8/8 Complete!

It's been awhile.. and a lot has happened.

Today officially marks the LAST day of my clinical year rotations. The next time I will be a PA student on rotation I will have graduated college and obtained a bachelors degree, spent an entire week celebrating my final days of college, and enjoyed a month off of rotation. It seems like just the other day I was stressing, staying up all night long and so incredibly nervous for my first day at the JCC. Fast forward 1 month, putting back on my white coat and entering Richmond University Medical Center for my psych rotation, the butterflies kept coming. Today I walked out of my last shift at Forest Hills Hospital in Queens, NY after working 7PM-7AM with 1 C-setion, 1 vaginal delivery, 2 ER consults, and countless triages so proud of how far I have come.

Now let me recap on these past 2 months of my life. After pediatrics I spent 4... very long... very painful weeks on Internal Medicine. I have a great deal of respect for hospitalists. They are responsible for overseeing the entire medical production of a hospital patient's care. They manage patient's everyday care, following up on all their necessary consults, and creating a disposition for appropriate care after discharge. But that is all they do; they sit behind a computer ordering medications and consults and waiting for the consults to be fulfilled. There is hardly any time taking or caring for the patient directly. I missed the lack of connection between myself and the patient. I missed doing procedures, no matter how simple they may have been (like a blood draw). I was more than excited to end that rotation and start OBGYN.

Of the 8 rotations I have completed this year, OBGYN has been the BEST rotation I have been on. I loved going to work everyday and seeing the wide variety of different patients and clinical scenarios. Additionally, the hospital I was at utilized PA's in the most effective way. The PA's managed the entire floor, were the ones treating and managing triage patients, performed all the ED consults, and were first assist in all the GYN surgeries taking place during that day. So essentially, the PA did everything (unless they let a student perform a procedure). None of my other rotations allowed PAs to have that type of responsibility and autonomy and it made me realize the full potential I could have when I start working.

Not only did I get to do so much clinically, I also fell in love with the OB population. I loved helping women through the birth of their child. From the moment they walked into the triage room excited because their water broke, through the painful and long hours of contractions, to pushing and pushing and finally until that moment when baby pops out and they are holding their child in their arms. The level of trust the mother and family has in you and their staff during those moments and close connections you make in just a few hours is incredibly rewarding. Of course there are moments when things do not go as planned and there are medical emergencies, but the majority of the patients and encounters are positive and self-rewarding. I love that you get to follow through with patients from the moment they walk into the door, through their delivery, and in the 2-3 days after delivery with their postpartum care.

And I did more than just OB, I got to do so many surgeries. The PA was first assist for all C-sections and all GYN surgeries (hysterectomies, D&C's, ovarian cyst resections, etc). There was even a few times when the PA was not able to make it to the surgery because the L&D floor was so busy and I was the one first assisting on the surgeries! I knew that I did not know much going on during the surgery and had to be walked through the steps, but the surgeon (who was also the department director of OBGYN) recognized I was a fast learner and said I picked up the surgery skills quickly.

The most exciting part of this rotation is that I may have been offered a job. The senior PA I have been working closely with said that when I graduate, apply for this position and she will get me a job. She recognized how hard I have been working these past 4 weeks and how much I enjoyed my time at rotation. I was surprised how much she wanted me to apply for a job (even if it is a year in the future) and how much she thought I'd be a great asset to the team. Of course now I have to think about if this is what I want to do post-grad, if I want to work in Queens, where I'll live, and trying to work out with the faculty directors at my College the opportunity to go back to Forest Hills for a second rotation with the department.

For now, I am so proud of myself for all I have accomplished during this year. I am so much more confident in my skills as a PA. I know the type of clinician I am with patients and the approach I like to take. I know how to make a patient feel comfortable with me before I start asking the invasive questions or before I stick them with needles for blood and IV access. I feel more conformable taking on complex patients and learning about their illnesses.

Heres to finishing this semester strong and enjoying my time off during the next month.