OJ the PA

Spring semester is in full swing now (already have one exam done!), and I want to be sure that this semester is a good one. Looking back on my summer and fall semesters , I've come up with a list of things that helped me do well. Probably should try and stay on track with these things, hey? 1. Have a consistent sleep-wake pattern.  Forgive me for sounding like a grandma (okay, I'm kind of a grandma), but I totally reworked my sleeping habits and it has really made a difference. Not only does it help me prioritize getting enough sleep ( which is so vitally important, omg ), it allowed me to break up my studying . I find that studying for long stretches of time is hard. I get distracted easily. So instead, I wake up real early (like, alarm starts going off at 4:55am and it's a** in desk by 5:15) so I can study for 1-1.5 hours before I go to work. Then when I'm done with work, I have about 3 hours of study time in the evening, and I'm in bed by 9:30, leaving me ...

As a part-time PA student, I have time to keep a job. So I've been working at a new hospital as a dietitian ever since I moved back from my summer on campus. It's been a huge adjustment -- I've dealt with some imposter syndrome , done a ton of training, and was finally starting to feel like I was getting in the groove. When I was originally hired, I was told I would be in cardiology/neurology. But then due to some staffing changes, I was offered the chance to job share with a dietitian who covered the Surgical ICU. I was elated. I cover the SICU at least two days each week, and it's a blast. The nurses are great, my pharmacists have been amazing support, and I've learned so much from the physician teams. I get to round with them, and we all have great discussions during this process. It wasn't uncommon for an attending to grab a marker and start drawing a heart on a patient's glass door to explain physiology. I was learning so much that I even brought a ...

The new year feels like such a clean slate. I've had time to rest and recover and reset my mind after a very long semester (lots of time on the couch with puppy cuddles definitely helped). As I mentioned before, one of my intentions for the new year was to be more budget conscious. And because I have some lofty savings goals, the idea of a No Buy Challenge really took hold. Here's what I've learned already, less than one week into the challenge: 1) Start soon after you decide to do the challenge.  I found myself "prepping" for my no-buy by buying things. A pair of new yoga pants, a weighted blanket I've always wanted to try. Yes, I was smart about finding good deals on these things, but it seemed like I took advantage of a big loophole from the get-go. 2) I definitely want to buy a lot of things I don't need.  Going into this challenge, I knew I'd be saying "no" to myself a lot. But wow, it's like daily. I busted a long phone char...