So it’s been a while since I’ve written a post, six months actually, so here goes. Since I finished up P4 and the JeffSTAT EMT program, I’ve since finished A&P I&II, psychology, statistics, and started a new job as a Patient Care Tech in the Abington - Jefferson Health emergency trauma center. I have 398 patient care hours and 120 volunteer hours. I’ve completed 11 EMT shifts and have seen 35 patients as a volunteer EMT. In the month of September, I picked up 168 patient care hours and I’m on target to hit 156 in October. With the remaining six months until the end of April when CASPA opens, I will pick up an additional 936 hours + a few here and there from EMT. I should have just south of 1500 which I’ll be very proud of. If I can pick up a few extra shifts and keep up with EMT I’m sure I can hit that 1500 mark.
An interesting thing that I’m doing is that I feel like I have a lot more learning to do from A&P than I got from the course. It’s a very dense subject. So what I’ve decided to do is keep working at the class even after it’s been finished. I’m StoryNoting (a term I coined myself where you slowly and exhaustively read, outline, and reference a textbook) the entire textbook. I have a 183 page Google doc of A&P and it’s probably one of my most treasured academic achievements. So every week I try and knock out another section or chapter. My goal is to truly have a strong and comprehensive A&P background before PA school. The other thing I’m doing is adding to a pharmacology Quizlet set with medications I hear about or see on EMT shifts or at the hospital. I want to have a basic pharmacology background as well.
I did decide that I want to take the GRE. After playing around with some practice questions, I found it to be challenging, yet familiar, easy, and sort of fun. A lot of the questions are like riddles which I love. Applying to Arcadia and Salus will be great additions to my applications. The other things on my list in the next six months are to pick up some more community service-focused volunteer hours, and shadow some PAs. I also want to make sure though that I take some personal time and relax over this winter break. Then come January I’ll take my last pre-req class for PA school, microbiology. I can’t believe I’ll have been taking pre-reqs for two entire years; the great thing is that they are all through Jefferson so I’ll have just a single transcript. Once my applications are in, I’ll be in a very interesting spot in life. The hustle stops. I won’t be taking any classes for the first time in two years. I’ll be able to truly breathe. I won’t need to volunteer anymore either. It’ll just be me and work, a few wedding shoots, and seeing where I get interviews. April 2022 - April 2023, when I’d be starting school at the earliest, will be the time in my life to live it up and hopefully do some traveling.
I also recently had to make a tremendously difficult personal decision in my life, the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make. I’ve been trying to do a lot of personal reflection and realized I have a lot of work I still need to do on myself, a lot of growing and maturing to do, even at the age of 32. I’ve also been thinking a lot about work-life balance and how much a toll my pre-PA journey has taken on my life and my relationships. It makes me worried about PA school, but I’m trying to go in with a level of self-awareness at what is and isn’t possible from a work-life balance perspective. You can’t do it all and this career path definitely requires sacrifices. I’m trying to stay optimistic and find new life after tragedy. I’m considering casting a wider net and applying to schools out of state, maybe even some across the country. Why not?
Well that’s about it for now. I have two concerts I’m going to solo in the next few weeks, Charmer, and Hot Mulligan, two of my favorite bands. This time two years ago I went on a solo concert spree, seeing The Starting Line / Oso Oso, The Menzingers, and Jimmy Eat World. It’s interesting how life repeats itself.