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22. A Woman's Health Odyssey: Navigating the PA School Rotation
187 Plays2 years ago
In this episode of the podcast, I talk with a fellow board-certified PA about women's health and how to navigate this rotation.
Patreon: patreon.com/ThePAExperience
Email me at thepaschoolexperience@gmail.com
Youtube video: https://youtu.be/lNUb5vjPaIs
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Transcript
Introduction to PA School Insights
00:00:13
Speaker
Welcome to the PA School Experience Podcast. I'm your host, Sebring Sands, and I take you through the behind the scenes look of PA School and explore what it takes to become a PA.
00:00:34
Speaker
Welcome everyone. A few things before the podcast starts. The interview I have with Stephanie. I just want to remind everyone that I do have a Patreon. I hope everyone checks that out. There's some really cool stuff on there right now and there's going to be some cool things added very soon. I plan on doing a student loan analysis, looking at my student loan balance and how I plan to repay it.
00:01:00
Speaker
very interesting also I'm going to be doing some credentialing episodes and things like that to really go step by step of what you need to do in order to credential the process the the order of things so that's gonna be coming up soon some other patreon only content so I hope everyone checks that out and considers subscribing to that just support the channel also to get their money's worth in content I really hope I really think everyone
00:01:30
Speaker
We'll enjoy that and benefit from that. And also don't forget to rate and review the podcast, whether it be with Spotify or Apple iTunes. It really helps the visibility and I would really appreciate it. Okay. Now on to the interview.
Career Path and Transition Post-PA School
00:01:51
Speaker
Welcome everyone to another episode of the podcast. We have recurring guests on the podcast, another successfully certified PA. Um, we're excited to have her on. We're going to talk about women's health and some other amazing post PA school life. So Stephanie, do you want to say hi? Hi everyone. I'm Stephanie. He brings old classmate from PA school.
00:02:17
Speaker
I forgot to look at what episode you're on, but we did, it's like last year, 2021. It was a while ago since we had you on. So it's fun to get you back and see where you've ended up after PA school. Thank you for having me back. Yeah. So where do you work now? So right now I work in interventional psychiatry, which is something that is up and coming and
00:02:45
Speaker
I always thought I was going to end up in women's health, but then this kind of landed in my hands and I'm really enjoying it so far. Awesome. So when did you start working?
00:02:55
Speaker
So we graduated December 2nd, and then my official first day was February 13th. So quite some time, not too much time in between, but I moved back to California from PA school in Connecticut, had celebrated the holidays, did all that.
00:03:16
Speaker
took my boards probably two weeks after graduation and successfully passed that thank God and then from there just kind of took some time to relax and you know after working so hard in PA school I just needed a few weeks to just relax and spend time with family and friends and then yeah and then the job the job hunt I would say officially started early February the actual hardcore applying
00:03:44
Speaker
and interviewing at places. And that all in all took about two weeks till I found the perfect fit. Yeah, and then so about two and a half months later,
Navigating Job Applications and Onboarding
00:03:55
Speaker
right? Yeah, two and a half months later, I started my first job. Well, it was really quick. I started applying in the hardcore applying in December.
00:04:04
Speaker
and got an offer in January, start date in May. It's really awesome. That's really cool. I've heard mixed things from so many different people. I know a lot of people in our program are in a similar boat as you where they are starting, you know, kind of months later from the time that they interviewed. And I think it's more so the case in a hospital setting due to all the onboarding
00:04:27
Speaker
paperwork and process that has to be done. It's a lot more strict in a hospital. My job that I have is in a private practice. So it's a little bit more lax, I would say as far as that whole onboarding process goes. So it's definitely not uncommon for it to take several months if you're if you're going to be starting the hospital. Okay. And you're in California. So how's the licensing process for in that state?
00:04:53
Speaker
Yeah, it was honestly pretty quick. I was told it would take a lot longer. And I know for some of my colleagues back in Connecticut and Massachusetts, it did take quite some time. Some of them, they just got their DEA license. I was fortunate that mine only took probably about two weeks. So the way it works,
00:05:14
Speaker
is you can apply for your MPI license or your MPI number. I think 45 days, 45 to 60 days before your projected graduation date. So I did that probably back in November, had the MPI. And then after that, gosh, it's like it just happened, but I have to kind of think back to what I did. So once you pass the PANS, the day you pass it, you are allowed to then apply for the license.
