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Stethoscope & Sparkle

My journey through life as a PA-C

/ PA-C

PA Residency FAQs

As some of y’all know, I am in the process of completing a PA Residency in Emergency Medicine. I’ve been getting a TON of questions since announcing that I’m doing this, and I thought it might be easiest to do a frequently asked questions post to clear up some of the confusion. I’m stilling planning on doing some more detailed posts (What is an PA Residency, How to find a (good) one, and Why I decided to do a PA Residency) – so be on the look out for those!

Until then, I hope this clears up some things. I will be updating this post as I go (and get more questions asked).

**Disclaimer: For privacy reasons (both for myself and my program) I am choosing NOT to disclose which program I am attending. Thank you for respecting that decision.
Additionally, everything I share is based on my own opinions, experience, or research I have conducted.
These are not the opinions of my program, employer, hospital, nor anyone else associated with me.
I recommend you take all of this information with a grain of salt, and conduct your own research.

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/ Future PA

Interview Types

I’ve had this post in my queue for a while now, and I’ve been meaning to post more, but I actually ended up taking most of the summer as a mental health break from blogging and dealing with social media. I’ve still been active(ish) on Instagram, but I’ve been actively trying to not spend as much time on there. I think its hard sometimes not to get caught up in comparing yourself to others, especially on social media. I’ve been blogging for 2.5 years now and its just crazy how much the PA social medias have blown up. I LOVE it, and it makes me so happy how much more out there PAs are, but its a little crazy at times. And it can be hard not to wonder if I should take a step back and allow some of the new comers to have more of a say. After all, I am 3 years out from applying.

But, on to the stuff you’re really dying to know about – the different types of interview styles you could come across during the process of getting in to a PA school. I’m going give a brief synopsis of each, as well as some tips on how to prepare and do well. This is the start of my interview #FuturePAFriday series, so look forward to getting quite a few topics about interviews over the next few weeks!

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/ Beauty

Sephora Sale Picks

I’ve been a Sephora Rouge member for a little over a year now – which is ironic because I rarely if ever wear make-up and I’ve been blessed with fairly clear skin. But as I was finishing up didactic year of PA school, I started noticing that my skin was looking older and that I was looking more tired. It was clear that those late nights and stressful days were catching up with me. So I decided that it was important for me to start making a consistent effort and utilizing a skin care routine.

Which lead me to becoming a Sephora Rouge member.

Upside of spending all that money – Sephora has some pretty rockin’ sales throughout the year, and if you’re smart you can plan your purchases for those times!

Since there’s one day left of the VIB Appreciation Sale, I wanted to round up some of my favorites for y’all and share what I love about them.

So the BareMinerals foundation powder and brush are two new items I’m trying out. Since I’m now an adult with a real time adult job as a PA-C in the Emergency Department, I wanted to make an effort to look a little more put together in the morning. And I hate the way most liquid foundations make my skin feel, so I decided to try out a powder foundation. You guys actually recommended that I try the BareMinerals version over one of the other most popular powders (Laura Mercier).

I have been using the BareMinerals Complexion Rescue for a few years now and I LOVE it. It’s a very light coverages, goes on nice and smooth, and doesn’t leave me feeling all sticky and greasy. I think it gives just enough of a perk-up to my skin!

One thing I have learned is how important it is to set foundation (any kind) with a setting powder. I really like the BareMinerals Mineral Veil. It sets my makeup really well and absorbs any excess oil I might have.

Best thing about all of the BareMinerals products is that none of them break me out. While I’m blessed to have fairly acne-free skin, I do have incredibly sensitive skin and can have a reaction to a lot of things. For me, BareMinerals is free of any irritants.

Next up, the Laura Mercier Secret Concealer. I’ve gotten some intense dark circles over the past few years from lack of sleep (working full time + school full time, then PA school). This concealer is fantastic at covering those dark circles without looking cakey. I can even wear it alone without any sort of foundation and have it still look natural!

Even though I have my eyebrows tattooed on (check out this post), I still like to fill them in and I’ve found the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz to be the easiest thing for me to use. Takes only about 30 seconds of my day and looks fantastic.

I use a Beauty Blender to apply my BareMinerals Complexion Rescue and it’s so, so important to keep it clean! I love using the Solid Brush Cleaner for this because I can easily take it on the go with me, and it does a good job cleaning my brushes.

Now onto the real fun stuff!

I’ve been using Purity as my cleanser for a while now…like 6ish years. Should I mix it up? Probably. But am I happy with the way it leaves my skin feeling? Absolutely! It’s gentle and leaves my skin feeling refreshed and clean.

