Practical.

I went in at 10am for physiology this morning and then we finished at noon. I went downstairs to eat outside with a couple of my friend, then about a half an hour later, we went upstairs to practice for the practice.

Today's practical was the Lung and Thorax exam.  For our practicals, we are randomly assigned a partner and an exam room.  We are usually given our partners ahead of time to be able to practice with them. I have been pretty fortunate to know all of my partners so far. Anyways, back to today. Today's was pretty simple, only 33 points that we need to memorize.

So, basically, this is what happens:: We have a lecture over that topic, and the same week we have a lab that we are shown the correct methods and have a teacher in there to help us and make sure we have the right technique.  Within the next week, we have our practicals.  For our practicals, we have a list of points that we need to make sure we SAY and DO.  Saying it is just as important as doing it. We have to perform the correct technique but we are not actually allowed to "diagnose." (As in when doing vitals, we can't actually find the BP or temp.. or when doing skin, we can't actually assess the skin - for legal reasons).  It isn't too hard, just making sure you get every point - saying and doing it correctly. I like it because it's hands on and practical -- it's easy to see the practicality of it. 

Anyways, I got a 97 today.. I said it, but I didn't quite do it correctly. Luckily I had a good proctor so she showed up the correct method and technique.

3 practicals down, 5 to go!
AND at the end of this week, I will be HALF WAY THRU MY FIRST SEMESTER IN PA SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!