00:05:43
Speaker
For the
California PA Licensing Process
00:05:44
Speaker
state of California, that was three documents. One was from my school, Sacred Heart University, which the faculty had to kind of fill out a form. The other one was like a self query form that we had to mail to the board. And then there was one other document, which I'm forgetting, but
00:06:06
Speaker
Sorry, it was the the fingerprint. So I did the fingerprint in person here in California Probably back in December so I had that good to go. So all in all It took yeah, California is quick. It took about two weeks, but I will say I
00:06:24
Speaker
After about the two week mark, I'm like, all right, I like I submitted everything. Like, what's the holdup? Like, I want my license. So I called the board. I called the State Board of California. I said, hey, like, you know, it's my situation. We're like, what's the status of my license? And they said, oh, we're still waiting on your fingerprints. And I said, oh, that's weird. I had submitted that like over a month ago.
00:06:43
Speaker
and then they're like oh yeah sorry it's right here so like things all i'm trying to say is that things can get lost so if you feel like you need an update i would highly recommend calling and just speaking to someone to get an update because that's what they're there for and sometimes
00:07:01
Speaker
if you don't call, like you'll just be sitting there waiting because they certainly don't send you updates. It just kind of like, okay, you applied and now you just have to wait until you hear back. But if it's been kind of a long time, I would suggest calling. And then my DA license. So the DA license is a little tricky because most new grads, they don't have a work address to put, right? Because they're obviously applying and they have nowhere to work.
00:07:30
Speaker
So the DA, at least in California, this is the case. I don't know if it's like this in other states. But if you put your home address, a residential address, your application will be denied. So what you have to do is if you apply for your DA without having a job offer yet, that's fine. But as soon as you get a job offer, you have to either call or go on the website and change the address to your prospective workplace. And that way it will get approved quickly.
00:07:58
Speaker
Um, because if you don't do that, then it will just get rejected and you'll be waiting, waiting, waiting for nothing. So yeah.
DEA License Application Tips
00:08:05
Speaker
Yeah. Luckily I got a, I didn't know that cause I wasn't sure. No one told me anything about it. So I put my personal address and I got an email from like the person over the New England area and I'm like, okay, we need your business address. Like, Oh shoot. Okay.
00:08:20
Speaker
because I didn't want to give them that because it's like $880. I don't want to do that again. Exactly. These are things that they don't really, at least in our program, I don't think that they went into the full detail of the steps that you need to do to obtain these licenses. They definitely gave us a good overview of things, but these little nitty gritty details, it's just you have to figure it out.
00:08:45
Speaker
or, you know, friends who are also going through the same process. So, yeah.
00:08:52
Speaker
Oh, I'm definitely going to do a in-depth. This is what you do. But you're going to find out on the Patreon because that's where I'm going to stick it. Yeah, because even my job, they kind of told me like what to do first. But there's a lot of different things and there's steps in order to do them. And I didn't know. I didn't even know about the NPI thing until I was looking on YouTube because I was confused about the DA thing. And they said, oh, register for your NPI. And I was like, oh, shoot, I didn't know about this. So I have to do that. And then this.
00:09:21
Speaker
Yeah. It's, it's really confusing and no one's really, no one really ever tells you so they don't. And I found a Reddit thread. I think that's how I figured it out. Okay. But even the Reddit thread wasn't like step by step, like this is exactly what you need to do. And that's like what I wanted, but I couldn't find it. So I was just like, Oh, I hope this is right. And I hope I'm not wasting $880 right now for my.
00:09:47
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Another thing about the DA is for new grads, especially it's, it's tough because you often are applying to specialties that you think you might be interested in. Right. Like for me, it was women's health, urgent care, psych, and then some of those specialties don't even require a DA like urgent care, probably a DA, but women's health, it's like, eh, it's a toss up. So you don't want to essentially spend $880.
