Life. is. happening.

I’m living my life one step at a time. This is something that I’m not used to it. This is not how I’m programmed. I am programmed for results, I’m programmed for BIG dreams. However, I’ve realized more recently, that those big dreams and results require work incrementally. For a procrastinator, this logic doesn’t make any sense. But I’ve gotten to a point where I can’t procrastinate on my dreams anymore. So I work hard on my baby steps every day, with the end goal in mind, but really, truly, submerging, engrossing, diving into the small steps that are tangible NOW. I’m changing what I can TODAY, and each step I make, makes my future goal come into focus that much clearer.

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I JUST APPLIED TO PA SCHOOL FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! EXCUSE MY SCREAMING, I'M OVERWHELMED WITH EMOTION!! TEARS! EXCITEMENT! YOU NAME IT!! *clears throat* Good GOD! Praise HIM for getting me through this *insert praying hand reaching up to heaven emoji here* This truly feels like when you play the lottery and you sit back wondering what you'll do if they call you and tell you you are the winner. I have butterflies in my stomach, I feel poor, I feel my eyesight from staring at CASPA has greatly been deteriorated, I can feel a dozen gray hairs shooting out of their roots as I speak. This has been an EXPERIENCE! Yes GOD! Please let's all join our hands together and pray for your sister! Let's pray she gets in. Let's pray that all the sacrifice and hard work can be seen by those admissions panels! Yes let's hope the admissions board can feel my eyes looking through their souls as they review my application. Yes GOD!

I need to put in requests for my transcripts today and start studying for my GRE. I’m so nervous. Someone pinch me!

Where to Begin Before doing anything, think about which medical specialties might capture your interest. You need to choose an area of medicine before you find a physician to work with, however, sometimes you might get an opportunity to work with someone in a field you didn’t think you’d be interested in. Don’t pass on such opportunities – they can only help! Then google around to find hospitals and clinics near you where you might be able to shadow. One of the best ways to find a particular physician is to reach out to him/her directly. Physicians are almost always happy to have potential future physicians work with them. You can send an email and express your interest in shadowing him/her. Once you have received the approval of the physician, you may have to do some paperwork before you can begin. You will also need to establish the length of your shadowing experience and figure out how many hours/days per week you will be shadowing there. Read more at medicalschoolhq.net

I’ve now shadowed an MD twice as a way to get my shadowing experiences. The nice thing is that this MD works quite closely with PAs and actually does quite a bit of training with them and was a great person to talk to compare and contrast the two roles. I would like to follow this MD in the field for a few consecutive days to get a feel of how a patient’s care is changed when new information is gathered. Be on the lookout for my shadowing guide. It’ll go into the do’s and don’ts of a shadowing experience.

I've been so distracted lately. It's so much hard work to stay on this PA track. It truly is a sacrifice, and I honestly can say I'm scared. I've been having every problem you can think of under the sun. But mostly I feel sad all the time. A ubiquitous sadness I can't seem to shake. I sit and feel heart broken. I'm sure this is just what it feels like to feel overwhelmed. Right?

Remember that YouTube channel I was ranting and raving about starting. I finally posted a video! I can finally check that off my bucket checklist!

I work in a hospital so there technically should be no excuse for me not to have 0 shadowing hours. But that’s the truth, I have none, zilch. Today I mustered the courage to ask a physician that’s joined our research team if I can shadow her. She was so elated, and even offered to introduce me to PAs that she knows. The hospital that she does her clinic hours in actually trains PAs so this should be very exciting! I’ll keep you tuned in for my first shadowing experience...