Busy Semester

Hello again! I apologize for the lack of posts, but this semester has been really busy. I'm currently taking microbiology, A&P II, biomedical ethics, and abnormal psychology, as well as an online medical terminology class. Microbiology is a lot of studying and work, and it's not the easiest subject in the world either. Even though this week is my spring break, a majority of it is going to be dedicated to studying for a microbiology exam the Monday I return. The work seems to never end…I just gotta keep my goal of becoming a PA in sight.

On Tuesday I am returning to shadow a physician assistant I shadowed over winter break in orthopedic trauma, as well as a trauma physician assistant. I am very excited, and plan to ask many questions!

Recently, I began volunteering in an emergency room near campus, and it has been very interesting. Aside from making beds and stocking supplies, I have gotten to see a lot of very fascinating things, such as an intubation the other day. Though it's not direct patient contact, I've found it to be very educational to see from the inside how an emergency room functions.

I've also recently been accepted onto another first aid squad near my campus, bringing my current squad membership total to 3 (yeah, I recognize that I'm a whacker…). I plan to start riding for them when I get back from break and gain more patient contact experience.

Finally, I'm working on my applications for a summer job. I plan to find employment utilizing my EMT certification as an ER tech. An ER tech is very hands on, and I am very excited to hopefully work as one for the summer.

In the next month or so I plan to begin working on my applications for physician assistant school. I need to go around and find people who are willing to give me references, as well as begin my personal statement. I want to have it all completed by June/very early July.

Well, that's it for today. Sorry for making it so brief, but I truly am swamped because of this microbiology exam. 300 pages to learn by next Monday…I can do it. Thanks for taking the time to stop by, and please feel free to comment/leave any questions you may have!

Shadowing Physician Assistants

One item that I forgot to mention in my first post was the value of shadowing PA's. I have so far shadowed two PA's, and I plan to shadow again on at least two more occasions before I apply. In this post, I will describe what it means to shadow a PA, as well as ways to find a PA to shadow.

So what does it mean to shadow a PA? In my experience, shadowing a PA consists of following a PA around for the day, watching how they perform their job. You get to watch the PA interact with the patients, fill out any paper work that needs to get done, and other various tasks done during the day. The most valuable part of the day, however, is being able to ask any questions you may have about the profession. In my past 2 experiences, both PA's I shadowed have been very open to questions, and answered many of my questions regarding applying to PA school, the profession itself, and why they decided to become a PA. The answers and tips they provided are incredibly valuable.

Because many schools ask for documentation of your shadowing experiences, it is helpful to keep a journal of your shadowing experiences, taking note of what you saw and learned during the day. When it comes time to apply to PA school, you can ask the PAs you have shadowed to sign off on your journal, and submit that as part of your application. I have begun to create a log of my shadowing experiences, and plan to continue to do so in the upcoming months.

As I mentioned above, at this time I have shadowed 2 PAs. My first shadowing experience was with a family practice PA. My day consisted of observing the PA see various patients in a doctor's office setting. I saw a variety of cases, such as a patient with a rash, a few BP medication checkups, and general physical exams. Though I learned a lot about the profession that day, I was able to recognize that family practice is not an interest of mine.

Last week I had the opportunity to shadow an orthopedic trauma PA in a hospital clinic. Most, if not all patients I saw were recovering from bone fractures, and were returning today for their follow up appointments. A majority of the patients seen were still in casts, and I was able to view a multitude of X-rays showing the initial injury, as well as the healing process, including various plates and support rods that were used to stabilize the broken bone. I found the day to be very interesting and informative, and would definitely like to shadow there again. It was here that I was given the idea of keeping a journal of my shadowing experiences. I was also lucky enough to get the contact information for a trauma PA at the same hospital, whom I hope to setup a shadow date with in the near future.

