It's All About the "C" (30/30)

     What a month.

     May has simply flown by, which I suppose is not very surprising considering all the big events it included. In this month I've attended four graduations, taken one 3-day review class, summitted two mountains on a 4.5 mile hike, visited three states, helped coordinate one very big surprise, and taken one 6-hour exam. In between all that I used every spare moment to study for the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE). I attempted to use my study breaks to finish a post on my final rotation, but that one still needs a bit of work so today I'm skipping ahead to the milestones I hit this month. To start at the beginning: I GRADUATED!

     I finished my final rotation on April 27th, had my final graduate seminar and End of Rotation Exam the next two days, and then spent the beginning of the next week taking a 3-day day PANCE review class, before it was finally time to walk across the stage and end my time in PA school, officially. My graduation happened to fall on the exact same day as my sister's (she earned her Master's in Education), so my family not only endured the bitter cold and drizzly rain of a May morning at Gillette stadium, but they also drove straight from my commencement to arrive just in time to sit through a second outdoor ceremony in Quincy. My Californian aunt and uncle had to stock up on some extra layers, but they joined my parents and roommate in enduring the weather to show their love and support for us. There were cheers and pictures and hugs and toasts and celebratory feasts and everything one could need to feel loved and encouraged. As an added bonus, MCPHS actually had diplomas ready for graduates on the day of graduation so, rather than having to wait a few weeks for it to arrive in the mail, I left Gillette with proof that I had, in fact, completed PA school.

My cold, but wonderful, uncle and aunt

My long-suffering, and always encouraging, roommate

My parents, who have supported me in every imaginable way

My brother in-law and sister, both of whom completed their Master's this month

Mother's Day hike to Mt. Welch and Mt. Dickey

     After graduation I took a well-deserved, though brief, break to celebrate Mother's Day with mine and my brother in-law's families, and then it was back to studying. The NCCPA requires that PAs wait at least 7-10 days after graduating before they attempt to take the PANCE, but otherwise the choice of when you take the exam is up to you. Seeing as my brother in-law was about to graduate with his Master's on the 22nd, and his thesis art show was on the 20th, I scheduled my exam for the 19th. I wanted time to study, but I also didn't want to have the exam hanging over my head while I tried to participate in the upcoming celebrations and family time. So, from May 9th until the 19th, it was non-stop studying, with few exceptions. My roommate needed to calm me down on the 17th, when I suddenly became convinced that I must be woefully unprepared for the exam, but after some

Studying at my friend's graduation

reassurance, and a massage on the 18th to help relax me (thanks parents!), I entered the testing room on the 19th feeling surprisingly calm and ready to tackle the PANCE. The exam can take up to 6 hours (there are five 1-hour blocks, and 45 minutes of break time), but thankfully I was able to finish up at least an hour ahead of time, even with the breaks I took mid-exam to do some deep breathing. Even though traffic on the drive home was horrendous, it was such a relief to be done. Plus, I knew that my roommate and friends from the coffee shop were waiting to hang out and celebrate with me. All these people deserve a shoutout and a huge debt of gratitude for all the support they have given me over the years, not to mention all the times they've cheered me up, made me laugh, switched shifts with me, and even helped me study. They belong to the very long list of people I couldn't have made it through PA school without.

     My classmates and I had been informed that it would take 2 weeks to get our PANCE results, so it was with some surprise that, a few hours short of one week after I'd taken my exam, I received an email informing me that my results were ready. To be completely honest, I got this email early in the morning and actually fell back asleep briefly, only to be haunted by a nightmare in which I was told I had failed, so it was with some trepidation that I longed onto the NCCPA site when I woke up again. Before I could even get to the page with my exam results though, I knew. There, underneath my name on my profile page, was a bright and shiny:

Obviously after my nightmare I needed confirmation, so I quickly clicked on the Exams tab to find:

     Just like that, ladies and gentlemen, I am official. I am a certified PA and, while I still need my state and drug license before I can actually start working, those licenses are simply a matter of paperwork and time. The hard part is over. I am a really and truly Physician Assistant at last.

