And the letter that comes after O is.....

I'm pretty sure that in kindergarten, they stopped teaching the alphabet after the letter O.  I'm 100% convinced of this.  Why, you ask?  Because EKG interpretation is NOT my forte.  I really wish it was.  Sometimes, it just baffles me, because I'm a total physiology nerd, and how the body works just rolls off the back of my hand.  But how the electrophysiology of the heart actually translates into the rhythms that appear on a 12-lead?  I find myself always struggling to interpret anything more involved than the rate, rhythm, and whether there's ST-segment elevation or not.  Beyond that, it all looks like a bunch of squiggly lines that have varying degrees of points, depressions, and other things that seem as foreign to me as learning another language (full disclosure: learning foreign languages have never been easy for me, either).  So, needless to say, my weekend has been full of trying to desperately cram all of the rhythms into my brain for the exam that is coming up on Wednesday.  I have actually found the Dubin book to be very helpful, in addition to a few algorithms for interpretation that we've learned in class.  But, when all is said and done, I wouldn't trust myself to interpret an EKG.  I'll leave that up to the cardiology people.

Drinking from the fire hose

Ever since before I started applying to PA school, everyone I talked to said that during PA school, everything feels like you're trying to drink from a fire hose....getting completely doused in heavy, torrential flow of information, and struggling just to push back against the pressure.  Overall, I actually haven't found that to be true, but considering I'm in a 3-year program, it's most likely the pace of the program is a bit better than most.

However, I think this is the first time I've ever felt like that analogy is actually true.  I was out for almost 2 weeks recovering from a minor surgery, and I'm definitely struggling to catch up.  Even though all of my classes only take place once a week, 2 classes=2 weeks worth of material=Katie running around like a crazy person trying to get back into a routine.  Much like this:

HOLY CRAP! 

On the other hand, I truly feel that in spite of how overwhelmed I feel, every day is a day closer to clinic.  My schedule is almost complete for 3rd year, except for my required OB/GYN rotation.  Very excited to spend a year with patients, and (hopefully) figure out what specialty I'd like to focus my job search on.  It's only a slight comfort knowing that as a PA I can switch specialties throughout my career, but I'd still love some insight into where I'll start.  Every day I feel like I oscillate between wanting to do Endocrinology or Surgery, but I have an Endocrine rotation and 2 (hopefully 3 once my final elective is scheduled)  Surgery rotations next year, so I hope I can figure that out.

On a final note: think good thoughts....we have our IV lab in Emergency Medicine this week....EEEK!

"You're going to feel a little pinch"

We had our needles and injections lab last week, which was super fun!  Even for some of us who have already gotten plenty of experience giving injections in clinic, it was a great refresher on techniques, injection sites, and clinical pearls.

Knowing full well that we'd committed to being guinea pigs for our classmates when we started PA school, we chose partners, rolled up our sleeves, and exposed some nice arm flesh with plenty of sub-Q fat to practice injections on.  Here are some of the highlights from that day:

Ready to stick me with needles

Pretty wheal under my arm

   Otherwise, life has been pretty boring thus far.  Endless round of exams begins on Wednesday.