So how do you find a PA to shadow? The first thing I would recommend doing is contacting your states PA society, as they often have a list of PAs that are willing to have students shadow them. Through my states PA society, I was able to get the contact information for the orthopedic trauma PA I shadowed, and I am currently waiting to hear back about an ER PA near school. If you are unable to find a PA through your states PA society, the next thing you can do is contact doctor's offices or hospitals near you and ask if they have any PAs on staff. Once you are in contact with a PA, you can ask them if they are willing to have you shadow for a day. This is how I found the family practice PA I shadowed.

I hope you found this post on shadowing PAs informative. If you have any questions/comments, please feel free to hit the comment button below and leave me some feedback!

What is a Physician Assistant?

So what exactly is a Physician Assistant (PA)? I have included below a link to the US Department of Labor page on PA's, as well as a video clip that does a very good job of decribing the profession. Also be sure to check out my links section on the right hand side of the page for more pages with information on PA's. Enjoy!

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos081.htm

A Little About Myself…

Hello! For my first post, I decided that I would introduce myself, as well as let you know where I am in the process of applying to physician assistant (PA) school. For starters, my name is Ron, and I am a junior health and exercise science major at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ). I started my freshman year as a chemistry major, hoping to go into forensics, but I decided to change career paths and my major during the summer before sophomore year. After speaking to a few people I worked with that summer, I decided that the physician assistant career path was the right choice for me. Thankfully, many of the classes I took as a chemistry major are prerequisite courses for PA school, so I did not have to start all over again. Since then, I have taken many of the required or recommended prerequisite courses for PA school, including Anatomy and Physiology I, Introduction to Pharmacology, Nutrition, and many others, all of which I am enjoying. In the past fall semester I completed organic chemistry I, which was a tough battle, but I got through it. In the upcoming spring semester, I plan to take Anatomy and Physiology II, Biomedical Ethics, Microbiology, Abnormal Psychology, and a Medical Terminology course online through my local community college.

If you happen to be in the same position as I am, or are just beginning your quest towards becoming a PA, I highly recommend you take as many of the courses I mentioned above as possible. The three courses I bolded are courses that are required at a majority of PA schools, and most of the others are considered "highly recommended". Just make sure that you achieve at least a "C" in the class, as most schools do not accept any grades below a "C" to count as a prerequisite. In addition, PA schools really focus on your science classes, so be sure to do as well as possible in those courses.

Just last week (12/13/2007), literally 1 hour after completing my last final exam, I fought through an ice storm and made my way into Philadelphia to attend an open house for the Drexel-Hahnemann PA program. I found the one and a half hour long program to be very informative, though I still plan to email the program director with a few further questions. I highly recommend attending an open house for any programs that you are considering. They are very informative, allow you to ask any questions that you may have, and, if nothing else, allows the program to get to know you and shows your interest in their program (which cannot hurt your application). By attending the open house, I have reaffirmed my opinion that Drexel-Hahnemann is my number 1 choice.

So outside of school, what do I do? Well, I am a NJ EMT-B, and I volunteer on both my campus squad (Lions' EMS) and my home squad (Allamuchy-Green First Aid Squad). I also plan to volunteer at a hospital next semester, as well as on another squad near my college. I plan to count all of these volunteer hours towards my patient contact time when it comes time to apply to PA school. Many, if not all schools require or recommend some sort of patient contact time prior to admission. I currently have approximately 800 hours, and I plan to gain another 200-300 before I send in my applications.

I also happen to be a New York Jets fan, though being a Jets fan can be tough at times. I am fan of my two dogs, a sheltie and a shih tzu, as well as emergency medicine shows on TV, cheap delivery food (if you are or ever were a college student you'd understand), refrigerators that don't smell, people who don't turn the thermostat up to 90 degrees, my girlfriend, rural living, Charlie Brown, and snow storms. If you would like to know more about anything I have discussed above, feel free to leave comments, or check back periodically for more posts as I continue working towards becoming a physician assistant. Have a happy holidays!