Retail Therapy

July 11-24, 2011
Retail Therapy

I apologize to those who were expecting a post last week. I was overwhelmed with school and wasnt able to get to it. Also, I post little bits during the week when things happen, and I failed to do that, making writing/remembering a WHOLE post/week on Sunday very hard. Forgive me? K, thanks :)

R-eady to be done with anatomy attitude, i had during July 12-21. Those were my last few days of studying for anatomy tests. I know I will always encounter anatomy, but I was ready to be done with Hurricane Hermey exams.
E-xperienced my first time as a medical provider for a sports physical July 12. There were about 10 highschool football players who came to DCOM to get cheap physicals for school. They cost only $5, what a deal! :) I was partnered with an OMS-I because the exams were not in my 'scope of practice'. I observed cardiac, musculoskeletal, lung, and male exams. Let just say it was interesting, and leave it at that ;) oh- I had to sign off on the students school physical form, making it the first time I signed an official document with "Katie Cole, PA-S" :) i was screaming with excitement on the inside and wanted to take a picture of it, but I figured that wouldnt be very professional, so i didnt. :( I have a mental picture :)
T-old all the latest information of the Uganda rotation. I am so excited to announce that it is very likely that I will go on this rotation. I will be learning/working around the top 3 infectious diseases in the country: HIV, TB, and Malaria. It is about 5k to go on the trip, so I am going to have to save a little each semester to afford it. The opportunity is amazing and its through a Christian ministry. I will go sometime in June or July of 2013. :) Seems far away, but Im sure time will go by very fast.
A-ll day on Friday July 15, I had no classes. You are unaware, but our schedule is very random. It changes ALL the time and sometimes we just have days off for no reason. Its good to relax and get some studying taken care of, but we arnt given much notice. some people like to plan ahead, but in this program, you definitely cant.
I-n a year, the length of time I will see 2nd year students again: a year. The week of July 11-15 was the last week of classes/tests for the 2nd years and they start rotations tomorrow (Mon July 25). It was fun getting to know them and watching them interact with each other. I especially loved attending the Bible Study that Harry led and I am excited to see where it will go when our class takes over. One girl in the class created a PA video to the tune of Tik Tok by Kesha. You can see it below and get a feel for what its like to be in PA school at LMU-DCOM!
L-egitimately in 'charge' now. the new student society members have met and we are officially planning events for the next 3 semesters we will be in Harrogate. I am the board secretary and am excited to work with the other 10 members to serve the class/community and build our school's reputation with organizations like AAPA and TAPA. (note: the real TAPA is the Texas one ;) these TN people are just copying-lol) If you want to see some of the work I do as secretary, click here to view our social calendar.

T-icket is purchased!! i bought my plane ticket home. ETA: 10pm Aug 18. I have never been more excited to  be in Sherman, but I am so ready to eat some of my mommas cooking, enjoy a ranger game IN PERSON, and see my family and Dylan :)
H-ome AND away games. I get to see every ranger game now because my dad got me a subscription to MLBTv since NO ranger games are shown through the local cable:) i love it and go rangers!!
E-stactic to be DONE with anatomy! The last test was July 22 and was not as difficult as I expected it to be. I am still waiting for grades to be posted, but I hope I made what I needed to get an A in the class. *fingers crossed*
R-etail therapy, major retail therapy. The past couple of days have been tough on me emotionally and I am so ready to be home for a while. To help me get over some of it and also to reward myself for my hardwork the past 10 weeks in PA school, I bought some new 'school' clothes. now when i say 'school' clothes, i mean business clothes. I am slowly accepting  the fact I am growing up, cant wear jeans and t-shirts all the time, & my school requires me to wear business clothes, so I had to expand my closet 'business' stock. I didnt have much, and consequently i wear the same things every week. im excited to wear new things now :) will make me feel all official/grownup/businessy
A-partment moving. I was supposed to move into an apartment off campus Sat (7/23) because its getting close to when the undergrads are needing to move into my apartment. I went to pick up my key from the Graduate Housing Assistant, and proceeded to my room and found a MESS! nothing was cleaned and the person who had moved out left several of her things, including food in the fridge. I quickly confronted the housing lady and told her I would not move in until it was cleaned. When I finally move in, I will post pics of the new place even though it looks VERY similar to the first one.
P-hysical diagnosis is going to take up all of my study time now that anatomy is over. I enjoy that class and am looking forward relaxing and practicing the cardiac and lung exams on classmates. We are coming up on our first OSCE (Aug 1 to be exact) and I am starting to get nervous. OSCE stands for Objective Structured Clinical Examinations and is where I will perform a history and modified physical on a person from the community. They will be in the 'office' for a fake 'chief complaint' and I will be required to act like a practicing PA and be graded on my skills. I am paired with a classmate, so it takes some of the pressure off, but not all.
Y-ou want the paired shoe?" I was asked as I went to check out at JcPenny to buy a pair of shoes. They had a clearance rack with only one of each shoe so its harder to steal them, i guess. Well i approach the guy to check out and he makes that lame comment. Im thinking to myself, "No, I just want to buy this one shoe, Im just gonna wear it by itself, im on a budget and can only afford one shoe at a time" lol. 'bless his heart'