00:10:15
Speaker
to end up in a specialty that you will not need that DA for the next three years that your DA is valid for because I think it's only valid for three years at a time until you have to pay again. So that's just something to keep in mind. I don't think I paid for my DA until I got my job offer and I was like, I know I need a DA. Otherwise, I know it happened to a friend of mine where she has a DA and she's not going to be using it for, you know, her job. So just another thing to keep in mind.
00:10:44
Speaker
Yeah. I figured I would just apply for it when I got a job. So luckily I wasn't in any limbo about that. So I guess it would be different if you were, if you got your certification and license before your job. Yeah. Yeah.
00:11:01
Speaker
Okay, so you're kind of talking about applying to all these different places and that's kind of how you got an interview at the job you're at now and you kind of felt good about it and went with it, or was it between a couple different specialties or a couple different jobs?
Choosing the Right Job as a PA
00:11:19
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I interviewed at quite a few places. I interviewed at Urgent Care, Women's Health, and this job. Those are the main ones that I remember. Oh, and a rheumatology clinic, which was really lovely. I think at the end of it, I was debating between the rheumatology and
00:11:41
Speaker
My current job that I have The women's health just wasn't a fit although I always like I said I always love women's health and Thought that that's what I was always gonna do and that doesn't mean that I won't do it later And that's the beauty of being a is that you can do something for a few years and then you know explore something else But this job that I have now was definitely the per like in my opinion The the perfect fit as far as like work culture schedule
00:12:11
Speaker
what I want to do day to day, how much support I was going to be having as a new grad PA. That's a huge one as a support. That was like one of the first questions I asked every single job interview was like, what kind of support am I going to get? What kind of training am I going to get?
00:12:26
Speaker
because I don't want to be out here on my own with no one to go to for help as a brand new graduate and just be stuck and possibly, you know, put my license on the line if I mess up really bad and there's just no one to help me. So that was a huge, huge component for me in picking my job.
00:12:46
Speaker
But yeah, so all of that, and then of course, location. So I actually relocated to the Bay Area. So now I'm in the Bay Area from Los Angeles, which is where I previously was. And yeah, kind of all those things fell into place and I'm really, I'm about a month in at this point of my job and I'm really glad that I picked this one. So you mentioned an interventional psychiatry. So what exactly do you do at your job?
Role in Interventional Psychiatry and Work-Life Balance
00:13:12
Speaker
Yeah, so we administer FDA approved intranasal ketamine as well as IV ketamine for treatment resistant depression. This is the, it became FDA approved in 2019. So still relatively new, but very, you know, it's a growing field and from the month I've been there, I've seen the astounding differences it's made in people's lives. Definitely a big area that we need compassionate healthcare providers in without a doubt.
00:13:44
Speaker
And what's your, you're mentioning, you know, a nice work-life balance. How many hours do you work there? I work about 40. So, you know, it's, it's a standard Monday through Friday, no weekends, no calls, nothing like that. Um, usually gets to the clinic around nine 30, nine 45 ish, sometimes 10. And then I leave anywhere from like five 30 to six 30. So evens out to about 40 ish hours a week.
00:14:11
Speaker
Oh, nice. Very nice. Awesome. I'm glad that you ended up a place that you want to be at and something like pretty cool. So yeah, I always knew I couldn't do nights. That was, that was out for me. Uh, after experiencing that during rotation, I was like, Nope, no way. And then yeah, having the weekends office is obviously nice. Um, just a way to kind of unwind after a long week. Now that I'm working, I've realized how much, um, people value their weekends.
00:14:41
Speaker
How much do you look for? Yeah, because you don't really get much because in PA school, you might have week enough, but you still probably have to study for something. Yeah, exactly. It's like you're just trying to do everything during the weekend. So, yeah. Yeah. Luckily, I'm going to be doing 410, so I'll be able to do it. It should be really nice. Yeah, I'm really looking forward to that. I think 410, 312 is like so nice. 312 isn't bad. Yeah, that's pretty good too.
00:15:09
Speaker
Yeah, that's great. Well, now we're going to talk about women's health, this core rotation. It's important and it's one of the one of the, you know, core rotation. I can't remember how many that were that we have. So we're gonna talk about that and everything goes with it. So where did you do yours? Was it a clinic or in the hospital?