     There are more people who deserve gratitude for getting me to this point, and trying to list all of them would take too long (though I did try in my last Thanksgiving post), but for now let me once again give a shout out to some of the people I haven't already mentioned in this post: my older sister, who sadly couldn't make it to my graduation, but was able to celebrate belatedly when she came for my brother in-law's; my grandparents, my aunt and uncle in Seattle, my cousins, and all my extended family who couldn't come to the graduations but were there in spirit; the friends who have mentored me throughout these years and guided me not just through my studies, but through the emotional, spiritual, and psychological trials I've encountered; the health care professionals who gave me advice, encouragement, and sometimes a necessary push; and last, but certainly not least, my Bible study girls, who supported and encouraged me every week, not just with prayers, but by always going above and beyond (e.g. offering to run errands for me when rotations made me insanely busy and buying me an ice cream cake to celebrate the last day of my final rotation). I do not have the words to adequately express my gratitude, so I shall simply say: thank you from the bottom of my heart.

     At some point I will actually finish my post on my final rotation, and I'll probably write a short one on the PANCE (just a few tips for anyone studying for it), but for right now I'm going to bask a little in the fact that I am not simply a PA, but a PA-C, and that I am well and truly done with PA school. 

Blessings and Joy Heaped Beyond Measure

     It has been very difficult these last few weeks to keep silent about my interviews and hearing back from PA programs. It's a great relief to finally talk about how they went and what's happening in the future. The short story is that I'm starting PA school this year!! Here's the longer story: 

Just beyond Deadman Pass

     My first interview was at Idaho State University, which has two different campuses for its PA program. My interview was supposed to take place in Pocatello, the main campus in southeastern Idaho. The day before the interview my mother and I drove to Boise, arriving safely despite the snow we encountered while crossing the Blue Mountains (which was the heaviest as we passed through the alarmingly named "Deadman Pass"). That night we heard repeated warnings about road closures and accidents due to the snow. My interview wasn't until 2 pm, but we planned to leave early the next morning so we'd have plenty of buffer time for bad weather. We never left. 

Driving back through the Elkhorn Mountains

     During breakfast I received a call saying the Pocatello campus was closed due to the weather and road conditions (the first time in years that this had happened). However, they were willing to open the campus for the interviews since most of the applicants were from out of town. When ISU learned where I was they suggested a safer alternative to driving hours through hazardous roads: I could simply go to their Meridian campus just outside of Boise and conduct my interviews via video conferencing. I'll admit that it felt a little weird to do an interview with someone via video but it worked quite well, and it really was the best choice. Everyone at ISU was very friendly and made me feel quite comfortable. 

It was a bit cold in Baker City.

     Once the interview was over my mom and I were able to begin our journey back home. That night we stopped in historic Baker City to get well rested before finishing the last 5 hours of the 8 hour drive and to celebrate my first interview. We soon had added reason to celebrate. ISU uses a system for their PA program that allows them to give almost immediate feedback on an applicant's acceptance status. Applicants are given a score based on a few pieces, the interview being the last one, and applicants with a certain score or higher are automatically offered a seat in the program. Everyone else is considered "in review" until interviews are completed, though they can ask the school at any time where they are in the rankings. Shortly after arriving at our hotel for the night, I received an email saying that my status had been updated. I went to the site to check it, fully expecting to see that I was "in review" and was absolutely floored to see this: 

There was great celebrating in Baker City that night. And tears. And excitement. And laughs of disbelief. The celebration did not end that night. I came home the next day to find this: 

My dad was very proud of his decorations. 

     A few days later I left home again, this time on an airplane to southern California for an interview at Western University of Health Sciences. While I flew down alone, I was again blessed to go to this interview with family. My dad's sister's family lives just north of LA I was lucky enough to spend almost two whole days with my aunt and uncle. I don't get to see them nearly enough so it was a real treat. My aunt was amazing and even drove me to my interview, which was quite an act of love considering check-in was at 7:30 am and Pomona is about 2 hours from my aunt and uncle's house. It was a very early morning, but we made it, and even had time to stop for breakfast along the way. 

Another testament to my aunt's love for me.

