Febrifuge, MS, PA

Hey! I graduated!

The law of inverse blogging, or whatever it's called, was in full effect this past couple of months. (Seriously, is there a name for that? The more stuff that happens, the less you feel like/ have time for blogging about it?) Rotation #6 was back home at the very ED where I was a tech, but now I was treating patients and doing the same job as the residents. #7 was an elective in Trauma; I had such fun working my ass off in Michigan that I thought of trauma & critical care as a career option.

Turns out I was a genius for picking this elective, because nothing clears up the rosy glow of a great rotation like doing something similar in a crappier environment. Compared to the group of highly-skilled, generally pretty happy surgeons and kick-ass PAs I'd worked with in Flint, the West Side Chicago crew was overworked, overextended, territorial, and maybe shouldn't have had students around in the first place. It was not awesome, but I learned a ton about the work environment I don't want, and how to recognize it.

Oh. See how much more honest I can be now that I have my diploma?

My final eight weeks was in the suburban ER. I liked the idea of this, because whether it was back home prior to PA school, on my EM rotation, doing surgery in the 'hood, or the Trauma elective, all my ER experience has been in the grim n' gritty urban centers. And the jobs really tend to be in the suburbs.

Again, there's a lot to be gained from seeing things from the other side. I liked the work, and I was pretty good at it. The skills I've developed over this whole thing are the ones that sort of have to come to you organically; one preceptor said I have "street smarts," which I loved to hear. And in the 'burbs, those come in handy, if not very often. Maybe I'll tell you the story about the guy who, no kidding, said "my father is on the board of this hospital." I'll definitely be talking about the TV show that reminds me of.

So I don't know. I love emergency med, and I'd bet I'll wind up there for a long time... but maybe not quite yet. I want to do other things too, and maybe for that all-important First Job After School, I should start in an area where I can do more general, hospital-based work. More on that as we go, too.