Relief!

Another busy few days.

I did end up precepting on Thursday. We had three calls, so I felt like a decent host - I always feel like it's my fault if my preceptee doesn't get any calls! Nothing serious though. Older hypoglycemic (where ALS mostly took care of it with a little D50%) around midnight, mild chest pain that ALS determined they weren't needed around 1, and a young man who had some kind of complication from a joint surgery earlier that day and was bleeding around 3am. It's great to see how fast a student can progress with some patience and education. EMS is so different in the street from class, she said. It's true. Theory and practice are very different. She wrote me a lovely review, and I felt really honored to get to spend time with someone so motivated.

I had a very big test in class today. I studied for it quite a lot. This morning, I left home around 7am, and I actually felt kind of nauseous. The test was 85 questions, and as it started, I was surprised that I knew the material. A lot of it. I finished in 40 minutes, even though we were given 2.5 hours to complete the entire thing. I found out several hours later than I got an 86% - 6 points higher than I needed to pass! Relief.

Spent the afternoon in IV and drip labs. It was a great moment when I finally started getting my lines! I only got stuck once because my veins are nearly nonexistant. And that one stick wasn't in my hand...forearm...or AC, but right in my foot. Ouch! The student blew it, but getting a foot line is hard for anyone. So now I'm walking around with a slight limp and a band-aid. She got a blown IV in her thumb thanks to me, so I won't say much. :)

The other good part of the day - we got our class polo shirts. They identify as "Student" on one side and have the company logo on the other side. They're very nice. It feels good to get them; like the coordinators and instructors think we're going to make it. And today is one of the first days I feel like I'm really going to make it too. I'm going to continue this hard ride for the last three-quarters of the class and then proudly take my National Registry exam.

A little self-esteem never hurt a medic student!