OB-GYN Rotations and Hands-On Experience
00:15:31
Speaker
So my core OB-GYN rotation was at an outpatient gynecology clinic. So strictly outpatient, no obstetrics.
00:15:42
Speaker
And, you know, OBGYN is one of those specialties where it's obviously a, you know, it's a tough one for students because it's such an intimate, private setting, right? So it's hard to sometimes be very hands-on in that setting. So my experience was nothing short of amazing.
00:16:07
Speaker
truly amazing preceptor The just amazing bedside manner so knowledgeable. I learned a lot from that I will from that rotation But unfortunately, I didn't get too much hands-on experience as far as doing pap smears and pelvic exams every now and then I would get to do one but It was like a pretty like a
00:16:34
Speaker
It was like a, like basically patients would wait a really long time to see this doctor. So when they waited months and months to see this particular doctor, they wanted the doctor to do the Pap smear makes sense. They don't want a student to do it. So that's, that was kind of my experience with that. But again, I just want to emphasize it was an amazing rotation because she would teach me so much. And I was still in the room with every patient and, you know, listen to the conversations and the counseling and all that. And I, and I was able to watch a lot of Pap smears and,
00:17:04
Speaker
Pelvic and breast exams. So that was that, but I also did my elective in OBGYN. So in our program we were allowed to choose one elective and I chose mine in OBGYN because I
00:17:21
Speaker
I didn't get that obstetrics experience. So I wanted that. I wanted to see what that was all about. So the elective that was available at my school was at New York Presbyterian in Manhattan, New York. And that's where I really, you know, got the full exposure of the obstetrics. I barely got any gynecology there. It was mainly all like deliveries and
00:17:42
Speaker
obstetrics, obstetric problems. Um, so that was really, really nice. Um, I'm really glad I chose that in the end because I feel like I knew nothing about baby deliveries or any of that. So it was nice to see both, like five weeks of just gynecology and then five weeks of just obstetrics. So I got a pretty good idea. Okay. What's your favorite or are they kind of equally both or?
00:18:06
Speaker
I like gynecology. Not that I don't like obstetrics, but gyn has always been my passion. I really like getting to know the patients and I just like the outpatient procedures a little bit more. The obstetrics to me is very
00:18:24
Speaker
it's so delicate and like they're, they're so high risk. And I feel like I don't like inducing pain on people. And I feel like when I was in my rotation, like they'd be 38 weeks and then we'd have to do like a spec exam on them and they'd be in so much pain. Um, just, just cause it's uncomfortable even to have a speculum inserted when you're that pregnant. Um, I mean, it's uncomfortable in the first place. And then now add on 38 week pregnancy. It's just, it's just not fun. So that component.
00:18:53
Speaker
Um, is difficult for me, but I think the whole, you know, delivery process is nothing short of a miracle and beautiful. Um, I got to see vaginal deliveries as well as C-sections. And then I also got to work in the triage there. So I would, it was basically an ER for pregnant women. So they'd come in, you know, if they had leakage of fluids or blood, anything like that, and we'd be able to, you know, assess them and, and see what was going on. So yeah, it was an incredible experience.
00:19:23
Speaker
Awesome. Yeah. So I was a little different. I just had one, uh, my core was health rotation at, um, a hospital, a residency program. So the days were long. That kind of, that's my, that was the worst part of it. Um, but I was able to get both OB inpatient. So mostly just the labor floor and like the postpartum floor to, um, a little bit, um, kind of like post-op checks a lot, a lot of the time. And then, um, two and a half weeks of.
00:19:54
Speaker
surgical gynecology, which was very interesting, a lot of hysterectomies, mostly that, that I was able to experience a lot with the DaVinci robot, which is kind of cool. I mean, it's cool to see your first one, and then they all are kind of the same thing after that. So nothing too crazy, but I think I have, especially OB, but somewhat GYN, because a lot of the times they intermingle
00:20:21
Speaker
at times in a woman's life because my wife, she's actually going to be 38 weeks pregnant on Wednesday, like going to deliver any day. So, yeah, thanks. So this is like very near and dear to my heart. And I've seen probably just the good side of care that I've seen her. I think with her, with my first daughter,
00:20:49
Speaker
seeing the care in Utah was amazing and really wanted like helped me get into health care like I want to do this for other people the like you were saying the the being empathetic and really caring about the patient
00:21:06
Speaker
goes a long way. And it's just so amazing. And I feel like at this residency program, they really did that. And that's where she's going to be delivering. So it'll be really fun to be on the other side of the delivery, kind of knowing what goes in into the labor process and
00:21:28
Speaker
and some triage stuff too I was able to help out with. So that's really cool.
