Worked a 12 hour today thinking it was my last, but got a call from my preceptor telling me that I will be working tomorrow and the next as well. It's the 9am to 9pm shifts, which don't allow for much time between getting off work and going to bed (approximately one to two hours, if I'm getting a full 8 hours of sleep), but it's not impossible and I'm learning continuously. I was looking through a new PA review book, and I answered practically all of the Emed questions correctly (many because of my recent experiences). I'm actually looking forward to the exam coming up next week, I think I'll most likely do very well.
Today was jam-packed. Everything from a man who had cut himself on a goat skull that he was cleaning on Thanksgiving evening (???, I know) resulting in a pretty nasty infection, to a young woman with a ruptured ovarian cyst, to a man who had been cleaning his gun when it went off and took off two of his fingertips (we sent him to see a hand surgeon tomorrow, cleaned it up best we could and I rocked the splint and bandage, even the nurse came in and asked who had done it, she was so impressed), to a back abscess for which I changed the packing and dressing by myself. I did really well today/tonight, and worked with two PAs who treat me like a student, but also as a colleague. I was surprised today how much I knew ... one of them even asked my advice a couple of times, and another couple of times asked me what I wanted ordered and prescribed and trusted my judgment enough (making sure that I knew what I was talking about first) to input the orders before even seeing the patient themself. I realize that there is no official word "themself" in the English language, but as there is 'themselves' (plural), confabulating the singular feels right.
Feeling good! I'll miss this rotation when it's over, I'm hoping to go back towards the end of my clincial year for one of my 3 month preceptorships ... we have to have one in Family Medicine, but we can request the other be in Emed or Peds. So we'll see.
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