Surgery and half way through rotations!

My surgery rotation has been an awesome experience so far. I have some really great surgeons as preceptors who have been helpful and so supportive of my learning. I was a little nervous and excited about starting surgery, I had never scrubbed in before, and although was taught everything in the classroom, I was still a little unsure of myself at first. I had a really great team who was there to help me and remind me of proper sterile technique... which made things so much better. I feel a lot more comfortable with scrubbing in and a lot of general surgical procedures.

I have yet to "contaminate" myself yet while in surgery, although I have had itches and had to think to myself not to itch!

 I was given the opportunity to place foley catheters in women and men, and to intubate a patient. 

I have been able to suture a lot, and am getting a lot more comfortable with using needle drivers and pickups. 

I also have a preceptor who really likes to pimp me on lots of different topics. Because he is so smart and retains everything he has ever remembered (I swear he does)... he makes our time together a really great learning opportunity. He will quiz me on things I may not have thought of before, and it has really helped me to think about what i'm doing.

Also I have seen a lot of breast cancer patients and have come to appreciate all that goes into the treatment of breast cancer. I have been in on a few partial mastectomies where I was able to see the resection of the cancer. I have yet to do a sentinel lymph node resection, however we have at least one schedule before I am finished here. 

Also... I am now over the mark of the halfway point for my clinical year! I cannot believe how quick things are moving. I only have 4 more rotations left and about 6 more months. I can't wait until I can get out there working as a PA-C!

Family Practice finished and the beginnings of surgery

I am now finished with my 12 week family practice rotation. I am constantly amazed at how fast things have gone since I started PA school. It is amazing to look back and see how much I understand and how much medical knowledge I can recall. I still have so much to learn and experience, but I am excited to end the last portion of my PA school journey and start working! 

A brief overview of my last little bit of my Family Practice rotation:

I saw a case of shingles:

I also saw a patient with Bell's Palsy:

This is a picture I found on google of an individual with Bell's Palsy. Notice how the left side of his face is completely paralyzed, including his forehead showing that this is not a stroke, but a palsy of the fifth cranial nerve (trigeminal nerve). 

I also got to manage patients with hypertension, Diabetes, hyper/hypo thyroid and chronic pain just to name a few. 

My youngest patient was 7 days old and my oldest patient was 91 years old. This was the great part about family practice, you get to see a variety of patients and diseases. 

Next rotation is Surgery, which I am very excited about! I have not had the opportunity to scrub in on a surgery as of yet, but I am sure I will love it. As always I will keep the blog up to date with my experiences.