Varied PA Roles in OB-GYN Settings
00:21:33
Speaker
So what would you say about women's health? What would you say to people if they were interested in OBGYN?
00:21:42
Speaker
Yeah, well, it's so different. There's the outpatient and the inpatient setting. The inpatient, I would say is, as far as schedule goes, let's just get that out of the way. Inpatient is very, in my opinion, chill in what I would like. It's more like that standard nine to five Monday through Friday. You're doing a lot of pep smears, yearly visits,
00:22:08
Speaker
Acute problem visits like if they're having you know discharge or pain or blood A lot of you know postmenopausal concerns and visits talking about hormones Birth control like preconception family planning things like that STDs STIs kind of the whole thing But no and then some I will say some outpatient Guine clinics will also see
00:22:36
Speaker
women who just became pregnant like that's how my clinic was like so they can come in either to get a Confirmation that they're pregnant and then we'll kind of do their first day of it their first pregnancy visit So okay, like you're according to your LM your last menstrual period or your LMP your five weeks pregnant and then we'll kind of counsel them on like what things to avoid as far as being pregnant or
00:23:02
Speaker
what things you should be doing, taking folic acid, basically counseling them on what to expect, but then they seek care at another OBGYN who specializes in obstetrics. So that's the more outpatient setting.
00:23:15
Speaker
inpatient as a PA. From what I've heard and read, it differs a lot state by state as far as what PAs are allowed to do in the obstetric setting. Where I was in New York, they were allowed to do a lot, but you had to kind of, it came with experience. So the brand new new grad PAs were not in the
00:23:36
Speaker
delivery room helping deliver the baby or you know in the OR helping with c-sections those were the more seasoned PAs I would say two to three years of experience because you it's it's especially c-sections I mean and vaginal deliveries but you it's a lot and like you they are very good at suturing and they have to know where everything is so
00:23:58
Speaker
That definitely comes with experience. As far as scheduling goes for OB, like OB-GYN, if you work in a hospital, I would say definitely expect to work nights and overnights, being on call, all those things. So the scheduling for OB-GYN is definitely a lot harder, in my opinion. Again, this is all subjective, but it's just not your, it's not as predictable as a outpatient gynecology setting.
00:24:29
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, with the PAs, at least where I worked, they were very involved in the care, but they just weren't as involved in the vaginal deliveries straight off the bat. It took time to get there. But once you're there, you're right by the OB-GYN attending, and you guys are kind of doing it together if there's an issue. Like, usually the PAs are the ones suturing and doing all that after the baby is delivered, and then staying with the patient kind of throughout.
00:24:59
Speaker
Okay, that's good to know because I guess I only have one experience and it was with a residency program. So there was no PAs in this at all. So it's cool to see that, yeah, PAs can be in and helping and taking care of patients and really being involved in the care.
00:25:20
Speaker
rather than just being on the sidelines. I guess they probably wouldn't even have PAs if they just were doing much. So you feel like a PA and outpatient would be just as helpful? Yeah, PA and outpatient, you know, they're, they're seeing all their own patients. You know, they have their, they have their own patient load and
00:25:46
Speaker
They do a lot of the same things that an attending would. If there's a particularly challenging case or if they need help for their assistance, then they'll go there attending and kind of brainstorm and figure out what the issue is. But for the most part, from what I've seen and I know in many states, PAs are doing, you know, most of the same things that an attending would in the outpatient setting.
00:26:11
Speaker
OK, cool. Very cool.
Challenges in OB-GYN Rotations
00:26:14
Speaker
What was your, I guess, worst experience in the what you did not like about OBGYN in both situations?
