6YEARMED?!?

6year med, where are you?!? I miss your blog. Please come back. Please.

GAH!

I just got an e-mail - I just got accepted into my dream school... after I sent in the deposit to the other school.
Unfortunately, I can't afford that dream school, so it's not even an option. It's just frustrating that I got in, but it can't happen. I just hope that maybe there's some way of being able to pay for it. URG.

Update.

AHHHH NEW GREY'S ANATOMY IS ON IN EIGHT MINUTES!
I'm definitely posting a re-cap to the episode either later tonight or tomorrow.

So my life.
Right now is crunch time for APs which sucks ass. Chemistry...no idea. Language...my teacher sucks. Seriously, I don't understand Chem. My language teacher has been trying to be popular all year, and hasn't taught us ANYTHING about the English language. I only have 16 days of school left.

Oh well. I'm accepted into college already. My AP scores don't matter, right?

The camp I thought I was working for has still not sent me the contract that they said they would (they sent out one, but it needed to be changed). I don't know what to think - I really want to work there, but I feel like I'm being a huge problem with them because I need to take off for college orientation, and I need to leave almost three weeks early for school.

Right now I'm in this ridiculous 6th-grade-girl mood thats a result of a major crush. I know, I'm pathetic... but I kind of like it.

Anyways, I'm giving a tour of my first aid squad tomorrow for my school's medical club that is specifically for people who are looking to pursue a career in health care. Unfortunately, I think like six kids are going for this tour. How pathetic am I? Furthermore, I can almost promise that I screw it up. I will absolutely post if it goes down the tubes.

OK - I have to go watch Grey's!

4/15

I have a huge microbiology test tomorrow that I really haven't studied for... and I'm blogging.

Today, my ethics class was discussing things like global warming, and "going green." I personally believe that this warming is just part of the cycle of the Earth - we experience warmings, coolings, and ice ages. That's history. I wish we'd talk about things that were actually ethical problems, but we don't.

24 Days of Senior Year Left!


OK, well, I'm going to study now. I'll be back later to complain about something.

Today

Well, today was kinda stupid.

It was pretty much a boring day. Until gym class. A kid who I really like walked around the field with me (we were with a group) and talked to me and I got super excited...I think I'm secretly a sixth grade girl. Whatever.

My inner monologue at the moment is a long, involved discussion with myself about college. I could go to the college mentioned in my last post. I like it... I do. The only thing is, I have four years of working on a biology degree. I like biology, but I love medicine... and I have to wait at least six years before I'm practicing any type of medicine with this route. I love the undergrad school, and the medical school is also really nice. I've already been to two or three events at the undergrad school, so I even feel comfortable up there. After eight (or seven, depending on how I play my cards) years, I'd be an osteopathic physician.

Option two is as follows: another, closer-by college has a four year Physician Assistant program. I've never even visited this school (although a family member advised me against going there because he didn't like the school), but the cost is the same for the undergrad portion of Option A with scholarships factored in. After only two years, I'd begin clinical work, and after only four years I could be a certified Physician Assistant. The salary would be [very] good, I could be in virtually any area of medicine, and the lifestyle would be much easier. Afterwards, if my grades were good enough and I scored high enough on the MCAT, I could apply to Medical Schools if I felt like it.

So let's look at the "pros:"

Option A (BS/DO):

• My patients would get the care of a fully trained physician when we interacted, not a mid-level (this is one of the most important points, in my book... patient care)
• I'd get to be a physician when it was all said and done. A real doctor. The kind I've always wanted to be (there are emotional/sentimental "pros" to that, as well as practical ones [like being able to practice medicine independently, etc.])
• I love both schools (undergrad and the medical school)
• I could pick to go to the med school campus in Florida - this would be a good chance to travel and see another part of the country before I start working
• There's something huge, to me, about being able to say that I'm going to be a physician.
  
