Written by: Regan Wilson and Jordan Carter

Spring Semester

This was our first semester, and where we learned what it meant to be a PA student! We all started getting to know each other and our professors. This is where we learned to read radiographs, how to assess patients in the exam room, and all about the human body. We had class in a cadaver lab two to three times a week and learned that the smell was not something easily washed off. This was also the time that everyone worked tirelessly to memorize the script for a physical exam to prepare for the ultimate test of the semester. Practicing our skills in the lab every week to prepare and speaking the same words from the script every day. Everyone became more nervous the closer we got to the exam, despite all efforts of the faculty in trying to convince us it would be fine. When the day finally came, we learned that it really wasn’t as bad as we believed.

Summer Semester

Summer semester was a blur. The professors told us it was going to be fast, but I do not think any of us were prepared for how fast it actually was. Our class learned A LOT of information in 9 weeks, which was previously taught over the course of 10 weeks. The professors continually told us that we could do anything for 9 weeks. It was a very grueling 9 weeks, and the majority of the class was burnt out by week 7. However, we all managed to push through and finish the semester strong, even with the last week consisting of 6 exams, a paper, and a presentation. Summer semester was the first time we were exposed to clinical medicine, and it was a much different experience than our first semester. Longer days in the classroom, more hours dedicated to preparing for each exam, and more information than we could have possibly imagined. This amount of information really took drinking information from a firehose to a new level. Study habits seemed to change a bit to match the new content we were receiving, and after everyone got into the swing of things it seemed to go much more smoothly. We were finally learning real medicine, and many started to really feel like a PA student. We had a couple weekends this past summer that some of the cohort spent at Table Rock Lake and Smithville Lake.

Fall Semester

Fall semester! Our last semester of didactic year came so quickly! After a busy summer full of fast paced learning, the finish line was in sight. Many of us fought the burnout that was creeping up and put everything we had into finishing the year strong, knowing our White Coat Ceremony was right around the corner.

This semester was packed full of learning. We continued clinical medicine, covering several topics including cardiology, nephrology, surgery, and many more! We learned how to read EKGs, ran our first codes, and got ACLS certified. We continued learning pharmacology with Dr. Bowers and enjoyed every soapbox topic she included. We put our patient encounter skills to the test and had the best opportunity to practice in our behavioral health and pediatric OSCEs! Our class also got to experience a lot of hands-on learning in our procedures course every Friday this semester and had tons of fun and laughs along the way! Everything from IV insertion to intubating to casting was done in this class.

 

The first week of October was PA Week and we celebrated every chance we got! We had a spirit week and held multiple events. The week was kicked off with PAncakes in the PArking Lot which involved cooking pancakes for students and staff on campus and collecting donations for the MSU Care Clinic! Then, we had the Healthcare Symposium where we got to hear from a panel of healthcare professionals in our community about their careers. This week was a big success and we made so many fun memories! We also celebrated Halloween with many fun costumes and had a big Friendsgiving. There was so much to be thankful for this year, with one of the biggest things being an amazing group of classmates!

 

We watched each day as our White Coat countdown on the whiteboard in the classroom went down and on December 10th, it finally hit zero. We emptied our seats, cleaned off our desks, and left our final lecture for the year. Then, our class received our white coats and celebrated the accomplishment with our friends and family. It is the greatest symbol of all our hard work this year and each year before that. The day was full of smiles, tears, and reflection as we looked back at this amazing year. To say this year was extraordinary would be an understatement. It has been full of learning, growth, laughs, and friendship. We are so thankful for the opportunity to be in this program and are so excited for what is next. Clinical Year here we come!!