00:26:24
Speaker
Yeah, I think I already touched on this a little bit, but as a student, it's really difficult being a student in any specialty, but especially OBGYN because it's different as a female. But a lot of the times, even as a female, they'd be like, I don't want the student in the room. And it's like, oh,
00:26:43
Speaker
I really wish that I could be in there watching. Or I don't want the student to do my PAP. I don't want the student to do my exam. Like I want you to do it. So that was, I mean, I knew that was going to happen and that's definitely part of it. But especially for someone like me who really loves like women's health, I wanted to get as much practice as I could. So I really valued it when people would let me do it and were patient with me. And, you know,
00:27:12
Speaker
I would say that's the hardest part is just being a student is just tough because you're so you're there to learn like you're there to to do as much as you can but sometimes in OBGYN it's just difficult but
00:27:25
Speaker
On my OBGYN rotation, my second one, my elective, I was also allowed to do a lot of the ultrasounds. So when they would come in for triage, sometimes we would assess the fluid and just make sure everything's looking good, baby's heartbeat, stuff like that. So they taught me how to do that too, which was really nice. Definitely less invasive than a pap smear, not that a pap smear is invasive, but you get what I'm trying to say, just less like, it's over the abdomen.
00:27:55
Speaker
So yeah, but overall that's what my answer would be is just sometimes not being able to participate when you really want to.
00:28:03
Speaker
Yeah, I guess that's a good lesson for any clinical your student or up and coming clinical your student because student life isn't necessarily very fun because you don't get to do a lot of stuff. And some plate and some rotations I was happy did not do. So like for women South, I was happy not to do speculative exams. I did like a couple of times, but
00:28:26
Speaker
And others, I really wanted to like do as much as the PAs and help out in the team, but I just couldn't as a student. So that's, and I, after some people are very nervous about leaving PA school. I was so happy. Like, yes, I can finally practice medicine. Do I want to do, um, in my specialty of choice and not be so restricted and actually participate in help out the team.
00:28:54
Speaker
Exactly. I think that's the toughest part of the student is you feel like sometimes you're not being helpful but you do your best and that's just as long as you know you're going to feel like that going into it I think it kind of eases the feeling a little bit but I will say like my family medicine rotation I was doing all the pap smears like every patient that would come in for the most part I was doing their pap it really depends on the setting
00:29:19
Speaker
I don't know if you had a similar experience, but it just depends on the clinic. Some places are just way more strict than others, and just as long as you know that going into it. Okay, so that's good. You had to get it on different rotation. I only had urgent cares in hospitals by clinical year, so I didn't really do a lot of that. But yeah, that's great. How was the end of rotation exam?
00:29:48
Speaker
OBGYN was one of my first ones. I think it was my second rotation. So of course at that time I was still learning what an EOR was and how difficult they were.
00:29:58
Speaker
Um, overall, I think just because I'm so passionate about women's health and, and a lot of, I had a lot of knowledge about women's health kind of going into PA school. So for me, the, it was certainly difficult, don't get me wrong. Um, but I thought there were other EORs that were much more difficult, specifically ER. I remember that one was very difficult for me. Um, but yeah, overall mine, so that's, that's a good point. So if you get placed into a rotation like me,
00:30:26
Speaker
with only gynecology, the EOR has a bunch of obstetrics on it. So I feel like I didn't know any of that, so I had to study extra, extra hard on the obstetrics portion. I would say it's pretty 50-50, maybe even 60-40, and the 60 being the obstetrics, heavy on the EOR. So that was a little bit challenging, just having to, you know, I was like, I don't even know what any of this is, like whenever I was studying for the EOR.
00:30:54
Speaker
when I was talking about when I was looking at obstetric stuff. So yeah, overall, though, I think it went well. Yeah, especially your second one. Yeah. These things are absurdly hard because I remember taking the ender curriculum, not as hard as you are, in my opinion, even the band, the pants was
00:31:18
Speaker
I would say a breeze, but maybe because you had so much dedicated time to study and it feels so difficult as compared to an EOR where you have such limited time to study and you only have a few weeks on top of, you know, working 40 plus hours sometimes. I think that might, might what makes them hard sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. I think I remember. Oh, sorry.
