Dual Roles

I have, as a matter of fact, learned something on my rotation. My preceptor informed me what the term "props" is short for. As in "I gotta give you props for that." In case you didn't know, it means "proper respect." Intriguing. I also have become far too familiar with the male prostate exam. This is a right of passage for all men turning 50 and then yearly thereafter. If most men only knew the poor sensitivity of this exam, they would probably be much less cooperative to "bend over and rest your elbows on the table." Unfortunately, the sensitivity of the exam is highly dependent upon the body habitus(build/shape) of the patient, the length of the clinicians examining tool(finger), and how well the Dr/PA know's what he/she is feeling for. Until we come up with something better, the dreaded finger wave continues.

As a side note, it is amazing how many people struggle with depression and anxiety. I have to keep up with all of the patients I see and their ailments. So far, I have logged 4 times as many depression or anxiety diagnosis than any other! I was given a bit of an open door today to encourage a struggling patient who mentioned that he had been a Christian for 12 years but just doesn't feel happy overall. I'm really not sure about my boundaries as a student and medical professional talking about Christ, but God gave me the opening and I couldn't ignore the opportunity. I told him that even as Christians we still struggle with stressors of this life, maybe even more so because of conviction. But that Christ took on our ultimate sin burden so that we can trust in Him fully to provide for us in every aspect of life. We went on and on and talked for about 45 minutes about his life and struggles. I just pray that something I said could be an encouragement for this man. God has blessed me in my life and I pray that he gives me a great ability to counsel those patients in need.

Studying is always on the back of my mind. Therefore I will close this session so that I can review some medical literature. I do believe I will first check to see if the snow has begun. We are supposed to get 2-4 inches tonight and tomorrow. We shall see.

Christmas and PA School Part Deux

A lot has happened since my last update 3 weeks ago. The Skinner trio had a successful and enjoyable trip to Texas. We thoroughly enjoyed spending some time with our family and friends. We chose to drive at night during Lydia's sleep time. This went off without a hitch on the trip down. Although Lydia slept well on the return trip, it felt like torture for mommy and daddy between the hours of 2 am and 415 am. I think the running around for 2 weeks finally caught up with us on Interstate 44. Thank the Lord, he must have drove us home because I think we slept.

Upon our return to Missouri, I began my first 6-week clinical rotation on Tuesday morning in family practice. I see most all the patients myself and then check out to the physician. Now, on Thursday, it has become enjoyable for me to see my own patients. I think it just took a couple of days to get comfortable with everything. The patients seem to find favor with me, even as a student. So that is comforting. So far I have frozen some warts off a guys foot and given someone a flu shot. I was going to do an excisional biopsy on a suspicious mole on a female patient, but she declined because it was very near her genitalia. Oh well, there is always next time. This experience has been a bit frustrating for me because I am a slight perfectionist and have always been good at answering on-the-spot questions. So far I feel like I have failed miserably at answering several easy "pimp" questions from my preceptor. Hopefully it is only temporary because I know the answers, but I haven't been able to regurgitate some of the info immediately. Maybe it is God's way of humbling me before myself and others. Point taken.

I am trying to balance life better now since I have a pretty consistent schedule. Trying to workout 3-4 times a week, do more things with the family, even cooking and watching movies. Not things that we were able to do much the past 6-12 months. God has blessed our family tremendously and I am still amazed at how he has made a way for all of this to happen so easily. I pray for boldness in Christ so that I may leave His mark on this Missouri community before I leave. Adios y vaya con Dios.

Misterioso Ojos

As previously disclosed, I am currently doing a mini-rotation (1 week) in ophthalmology. Just to clarify, an Ophthalmologist is a medical doctor who goes to medical school and is able to perform surgery on the eye as well as diagnose all kinds of disease. Whereas an optometrist goes to optometry school and mainly only deals with correcting vision with glasses/contacts. I watched about 6 cataract surgeries this morning lasting about 15-20 minutes each. A cataract is a clouding of the lens of the eye which is a normal aging process. We will all get cataracts if we live long enough. The treatment, make a small incision in the cornea(which is the front window to the eye) and gain access through the pupil (or iris) to scrape out the cloudy portion of the lens. Then, simply slide in a new synthetic lens(looks similar to a contact lens). It was pretty neat, but also a little routine and boring after watching a few. I am really starting to enjoy my experience better though. Dr. Peterson knows that my interest is in emergency medicine so he gears his teaching towards the pertinent subject matter. Most of all, I have enjoyed the interaction with the patients. I don't think I realized how much I missed dealing with patients since I have been in the classroom. Almost all of our patients this week have just been a real delight and the average age is probably 70-75.
Dos mas dias and we are on our way to Texas! I am excited about the trip. Maybe get a chance to do some non-school stuff for a change and just be a man again. For me, that means working outside, maybe hunting and you know..man stuff. Also, only 3 days until Aub and I have our 6th wedding anniversary. Wow. I am glad we waited until this year to have a baby. I don't think we had each other, or married life semi figured out until about 3-4 years into it. But of course, it is still a growing and learning process. Can't wait to spend some needed 1 on 1 time with the better half this weekend though. Until next time.

