A new outlook and a slow transformation

I think that I am becoming a "healthcare professional"

I find myself frustrated with the lack of detail in my textbooks regarding..say...the endocrine system. I think that I have finally reached the "consciously incompetent" stage of being a paramedic. I am beginning to see that there are a ton of gaps in my knowledge.

I see that as a good thing.

I also have recently noticed that when I am getting information on a patient (from the patient, caregiver, nurse whatever) the wheels in my brain immediately begin spinning, and the next thing I know I am asking questions about pertinent information before I've even thought of it. Which I think is pretty cool.

The Oral Station

So, I used to play Dungeons and Dragons as a kid.

A few weeks ago, during one of the lab days in class, we began to work on an oral board type station.

Really all it was was playing Dungeons and Dragons...except there weren't any dungeons....or dragons...

Visualizing a situation in your head takes practice....luckily I had no trouble with it so far.

I have gone so far that during practical stations (during PALS in particular) I don't pay much attention to the simulated mannequin in front of me and just visualize everything in my brain...the outcomes tend to be better. I am definitely a lot more thorough that way.

I always had trouble with the practical stations, just because I was paying too much attention to what I saw with my eyes, I never thought to just play D and D with the situation. I barely passed the ITLS practical exam, because I was too busy being in the room with the dummy, and the examiner, and not being in my brain with the imaginary patient.

So go ahead, bust out the d20 and go slay some dragons...err..SAVE some patients...


update 7/12/12: Post about my experience in the Oral Station

So maybe thats why.....

Having not posted here in months for the simple reason that I have absolutely no time/mental energy to commit to such an endeavour as a blog.

So maybe thats why there are so few blogs about paramedic school.

So far, a good piece of advice that I can offer is that Cardiology isn't terrible if you truly understand the underlying physiology of things, and don't let Pediatrics sneak up on you.

Throughout Pediatrics there was an underlying mantra of "don't memorize, look it up"

The problem with that is to pass that module, memorizing normal heart rates of 3 month olds is necessary. Not to mention to pass the PALS written test.

Just an FYI...

But overall, I feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have completely all my merit badges (ACLS, PALS, ITLS), as well as I have gotten all my intubations in the OR.

Just keep on truckin' I guess