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Prepping for Your First Year of PA school Canadian Association for Physician Assistants - Membership Info The class of 2014 worked diligently to gather all the information included in these sections in order help incoming students better prepare for their first year in the McMaster PA program. Let us know what you think and if you have any ideas for the site leave us a comment!! I've had this Q&A in my files for just over a month...It's been a very busy June for all of us, hence the neglect of getting some of these posts up! But have a read about Mandeep's placement in an ER! What LP did you do? I did my placement in Emergency Medicine during the Winter break. How did you go about contacting and arranging the LP? I contacted the PA office and the office staff helped me arrange my ER placement. What were the two main things you learned from this LP? 1) I gained a better understanding of the continuum of care. It was interesting to observe the interaction between EMS officials and the ER team. Often, EMS officials would call into the ER for medical advice and directives before bringing the patient into the hospital. This would then allow the ER team to prepare for the incoming patient, or they would request the patient be taken to a different facility. 2) I learned the importance of good history taking. In most cases, the ER team does not have much medical information about the patient, and as such, they often have to consider a wide array of differential diagnosis. It was apparent that a good history can help narrow down the differentials. What did you wish you knew to help you in your LP? Many patients that came into the ER had some orthopedic-based injury so a primary understanding in orthopedics would have been beneficial. How has this experience helped you clinically, in class and/or in career decision making? During my placement I was able to conduct histories and physical examinations for lower acuity patients which helped reinforce my patient-communication skills. The physician assistant that I was observing was very approachable and provided numerous suggestions to help improve my history-taking skills. What LP did you do?
I did an EMS ride along with paramedics! How did you go about contacting and arranging the LP? I emailed Nancy Weller (the PA program Program Administrator) three dates when I was available for 12 hours straight. She contacted the EMS Staff Scheduler who agreed on one of the dates! What were the two main things you learned from this LP? I learnt the process of how it is determined which EMS attends to which call and prioritize the severity of the patient. I also learnt how much work is put in by paramedics before the patient even arrives to the ER. Often times, triage nurses expect the patient history, situation at the scene where patient was picked up from, health card information and other paperwork when the paramedics arrive. I realized how much work is actually put into before the patient arrives at the hospital. What did you wish you knew to help you in your LP? I wish I knew a little bit about the coding system used by paramedics. Different numbers signify different categories and the severity of the patient (emergency, urgent, non-urgent, etc.). When the paramedics started using the coding system, I was a little lost at first. However, they were both extremely helpful and patiently taught me things along the way. How has this experience helped you clinically, in class and/or in career decision making? If I ever want to change professions in future, I would definitely consider being a paramedic. I have a new found respect for EMS personnel and would value their presence when I work in ER and during my ER clerkship next year. Any other comments? I loved the experience. To those who are interested in learning more about what happens to a patient before they arrive to the hospital, definitely consider an EMS ride along! Some members of the class of 2014 were fortunate enough to have placements with midwives here in Hamilton. Shannen was the first to complete her placement and writes about her experience. What LP did you do? I did my LP at a Midwife Clinic in Hamilton. How did you go about contacting and arranging the LP? Our class had a Registered Midwife as a guest speaker during our obstetrics and gynecology module. I expressed interest in learning more about the profession and she was open to arranging LPs for a couple of the PA students with midwives in the community. What were the two main things you learned from this LP? I learned how to palpate a pregnant woman’s abdomen. I also learned how to use a doppler ultrasound. It was amazing having the hands on experience. The midwives were welcoming and great teachers. What did you wish could have been different? During my time at the Midwife Clinic I did not have the opportunity to see a newborn check-up. Mothers and their babies come in for post-partum visits at 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 6 weeks. It would have been beneficial to see what is done during these visits. How has this experience helped you clinically, in class and/or in career decision making? I have a better understanding about what is involved in prenatal care. For example, what a prenatal check-up consists of, documenting prenatal appointments, labs and tests ordered during pregnancy and when they are ordered. Also, I developed a better understanding of midwifery and will be able to educate future patients on their prenatal care options. We must be doing something right, this site recently garnered attention on twitter and Facebook with some love from the American Association of Physician Assistants and the @PhysicianAssist account on Twitter.