00:31:44
Speaker
No, they're difficult. I think what sucks about the EORs too is that sometimes I feel like there were questions that no matter how much more I studied, I would have not known the answer. Just like completely random, I have no idea. But don't let that, you know, I think there's 20 questions that don't get counted. I don't know if that's changing in the near future, but there's 120 questions and 100 of those are counted.
00:32:06
Speaker
and then the 20 experimental questions I think that they are. So I don't know if the ones that were really hard for me were the experimental or not, but overall, like you said, it's just hard to balance everything like working a lot and then having free time yourself and then studying really hard for the ERs. Yeah, I think for this one specifically, I really relied on the blueprint and
00:32:33
Speaker
it kind of tells you the percentage or the number of questions per each thing. Because if you're running out of time, I feel like that's a good way of focusing your study on just the big stuff and just forgetting the little stuff. I think that's what I did for my family medicine. I didn't really worry about the neurology because it was just a few questions of the hundred or so that was candid on the OR. So yeah.
00:32:58
Speaker
I think that's a good way when, like, yeah, it just kind of makes you more efficient. Your studying is like, all right, if I only have, you know, two days to go, I'm going to focus on the thing that is more heavily on the EOR, right? Because there's many more questions on that.
00:33:13
Speaker
But I think the EORs definitely get easier as the months go by. And after each EOR you take, it kind of gets a little bit easier. I would say there's some overlap, too. And not exact questions, but just like you learn the style of the EOR and kind of how they're going to ask the question. So yeah, I would say it gets easier.
00:33:36
Speaker
Okay, awesome.
Preparation Advice for Rotations
00:33:38
Speaker
Is there anything that you can think of that a student can prepare before they know they have this rotation coming up? Anything to do to prepare for it, to help the transition be a little bit easier or going in a little bit more confident? Yeah.
00:33:57
Speaker
You know, I do I think doing practice for me personally practice questions is how I learn best, and I really like on you world and rush that you can kind of.
00:34:12
Speaker
you know, tailor the questions to what topic you want. So I think just like going through and maybe doing a hundred questions or so before your, I mean, depending how much time you have before your rotation starts, just to kind of get you thinking like, oh, what are maybe some questions that my preceptor will ask me? Like very common things. And those questions, like they, especially you world, I would say is very like real life.
00:34:39
Speaker
stuff like things I know when I was in my internal medicine rotation, I would go home and do you world afterwards. And I was like, I definitely got pimped on that today. Like the exact question that you world is asking me my preceptor asked me earlier. So just gets your brain going. So yeah, I would say doing questions.
00:34:58
Speaker
That's a good idea. I don't think I did that enough. Yeah. Questions are off. That's like the only way I study for the pants. Honestly, I didn't, I barely looked at pants, right? Pearls. Yeah. I just did thousands of questions. Yeah. That's a good way to go. Yeah. But hindsight, yeah. Of all the things I would have done differently in PA school, but now have to cause I'm done. There you go. Not for another 10 years until we get the take the pannery.
00:35:24
Speaker
Yeah or the LA I think so I was asking I was being interviewed for my job that I accepted the offer at right now and she's saying like how's the pants setting going I was like you know it sucks but I'm good it's going well I was like yeah I'm doing the the the pantry LA thing
00:35:45
Speaker
And it's so nice. You just say, God, just I'm a break or something. I'm pull up up to date and then answer the questions. And I was asking, I was telling the professor this, like, is this like cheating? It's like the AMA going to be like, these guys aren't boarding correctly. Like, this isn't a certifying exam. What is this? But hopefully it stays because it's really nice. Yeah, that is nice.
00:36:15
Speaker
Yeah. Any last parting advice, just general advice about pay school or after pay school or jobs or anything they can think of?
Reflections on PA School Journey
00:36:25
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it depends where you are. It's, you know, looking back, it went by so fast. So glad I did it. It was there were a lot of difficult moments, but with with good with a good mindset and hopefully good support from family and friends, it's something that's very doable. Of course, there's challenges people go through in their personal life.