• This might be what I want, deep down

Option B (BS in Physician Assistant):

• I'd be a Physician Assistant, an advanced clinician who could do much of the same things as a physician, without the headache of becoming a DO/MD
• I'd be in and out and working in four years... at a great salary, with an awesome life style, and the ability to still go to medical school
• I could work in any area of medicine, without needed to do a residency (unless I wanted to)
• I'd get clinical experience faster
• It just makes more sense, for concrete reasons (like money and time) which, although are not the most important to me, are still important to take in to consideration
  

And now the "cons:"

Option A:

• No clinical medicine for 6 years
• It would take 8 years, plus a residency, before I was really employable
• I'd have to maintain a 3.5 and score "satisfactorily" on the MCAT to go on to the Medical School (if I don't keep it up, I'd be a nobody with a BS in bio)
• Having a BS in Bio is stupid... but I could always go on to a Masters in Physician Assistant Study or do a BSN, or get my paramedic certificate and still probably be happy - if I don't make the grade, that is
• The school is in the middle of nowhere
• In the end, I'd be in CRAZY debt (although the Medical School is the cheapest in the country, or at least close to it)... I'd need to find a way to pay for eight years of school
  

Option B:

• I don't even know if I like the school - I've never even been to it
  
• I wouldn't be a physician at the end of it - my future patients would be cared for by a PA, not a DO... am I ok (ethically) with knowing that they could be getting better care from someone else?
  
• If I enjoyed being a PA and didn't go to Medical School immediately afterwards, I don't know that I'd ever get around to it - what if I ended up regretting that?
  
• If I enjoyed being a PA for a while, then decided to go to medical school afterwards (as a non-traditional applicant), would I get in? would I fit in if I got in? would I be able to put my life on hold to achieve my dream of being a physician?
• Certification as a PA is kind of complicated (it needs to be renewed, etc.)

I thought this would help make the decision... it didn't.

First Post on This Blog!

So, this is it. I've decided to close my four other blogs and make my one blog of just ME. Here it is. I figure I can probably talk about those different facets of me that come together to create my blog title and why "one title cannot cover it."

Well, I'm an EMT and that's just the first step to my life in medicine. I really feel like it's my purpose. I love being an EMT, and I was just accepted in to a BS/DO program... so in 7 or 8 years, I'm going to be a physician. Hopefully, I'll get a paid job which will allow me to have some patient contact in the context of making some money. I doubt it will happen in the near future... a lot of people are just really uncomfortable with having an 18 year old taking care of people. That's life.

As you may have picked up from that last paragraph, I'm also a student. That's a major part of my life, for obvious reasons. In the fall, I'm starting at a college about six hours from my home (well... five-and-a-half) which might be too close for my liking. The Medical School I've gotten accepted in to has a campus in Erie, PA as well as Bradenton, FL... I get to pick... I'm excited about that. I'm majoring in Biology; a lot of people say that they're either a "science person" or an "art/language person". I'm neither. I love how the biological sciences can be practiced in a artful and humanistic way. I know that sounds corny... welcome to my life.

I'm also very religious - not in the "in your face" kind of way that gets on everyone's nerves... but I just am very effected by my beliefs which I allow to be founded in faith. I guess I should consider myself more "spiritual," because my outlook differs from the organized religion that I claim to be a part of (at least the modern practice of that religion). Personally, the way that I interpret the teachings of the Bible and the Tradition of the Roman Catholic Church is very different then a large part of the Church does. I see the messages of it all as loving, peace-making, and all-inclusive. I won't get in to that...yet, but you will pick up on how I feel in future posts.

I earned the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America. Notice I don't call myself an Eagle Scout. I refuse to associate myself with an organization which claims to stand for a number of moralistic ideals, but still rejects members based on sexuality and/or creed. I believe in Scouting... not in discrimination. This is the basic gist of how I feel.

I had weight loss surgery in August. I've lost about 50 pounds since then. Unfortunately, the weight loss has almost stopped, and I'm still fat. I need to start exercising, which had never really been important to me... but now I'm at the point where I want to start letting that be important.

I have a lot of secrets. You'll figure them out as long as you keep reading (please do)!