Every year there is an AAPA convention for all PAs and PA students. This year it was in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fortunately, each year PCOM tries to allow time for their students to attend, and over half our class was able to attend. We were required to see at least 2 presentations and present on one to a faculty member and some classmates. I ended up going to 5 and I couldn’t help but take as many notes possible on each presentation that I saw. Its incredible how much I have already learned and how much more there is to learn. It was interesting to see what presentations people decided to attend. Some wanted to see topics that were already taught to us to see if they would learn anything extra. I took the opposite approach and wanted to learn new subjects. The two presentations I loved the most were: maternity and trauma and a how to break the Google habit. We are learning our OB-GYN unit this coming term so this was a nice preview to that class. Breaking the Google habit was interesting because it gave us ideas on how to get our patients to NOT search on Google but instead use more useful sites like www.medlineplus.org.
On Wednesday night there was a PCOM cocktail dinner at the Hilton, right next to the LV convention center. Here we were able to meet alumni and talk to them about being out in the field. It was also nice to relax with friends, alumni, and faculty. During this event the director of our program made a speech in which he quoted some of his own calculated statistics about PCOM PA Students. He calculated that every year PCOM PA graduates see over 1,000,000 patients a year. He also calculated the top specialties chosen by PCOM PA alumni. It is amazing to think that PCOM PAs help so many people in the US each year and in so many different fields.
While going to Las Vegas was filled with its own perks, I really treated this as a stepping-stone to the future. Everything is beginning to come full circle. Soon we will be out treating patients, graduating, and going to future conferences. I cant help to feel so lucky that I was chosen to become a part of such a great class and school that allowed me the opportunity to truly practice something that I have grown to love.
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