Mary's Pad

School has been pretty busy but good.  I am on the last leg of my first semester and it’s been quite an experience.  I’m definitely enjoying the material I’m learning in all my classes and I’m trying to just soak it all in. I’ve also met some good people and I’m making good connections and friendships, creating networks and building support systems.  This post is kind of a catch up post and just some random thoughts about my classes.

One of the classes I’m taking this semester is Health Assessment for the Primary Care Provicer and it’s probably one of the most useful classes of my career, for the simple reason that accurate and detailed assessment is the bedrock of the process of treating patients.  Without a good assessment you’re basically groping in the dark or else assuming, which is pretty dangerous. It’s a pretty good class, and I’m learning that when taking a history and assessing a patient you become like a detective, teasing information out, sifting through what’s crucial and what isn’t, what to follow through on and what to shelve for another day. And it’s also about conversational and interpersonal skills. Good stuff.

My second class is Pharmacology for the Primary Care Provider. Very dense, very involving, lots and lots of reading, lots to remember.  A lot of analysis and cross-referencing.  We do case studies where we must diagnose and then prescribe, but beyond that we have to craft a full treatment and follow-up plan.  This one class has given me amazing respect for the juggling and negotiating that primary providers have to do to manage patient conditions while factoring in all the other socio-economic and potential health issues the patient faces. Hats off!!

My third class is Pathophysiology… WOW!! I thought Med-Surg was hard in nursing school, this class takes the cake.  I always enjoyed learning about disease processes, but now we’re taking it down to the cellular level, and it’s tough.  But I have a great professor, the man is a genius!! And I love this class and enjoy every minute of it, although the jury is still out on how we’ll all do as a class.

I’ve done a lot of whining since the semester started, but I really am enjoying my classes.   It’s all winding down now and I’m really looking forward to the Christmas Break.

So just a little update for now.