Transfer Post From My Old Blog: My Personal List of "Things Not To Do," Inspired by EMS

As a disclaimer, I am not your health care provider. I don't even know you. If you're having a medical emergency, initiate emergency services as is appropriate where you live (typically, call 9-1-1). If it's not an emergency, talk to your physician. The below anecdotes are fictional stories that have merely been based on real life experiences; there is no identifying information - it has either been changed, or excluded from the story. The below opinions are mine; they in no way represent protocol in my area, the views of my certifying agency, or anyone/thing else. Don't be stupid.

Dear World,
Please:

• Don't let your child decide that, if the seat belt is uncomfortable, they can take it off... especially while you're driving while talking on your cell phone. You just might drift into oncomming traffic, and your kid might end up hitting the windshield.
  
• Don't talk/text on your cell phone when you're supposed to be driving. What you're talking about might become more important then you controlling that 2,000 lb car that you're driving.
• Don't take a hit of _____ (drug of choice) before going out to Burger King to get a cheese burger at 8:00 am. You will get in to an accident, and you will not get your cheeseburger (plus, BK doesn't serve lunch until 10:00am).
• Like wise, don't tell me you didn't take a hit of your drug of choice. Your pupils, a quick exam, and the syringe on the floor of your car are dead give-a-ways.
  
• If you have to call 9-1-1 for the cut you just got as you drunkenly/highly fell on broken beer bottles at 7 am, make sure your dealer and friends know that if they run when then officer gets on scene, the officer might get suspicious.
  
• Don't forget to take your medicine, oh CHF patient. It will kill you.
• If you were just in an accident, and are now having chest pain, don't call your bitchy/manipulative wife to see if she thinks that you should go to the hospital. Go. It's your life we're talking about, and your clock is ticking.
• Don't drive without your seatbelt on. Furthermore, when you get into a bad accident and I ask you why your seatbelt isn't on, don't tell me that its your choice. You are driving on a town/county/state/federally-owned road; the law is the law. It's not your right to take your seatbelt off when that obligates me to clean up the mess that will ensue.
  
• I'm an 18 year old volunteer. I want to help you. Don't yell at me.
  

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)!