"And Boom Goes The Dynamite"

Whew, It is finished..the first year of PA school that is. As a little bonus for all my followers out there, I counted how many power points I have saved on my computer since I started this program. I have sat through at least 490 powerpoint presentations! To wrap your head around that, I estimated we had 50 slides per powerpoint and that comes to 24,500 slides I have read this year! That doesn't even include the hundreds/thousands of pages I have read in books and from online resources. In case you didn't notice, I am oh so impressed with myself and obviously narcissistic. Mainly because I ain't the head in the books kind of guy. Well, maybe I am now. The question is, how much of those 24,500 slides did I retain? I think the real learning starts now. After all those thousands of patients I will see next year, I should feel a little more legit as a clinician. I shall check out for now so that I can hold the Lydia for it is difficult to hold the baby girl and type. Peace.

"Baby it's cold outside"

Tis the season..for cold weather. It has been in the teens every morning I go to school which forces me to wake up a little before class. 1 test down and 3 to go for this final semester. I have restrained excitement for the end of this semester, not what I expected at all when I thought about this moment back in January. I think it is due to the intense, beat down session I just endured over the past 3 semesters. Looking back, the 1st semester was the easiest, followed by the Summer being the "most enjoyable" and this last semester was just more or less painful.
Lydia is watching "mommy" make Christmas presents. Her mommy not being a very crafty one, but I think she is capable of doing anything she sets her mind to. Like getting up 15-20 times a night and still functioning during the day to take care of baby and all the other chores. Well I got busy and forgot I was writing a post. Therefore I will end it here and pick up on a new post soon. See you all when I am a 2nd year PA student!

It still feels right..

After nearly 6 years of marriage, I still love to just sit and have a conversation with my wife. She is amazingly understanding. I stayed at school all day "doing my thing," but my favorite part of today were the few moments I sat on the edge of the bed, in the dark, just chatting with my wife before bed. I'm so blessed to have such a strong and supportive spouse. She is the inspiration for the title of this entry. Meaning, those seemingly unimportant, mundane moments that felt so exciting during the early dating period, still feel right after 11 years of being together.
School. That is the other, distant second thought on my mind. 7 days left in the classroom. It could not come fast enough. Either the program I am part of is really lacking some major elements, or I have just had enough and reached the "I am tired, every flaw is magnified" state. Either way, I am about 12 months away from becoming a PA-C and that is all that matters in the grand scheme of things. This next phase of learning is pretty much all on me. I am very comfortable with that since I feel the majority of my instructors are incompetent to teach in a reasonable manner. My one week rotation after finals will be in ophthalmology. Not a strong area of mine, so maybe it will help me learn some vital info for my future ER job. Then after a 2 week Christmas break/stress I get thrown in to a family practice clinic. Talk about hitting the ground running. A busy FP clinic during Flu season, ouch. More to learn I suppose.
Well I am tired and have an emergency medicine test tomorrow. I also suspect Lydia may be waking soon, so I mustn't tarry any longer. It is off to bed and I will give the last shout out to my Dad on his birthday. Happy Birthday Pops! (it's not like he reads my blog though)

A World Apart

Being separated from your child for the first time is a feeling like no other. It is like a part of me was taken and I am being held in shackles, unable to get it back. Although she is with her mother and only going to Texas for a week, my protective duty as a father has been taken from me. Now that I'm out of the picture, I must trust in God completely. Ahh, must have been his plan all along. Maybe I have been trusting in myself way to much lately. My heart goes out to all of the military men and women who must leave their children for months and years at a time. I cannot imagine the toll that takes on a persons life.
So here I sit. I must gather myself together and focus on the mounds of school work before me while Aubrey, her Mom and Lydia drive across the country. The dogs will get my semi-undivided attention for the first time in a long while. I plan on studying more than ever and getting back on a workout plan while I have extra time this week. But I know Friday will be here quickly and I will be on a plane to Austin. Therefore I mustn't tarry too long. I pray Aubrey and Lydia have a safe and enjoyable trip. I already can't wait to see both my girls again, but right now I feel a world apart.