     I'll admit that I hadn't been sure how I'd felt about Western before I arrived. Talking with an alumna, as well as my own research of the program, had made me feel that perhaps Western was not a good match for me. Being there definitely improved my opinion. I still felt that perhaps I was better suited for ISU, due in part that I still have the native Oregonian's dislike of California and find the constant heat and sunshine unnatural, but the people at Western were quite nice and helpful. They even included tips on financial aid that were applicable for any PA program. The interviews were also over quickly, which meant that my aunt and I got to have a little fun at Disneyland before meeting up with my uncle for my last night there. No matter how I may feel about year-round warmth and lack of seasons, I have to say that it was nice to wear sandals and actually feel heat from the sun again. I needed that extra warmth because just three days after returning home from California I boarded another flight, this time to Massachusetts, my home for my undergrad years. 

Boston Public Gardens at night

     My trip to Massachusetts was a bit of a mini-vacation, something I certainly needed after the recent craziness of work, EMT classes, and interviews. I was able to spend a week just catching up and hanging out with friends, including my professors and bosses from college, as well as just generally relaxing, preparing for my final interview, and getting caught up on work. Finally, the day arrived. The night before my interview at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences University (a ridiculously long name, I know) I'd headed into Boston to stay with a friend there so I wouldn't have far to go in the morning. My friend lived conveniently close to a T stop so all I had to do was hop on and ride to the Longwood Medical Area. 

     I'd had a feeling before I even made it to the interview that MCPHS was my top choice school. For anyone who read the post about my "belated birthday present," MCPHS is the school to which I was referring. Still, there was always the possibility that I would get there and something would radically change my mind. One question I was very curious about was how MCPHS did their anatomy labs. One of the alumna from Western University had informed me that the PA students there had a lab to go along with their anatomy class, but they didn't actually do the dissections; the medical students did and they just watched. I then asked an alumna from ISU about their anatomy classes and found out they don't even have labs, basing this policy on the fact that a PA cannot simply open up their patients to look inside them and figure out what's wrong. I sort of understand that, but at the same time, surgery is a required clinical rotation, and I just think it is very important to have an excellent understanding of the internal anatomy of a human person if you are going to correctly diagnose and treat them. Before I could even ask someone about the labs at MCPHS, a faculty member answered my question: they didn't have enough room on their facilities for an anatomy lab, so instead they purchase cadavers for the PA students and then have them walk across the street to use the anatomy lab at Harvard School of Medicine... which is just awesome. It's pretty much one of the best setups I could imagine.  

The Longwood Medical Area with MCPHS highlighted

      As I mentioned earlier, MCPHS is in the Longwood Medical Area, pictured above. For those of you who don't know, this area is one of the most highly concentrated areas of medical learning, research and practice in the country. I already mentioned that the Harvard Medical School is across the street, but just a block or so in other directions there are Simmons College and Emmanuel College, to name a few of the other colleges in the area. Northeastern University is a bit further down and MIT is just across the Charles River. When it comes to hospitals and medical research centers, the Longwood Medical Area is also home to some of the best. Brigham and Women's Hospital is just two blocks away, Dana-Farber is next to that, and the Joslin Diabetes Center is next to that. If you want to know all the universities, hospitals and research centers in the area, just look at the Wikipedia page. What I'm saying, in short, is that MCPHS has one of the best locations of any of the PA programs in the country, and it's really rather exciting. This is just another reason why I wanted to attend MCPHS, and why I really wanted to make a good impression at my interviews. 

     This post has already become rather long, so I'm going to try to wrap it up quickly. Here's the dealio: the interview day (applicants were given an overview of the program, a lecture, a timed written essay, lunch, time with members of the student association, and a tour before the actual interviews) went really well. I felt super comfortable and I left the campus thinking that I truly wanted to be accepted to this program. I flew home though thinking that I would have to wait a whole month before I heard anything. It was an amazing surprise when I arrived home early from work two Saturdays ago and saw the lovely letter to the right waiting for me. I could barely make it into the house because I was basically bawling my eyes out with tears of joy. It still seems hard to believe. I feel so incredibly blessed. Not only am I going to be starting PA school this fall, something I'd been sure would probably not be for another year, but I get to go to my first choice school. I look forward to where God will lead these next three years. It's quite an adventure I'm starting and I want to thank all the friends and family who have supported me the whole way. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Coming Soon: There seems to be a lot of confusion about what a PA is and what they do, so I'll be clearing that up in my next post. :)