Last sale I branched out and invested in the Drunk Elephant Littles Set – I wanted to be able to explore trying new products without spending a fortune and wasting them if I didn’t like them. Well, I LOVED them! I feel like my skin has become so much brighter, clearer, and just looks so much better. I use the C-Firma Serum every morning, followed by a pump of B-Hydra. On days my skin if feeling extra dry, I add in the Belif Aqua Bomb. I also consistently make sure to apply sunscreen. I know that so many productions now contain sunscreen, but studies have show that this is less effective than a traditional sunscreen and as someone who has already had 4 severely atypical nevi, I’m unwilling to mess around when it comes to sun protection for my skin. Plus, I really enjoy the fact that the Drunk Elephant Umbra is a physical sunscreen. Something else I use in the morning is my Banana Bright Eye Cream, it helps make me look more awake and alert as I start my day.

At night, I rotate between using the Drunk Elephant TLC Night Serum and the Help Me Retinol Cream. It’s important not to use these products together as they can be too harsh on your skin. And as much as I love the TLC Night Serum, I really find it important to have a retinol in my routine for the anti-aging properties! I follow both of these treatments with the Protini Polypeptide Cream to help with my skin elasticity. I also make sure to use the Belif Moisturizing Eye Bomb at night because I’ve notice that the more hydrated my skin is, the less puffiness I have in the morning (and with my crazy schedule its a significant help!). And I always, always take off my make-up the minute I walk in the door using the Clinique Take the Day Off Balm.

Lastly, I do rotate between doing some at home “facials” every week. I use the BabyFacial once a week, followed by the Water Sleeping Mask and Lip Sleeping Mask. It’s my Sunday night routine. I also will do a Lemon Bio-Peel Gauze as needed when I feel like my skin is looking dull.

The only other thing I stocked up on this sale was the Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment. I love the rose color and how soft it makes my lips look and feel (plus sunscreen y’all and you know how much I love that).

I hope all y’all enjoyed reading this post! I know its a little different than my typical Future PA/PA school topics, but I’ve been getting so questions lately on how I take care of my skin, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to share.

I’m considering doing another post with more about my routine (like a step-by-step or a full blown review of every product I use), so let me know what you think! As always, feel free to subscribe to the blog or follow along on social media (FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, TWITTER) as try to survive life with a stethoscope and some sparkle! -ER

P.S. I do get a small commission if you click on these links <3

/ PA-S

What’s in my pocket: Internal Medicine

Internal medicine can be very stressful and the medicine can be very complex – so I was really worried about how I would do going into the rotation, but I ended up having a wonderful time and learning SO much! I was at a hospital in lower socioeconomic area of DC, which means that my patients had a lot of medical co-morbidities and weren’t regularly getting care. That was daunting at first, but my preceptors were very enthusiastic about teaching. At the end of my rotation, I was able to handle my own set of patients almost entirely on my own with very minimal direction by my preceptors. It really did wonders for my confidence and I feel like I learned so much.

With that being said, I definitely got a lot of use out of my pocket resources. I was looking things up on a regular basis since I was so independent! I wanted to do a lot of the research on my one before I went to my preceptor, because I wanted to get more of a realistically feel for what it would be like when I graduated and was with a supervising physician.

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/ PA-S

Pediatrics EOR Study Tools

I think pediatrics can be a daunting rotation for some! Kids are unique, it’s not like treating adult diseases in little bodies. Plus there’s the fact that doing a physical exam on a kiddo takes a special kind of person because you have to really work at convincing a child to hold still. And I think that can be very challenging for a lot of people, especially if you haven’t been around children that much.

However, I definitely think its very doable to excel on your pediatric rotation! There are a ton of great resources out there for you to use, and I wanted to share some of my favorites.

I did do something new for this rotation, and that was creating a differential diagnosis chart! I still used my classic chart, but I found these Ddx Charts really helpful for actually seeing patients – which in all honesty is the real test in medicine. My preceptor wanted me to have five differential diagnoses for every patient I saw, so making this chart was seriously helpful. I also think it did a lot for my confidence level as I was seeing kiddos – especially since I was a little unsure going into this rotation.

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/ PA-S

What’s in my pocket: Pediatrics

I absolutely LOVED my Pediatric Rotation. It was very busy, but I genuinely enjoyed spending time with the kids and I felt like I learned so much from my preceptors – which is always the goal. Peds was a little different in that I actually didn’t wear a white coat during the rotation; we didn’t want to scar the kids with the “white coat effect”, but I was lucky enough to have a desk where I charted that I was able to leave a bunch of resources at. So here are some of the resources I kept in my “pocket” during this rotation

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