Studying Hard

At some point it was decided that going through a rigorous training program and obtaining a degree is not sufficient proof to show you are qualified to engage within certain fields. So these professions, such as lawyers, nurses, and doctors, decided that in order for individuals to obtain their license they needed to pass comprehensive exams.  Unfortunately the PA profession joined in on this idea.

This month Mike has been studying for the PANCE (Physician Assistant National Certification Exam). 

It's a 5 hour test where pretty much ANY medical related subject is fair game.  If that just sounded overwhelming, that's because, it is. If Mike doesn't pass, he doesn't get his license, he can't start the residency program, and us moving was for not.  No pressure.

He was having some anxiety with regards to the whole thing but

 that has gotten better since he's honed in on the books.

We currently spend our evenings going over practice questions.

It's very romantic.

He's making good progress despite the obvious interruptions
and the "freezing cold" temperatures induced by my pregnant state.
(Apparently we don't see eye to eye over the two numbers that appear on the thermostat.)



Yes. That would be the girls' princess blanket covering Mike's legs.

Almost There

Mike often mentions how nice it will be to have finally arrived.

We have been on a journey since getting married.

(I'm not talking about THE everyday journey

that parents raising kids are on.)

This journey has led to 7 moves in 8 years.

It has taken us to Eugene, Portland, Provo, Chino, and Pomona.

He often mentions how nice it will be to have a home.  A home that is ours.

A home where we can make permanent changes...if we so wish.

A home where we can "let the grass grow under our feet",

where we can settle and let our kids make uninterrupted memories.
A place where our someday grown children can return to,

to reminisce and rest from their own hectic future lives.

We are closer than we have ever been.

Mike has 5 weeks left of rotations.

Yet it doesn't look like we will be arriving...

at least not yet...not in the next year.

Mike has interviewed and been accepted to the

Orthopaedic Surgery PA Residency Program at ARMC.

He starts in the fall. 

Keeping true with our nomadic record

we will be moving closer to the hospital,

making this our 8th move in 9 years of marriage.

And though this means postponing our end destination
for one. more. year.

we couldn't be happier.

 It is going to be rigorous and intense,
but the experience obtained will be invaluable.

So here goes to "almost there".



*Pictures taken last month during his urgent care rotation at the facility where I work.


 

Sterile Technique

Scrubbing and gowning up for surgery. Yes. I paid big money so that I could learn how to do this in PA school.  And now Mike is doing the same--paying big money .... and learning the proper way to wash his hands and put on gloves and a gown in order to achieve "sterility".  So that one day as a new student on that first surgery rotation he can botch it.  Because it will happen.  He will "break" the sterile field.  And a gasp will be heard in the OR room from the nurses and scrub techs.  They live for these moments--when they can make the newbie feel like an idiot.  And he will have to step back and re-establish "sterility".  Ahhhh the joys of being a PA student. 

I wish I had gotten pictures of me all gowned and scrubbed up when I went through PA school. But alas, since I didn't, I'm reliving those days through Mike. 

Getting Through It

"The thought of going through it again, even if by proxy, is nauseating to me."

This was said by one of my PA school friends after finding out Mike had been accepted to PA school.

Mike is reaching the tail end of a really hard semester.  The next 2 weeks will be brutal. 
He's living on a few hours of sleep a night--managing to stay awake only by the sheer panic that exists
when you have a ton to do and not enough time to do it in.  

He has spent 20 of the last 24 hours here (his assigned study nook next to the window in the kitchen).

   Well, Mike, you're almost done with the hardest part.  One day you will look back
and not really remember just how bad it was.  But then again maybe you will,
and when you do, you will get a sensation of unease and discomfort in your stomach
with an urge to vomit.