A scary and frightening life is the best kind!

A scary and frightening life is the best kind! ?? Really. That was my thought as I was driving home tonight.

Tonight I volunteered at a free clinic that's available for area people without insurance. I wasn't too excited at first to spend an extra 3-4 hours in a clinic, after 9-10 hours in my rotation clinic all day. But after I got there things changed. There were 2 first year students there who would go into a room with me and watch how I took a patient history and did a physical exam. It was a nice feeling to be able to teach something to someone, and teaching is after all, the best way to get something ingrained into your head. Plus, it was really nice to meet more first year students and talk to them.

Another great thing was having one of my professors there. Of course, it was really good just to see her again. But also, there's a reason teachers are teaching and clinicians are in the clinic. When you're following a clinician, they're teaching you, but at the same time they're seeing the patients that they've maybe been following for years, and they're taking care of clinic business, and a million other things. When you're following a teacher, yes, they're seeing patients, but they also know that the secondary objective is to teach you how to be a great PA and they know how to teach, they know what sort of things to explain to you, and how to correct what you're doing... I learned new things tonight about common diseases that I've seen a ton of times already. So that was good.

But the thing is, it was hard. When you're in the clinic day in and day out, you can adjust to the clinic routine, adjust to what your preceptor wants, adjust to how your preceptor treats certain disorders. You start to go with the flow. But when I was in the free clinic it was different- I was with a teacher I'd never had precept me before, being asked thinks I'd never been asked before, and being challenged in new ways. I looked dumb in front of some first year students, and in front of my professor. But I learned more there in 3 hours than I might in 3 hours at my daily clinic. There's always the risk that routine will breed complacency, something no clinician wants, and something that can be potentially harmful to patients. But when things are challenging, and maybe a little scary, then you start thinking, using your brain, you get challenged in new ways, and you grow. I wouldn't be who I am today if I hadn't gone through some of the challenges I've gone through in my life. They've strengthened me. And I think even though the clinic tonight was kinda scary, it helped me grow as a PA. And I thought that was cool. So those were my thoughts tonight!