00:36:50
Speaker
that can make it a little bit more difficult but in general I think P.A. school as long as you stay focused it's very doable and not just like doable like I'm hanging on by a thread but like you do have some time for yourself I think a lot of the time it's portrayed like you don't have a single moment to yourself and I just think that's so not true I had plenty of time to like you know
00:37:14
Speaker
do things for myself during PA school. I mean, except our second trimester during didactic. I did not have any. But aside from that, you know, I'd say it's a it's a good balance. As long as you find your rhythm and, you know, your schedule, you just get it done. As far as post PA life,
00:37:33
Speaker
have a plan on what your state requires for licensing because it can take a while like I have a friend and we're now in March and her stuff just got approved so it took a good three months like that's a long time to just be waiting most jobs I feel like are pretty flexible and we'll be like all right like we'll hire you even though it's not you haven't got your license yet but it's in the process
00:37:56
Speaker
But like when you're applying on LinkedIn and stuff and indeed it'll ask you do you have your license? And if you don't have a you technically have to put no so then I feel like when you put no it automatically Like they're not gonna look at your application, right? Because you say no, but it's like no, but like I almost do but you there's no button for that in these application websites But just like as far as post-grad life
00:38:25
Speaker
Definitely take time off. I don't advise, like when I remember our faculty was like, most people don't start working till March and we graduate in December. So three months, I was like, no way, like that's way too long to be unemployed. Like I need to pay my loans off, like no way I'm waiting till March, like I'll do what I have to do. But no, three months is adequate. Three months is a good amount of time to just take time yourself and decompress.
00:38:51
Speaker
after a very difficult two and a half years. And just apply for jobs and don't settle for the first one just because you think that you're not gonna get any other job offers. Luckily our career, our field is so growing and we're in such need that that's not the case. You don't need to settle for the very first place that gives you an offer. So take your time with it, make sure it's a good fit in all the components that you want.
00:39:22
Speaker
definitely negotiate, you know, make sure you know what the market value is for yourself in the area that you live in and that can vary so much depending state to state or city, you know, city to city even. There's a, you know, even from LA to the Bay Area, there's a little bit of a difference so just know what to kind of ask for or expect as far as salary goes.
00:39:44
Speaker
Um, and just know that even if it's not a good fit as your first job, it's not forever. You know, you can do it for a little bit and then there's so many other jobs if it's not a good fit. Awesome. It's wise words. I think, I don't know if I said this on the podcast before, but I'm sure everyone's, everyone has heard this before, but really the,
00:40:11
Speaker
the principle of being happy in the moment and not waiting for milestones is so important because there's always going to be something else you're going to have to worry about. Like for instance, you might be happy just to pass the EOR and then there's another one and then you might be happy to pass your end of rotation or your end of curriculum and you pass that and then you're excited about
00:40:33
Speaker
Uh, you graduated, but you're worried about the pants and then you, you pass the pants and worry about getting a job. And then when you get a job, you're worried about getting all your licenses on time and keeping that job. And then it's just always something else that seems even more stressful than the previous thing. So becoming.
00:40:54
Speaker
being happy and content in the present is the thing to work on, but it's hard. It's very hard, but I feel like it's very true, especially post PA school life. Yep. Yep. Just enjoy the victory you made and enjoy the moment and just know that you will get to where you want to be. Just enjoy it though.
00:41:15
Speaker
It's possible. Everyone can do it. But it's nice to hear success stories, but also not like a breeze stories. I feel like no one really comes out of PE school unscathed unless you're a genius, but everyone has some ups and downs, which is cool to hear about because in your rotation, you only get the survivor bias of
00:41:41
Speaker
Yeah, peace goes. Yeah, no problem because they're on the other side and you don't know what they went through day to day. But when you go through it and with your cohort, really, you know, you really kind of understand the the struggles of life, which is. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's it's definitely difficult. I'm not going to sugarcoat it whatsoever. But as long as you know that you need to get it done and you have the will, it's it makes a lot easier.
00:42:12
Speaker
Awesome. Well, thanks so much, Stephanie, for coming on. Uh, hope we talk in the future and maybe we'll be on to bigger and better things. Yep. Thank you so much for having me. Um, it's been a while and I'm glad to have been back and kind of, wow, we made it. And now we're talking about post-grad life. It's great. I know. It's so great. It is great. Congratulations on the job and everything else. Thanks.