-mails from visitors asking what programs I recommend for the Iphone or Ipod touch for PAs or medical students.

I think the one program I can say I have used the most is Epocrates.  I have only used the Free version, but it has been great for me.

Being able to pull up drugs quickly and find all the information I need about them is great.  There have even been a time or two when a doctor didn’t know something about a drug so he/she asked me to look it up on my Iphone while we were in the room with a patient.

From what I can tell some doctors are embracing the idea of Iphones and the such and think they are a great addition when treating patients.

Anyway, Epocrates is a must have for all PA and medical students on rotations.

I have not used the paid version such as Epocrates Essentials, but I hear that it is well worth the money.

I have a 50% CODE for Epocrates Essentials that you can find at the end of the post.  As far as I know it still works, if not I can try and get another one for you guys.

Look for more post on programs that I use and find helpful during my rotations!

Epocrates Essentials 50% code: ACEP94404STU

I have been getting quite a few e-mails asking me what books I used during my first year of PA school and what things have been helpful during my rotations.

I thought I would start with something that has helped me greatly during my rotations.  And that would be “Maxwell Quick Medical Reference”

At $7.95 on Amazon its not expensive and it has info that will save you during rotations.  Many times I have quickly flipped to the labs section to get a refresher on the normal lab values right before being pimped on the subject.

The pages are color coded so its easy to find the section you are looking for and the book is tiny.  REALLY tiny.  It will fit in any size pocket and you will actually forget you have it, its so small.

It contains guidelines for writing admission, discharge, and other notes commonly encountered on medicine, surgery, and ob-gyn rotations. It also includes commonly used formulas and cheat sheets for H&Ps and the neuro and the minimental status exam.

And I have to say, mine has been through hell and back and is still holding in strong!

So make sure you grab a copy before you start rotations!

You can buy it here:

http://www.amazon.com/Maxwell-Quick-Medical-Reference-Refe/dp/0964519135

I can’t think I have never blogged about this before, but it is important when thinking about going to PA school or actually starting PA school.

In the old days note taking was done with pencil/pen and paper.

In today’s world its done with a computer. All throughout my first year of PA school I used my laptop more than ever before. Heck, all the lectures were provided to use in either powerpoint form or pdf.

To take notes most people in my class would use OneNote by Microsoft. It basically takes the powerpoint or pdf and puts it into a format that allows for note taking on the slides.

I actually wrote all my notes while in class, while having the lecture up on my computer. I would just note the slide number and then wrote my note.

Heck, even now while on rotations a laptop has come in as a must.

Now I used an old laptop that I had used for quite a while. Other, well most the class, had bought new computers, mostly PCs. There were a few people that had MACs as well.

So I guess you should buy a computer that is going to last for a while. So buy something GOOD.
Make sure to get Microsoft office, but wait on this as in most cases as you can get it cheap through your school.

If you have found other software to be useful while in PA school let us know by commenting!