Lots of our students take advantage of their breaks to do observerships with doctors from their hometowns. 1st year PA student, Kim took some time during our March break to shadow a general surgeon in Dunnville where she had some great hands-on learning that left her really excited about getting to practice as a PA as well as share her experience! What LP did you do? I did my LP in general surgery in Dunnville. How did you go about contacting and arranging the LP? I know the surgeon in my hometown and in the past, he offered to let me shadow him, so I called his office to get in touch with him. What were the two main things you learned from this LP? I learned a ton of things during my four half days with the doctor, but the two main things were how to suture and how to properly present patient histories. The doctor allowed me to suture various wounds and observed my technique in order to give me helpful tips along the way. He also had me see many of his patients in his office to take histories and then had me present them back to him before going to see the patients himself. He gave me helpful tips to think about when presenting which allowed me to get better and more comfortable with each presentation I did. He also taught me various questions that were important to ask patients and how the answers to those questions could help you in your differential. What did you wish you knew to help you in your LP? I wish I could have had more knowledge with dermatology topics since many of the patients I saw in one of the clinics had skin cancers or suspicious moles/lesions. More knowledge in this area could have helped me recognize exactly what different lesions were. How has this experience helped you clinically, in class and/or in career decision making? The doctor taught me a lot of things that I can use as clinical knowledge later on. He had many patient cases that reflected what we have already learned in tutorial and he was able to explain to me what is done for the patient in a true clinical setting, as well as what to look out for when making diagnoses. Any other comments? Overall, my experience was amazing. I was able to take various skills, such as recording and presenting patient histories and suturing, which we have learned in a simulated setting, and apply them to the real clinical setting. I also gained a ton more knowledge in a variety of topics to take with me for future placements and clerkship. Alifiya of the class of 2014 writes about her placement at the beginning of the school year in pediatrics. She shares a lot of really interesting insights with us! I must also apologize to Alifiya who sent me this a couple weeks ago and I am just sharing it now!!! Enjoy :) What LP did you do (i.e. family, peds, ER, EMS ride along, etc.)? I did an LP in Paediatrics, it consisted of two weeks in General Paediatrics and two weeks in a specialized Paediatric Oncology clinic. How did you go about contacting and arranging the LP? During orientation week, the academic director of our program mentioned that she practices as a paediatrician; since I’ve always had an interest in Paediatrics I emailed her immediately about looking to gain clinical experience in this field. She was glad that I took initiative so early in the program and so she agreed to take me on for an LP. What were the two main things you learned from this LP? This LP was a great learning opportunity for me. Before doing this LP I was under the impression that working in Paediatrics mainly required the desire to work with children. However, one of the first lessons I learned was that Paediatrics involved working more with overly anxious parents as opposed to children. My preceptor allowed me to take the patient’s history independently, through this experience I gained confidence in regards to patient interaction and also learned how to conduct specific birth and paediatric nutrition histories. What did you wish you knew to help you in your LP? What did you wish could have been different? I wish I had done this LP a bit later in the year. I feel that since I did it at the very beginning of the year I wasn’t as prepared as I should have been. Especially since my preceptor liked to ask a lot of questions I felt that I should have done a bit of more reading before going to the placements. How has this experience helped you clinically, in class and/or in career decision making? I was always interested in paediatrics and after this experience I am certain that I would like to pursue my interests further in both paediatrics and oncology through my clerkship electives. Any other comments? Overall, this LP was an eye opener for me since I now have a much better understanding of what the practice of Paediatrics entails. Also, through patient interaction at the Paediatric Oncology clinic I have developed immense respect for cancer patients and have emerged with a better understanding of not only the medical aspects of cancer treatment but also the social and personal impact it has on the patients and their families. As we are just about to hit the half-way mark of our 1st year of the McMaster University PA program, we continue to have great learning experiences with different observerships. Check out Kim's experience with Hamilton EMS... What LP did you do (i.e. family, peds, ER, EMS ride along, etc.)? I did my LP with Hamilton EMS. How did you go about contacting and arranging the LP? I set up a meeting with Nancy Weller in the PA office and gave her three dates that I was available for the ride-out. She then contacted the Hamilton EMS and they chose a date that worked for them. What were the two main things you learned from this LP? First of all, I learned just how important our first responders are in terms of assessing the situation and then treating the patient(s) on-scene. Secondly, I learned just how hard it can be for first responders to obtain the information that many healthcare professionals in the hospital setting expect to receive when they arrive with the patient. Often times, the circumstances do not allow first responders to obtain adequate information about the patient’s state and therefore, other healthcare professionals need to be sensitive to this. What did you wish you knew to help you in your LP? OR What did you wish could have been different? Since first responders attend to such a large variety of situations you cannot expect to understand the various treatments and procedures that they conduct on patients. Therefore, you can either take this LP as an awesome learning opportunity, or you can wait a little longer to do the ride-out so that you have a bit more medical knowledge under your belt. But either way, you are really just an observer in this LP. Personally, I would not have changed anything about this LP because the experience alone was amazing. How has this experience helped you clinically, in class and/or in career decision making? This experience has helped me to understand exactly what first responders are faced with in their careers. This awareness I’m sure will serve its purpose in the future when I begin working alongside them in a healthcare setting. I also learned small tidbits of information that I have been able to apply to what we have been learning in tutorial, which has contributed to my understanding of certain topics. Any other comments? My EMS ride-out was a truly fun-packed, amazing experience that I think is important for all healthcare students to experience, even if only to gain a better understanding of what other healthcare professionals do to serve their patients. NEW ENDO TOPICS We now have two new sections under "MF2" which fall under endocrinology: SITE FEEDBACK Visitors to the site range from 40 per day to 200 over the month of January. Impressive considering that there are ~ 23 students in the first year PA program (class of 2014). Many of our visitors appear to be prospective students who are interested in McMaster's PA program. Going through the resources on this site has helped give students a better idea of topics that are covered during the two years. - Anne
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