Due to limitations on clinical sites, and in order to graduate the Class of 2020 on schedule, present second-year’s clinical rotations are postponed until a January start date. However, they have returned to complete their rotations after being pulled from clinical sites in March. Prior to scattering into the wind for a few months, the cohort completed ACLS training at the end of August. The instructors were fun, informative, and great teachers. Each student I talked to really enjoyed the experience. Students are continuing their program requirements by focusing on their capstone project this fall semester and are reviewing didactic year material in preparation for clinical rotations. Several students opted to be teaching assistants for the incoming first-years by assisting the program in pharmacology, fundamentals of medicine, history and physical exam, clinical medicine, and functional anatomy courses. Each of us continue to wear multiple-hats and juggle a lot of different things during the corona-coaster ride, and touching base with a Zoom hangout session, texts, memes, and offering support to one another continues despite not seeing meeting in-person during this time.
Present first-years are hybrid learning with most of the courses being taught online over Zoom or pre-recorded lectures. They meet on campus in limited group sizes for history and physical exam, clinical skills, and functional anatomy cadaver lab.
Adjustments all around, but we’re making do.
Nicole is the College of Saint Scholastica first-year student representative. She graduated from the UMD with a B.S. Biology and a B.A. Environmental Studies in 2009. She has worked at the Twin Cities-based non-profit, Tree Trust, and participated in AmeriCorps for two years in the Conservation Corps of Minnesota and Iowa on a crew based in Fergus Falls. She has enjoyed returning to her old stomping grounds of Duluth and once again living by Lake Superior.
While this summer has not gone as expected for the class of 2020 given the pandemic, and a continued pause in rotations, we have found a renewed energy and passion for our chosen PA career paths. The unknowns of the last two semesters definitely caused some added stress and anxiety, but it has also allowed for some mental, emotional, and physical recharging, and a deepened, first-hand understanding that in medicine we often must get comfortable with the uncomfortable and the unknown. From studying to extra family time, we continue with distance learning and case reviews to keep us fresh for when we can return to rotations and learning in person. We have used this time to connect with preceptors virtually and facilitate inter-professional education. We are looking forward to resuming some semblance of normalcy this fall!
Greetings from CSS PA-S, Class of 2021 (we still think)! Feeling confident that we each made it through the first semester of PA school, many of us carried that confidence into second semester and began to feel like we were hitting our stride. We kicked off the semester learning the ins and outs of GI (pun intended), and women’s health. Then we went on Spring Break, which turned into an extended break while many unknowns were being figured out as the reality of the pandemic hit in the United States and close to home in Minnesota. If there’s one skill we can list as being proficient in on our resume through this experience, it is that we each are ZOOM-savvy. Individually and collectively, we had to adapt, evolve, and overcome the challenges that the new normal presented to us with hybrid-distance learning, some of us being isolated and others staying-at-home with family or fellow roommates and friends. It wasn’t easy. Practicing hands-on skills such as a ENT, neuro, or musculoskeletal exam on a hesitant canine-companion, to an invisible patient, a willing family member, or on ourselves made things interesting. I have to give a big shout out to faculty for their willingness to collaborate and make the most of it, and especially to Prof. LaBore, who put together suture kits, casting kits and PVC “fake legs” for us, mailed them out or had us pick them up (maintaining physical distance), and talk through casting together over ZOOM in a makeshift clinic setting. As one of my classmate’s put it when I asked her if she could sum up the experience in one word, she stated without skipping a beat, “chaos”. However, we made it through, and now we are seeing hints of that light-at-the-end-of-the-didactic-year-tunnel.
Fortunately, we were able to reconvene in July for two, half-day sessions to review physical exam and clinical skills together. This meeting was no small feat. We each had to make sure to be in Minnesota for at least 10 days prior to our Day 1 session, get tested for coronavirus, and be fitted for an N95 mask. It was great to be around classmates and faculty IN PERSON and reinforced the idea that while technology can be mighty and all-encompassing, it cannot replace the experience of socializing and physically being present with others to foster human connection and friendships. That has been missed, dearly, in this didactic experience. The fall semester may not be what we had envisioned, but I think we each will appreciate the time to collect our breath, focus on our capstone project, and mentally decompress and prepare for our clinical year to begin in January 2021.
Amy Blakeslee, PA-C, Alumni Class of 2019
“I have been working in a rural town in Southern Colorado since February of 2020. I was initially hired to work in Primary Care and was looking forward to learning all the in’s and out’s of Family Medicine when, after 3 weeks of orientation, I was selected to help create and run an “Outpatient Respiratory Clinic” in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. My role in this clinic has evolved from triaging patients over the phone to now managing the entire clinic in which we conduct our visits outside in the parking lot and reserve in-person visits for those who may need interventions such as IV fluids or oxygen therapy.
The community I currently serve is primarily made up of ranchers and farmers with a large population of immigrants who travel here from Mexico and Guatemala to work in the potato and lettuce fields. Unfortunately, the number of COVID-19 cases in our region is currently the highest per capita in the state of Colorado. As a new graduate, this role has felt overwhelming at times, while also being incredibly satisfying as I feel like this is the very reason I went to school – to provide relevant care to populations who generally fall through the cracks in society. In addition to managing symptoms of hypoxemia, tachyarrhythmia’s, and possible thromboembolisms, we are also caring for social issues such as homelessness, domestic violence, loss of employment, and racism which have only worsened as a result of a positive COVID-19 test.
I have jokingly said that managing this clinic and being the sole provider in this role has still been easier than surviving PA school! In all seriousness, many of the lessons and experiences I gained in school directly contribute to the daily work in our COVID-19 clinic. I have found myself in a position of leadership in our hospital system that requires professionalism, consistency, clear communication, and a high standard for patient care. These qualities were finely-tuned during school and I am so thankful for the lessons learned in both didactic year and clinical rotations that prepared me for this role. As a student, we all learned how to be comfortable with discomfort – to continue to show up every day even though we were exhausted, uncertain, and scared silly. I wish I could say that things change once you finish school, but from my current experience, I continue to feel exhausted, uncertain, and scared silly despite having graduated, passed boards, and scored a great job. While I hope to continue to grow in experience, skill, and confidence, I want to remind all of us that showing up with compassion, a willingness to help, and a dedication to figure out a way through the overwhelming unknown is all that we generally need. It’s called healthcare, not healthperfection, for many reasons. For anyone who needs further encouragement in this department, look up the “FFT” podcast by Brene Brown and take a good listen. While the world continues to spin in all of its unpredicted, heartbreaking, and beautiful ways, may we all draw close to each other with kindness, respect, and the courage to show up for the unexpected – I’m pretty sure it’s worth it.”
Nicole is the College of Saint Scholastica first-year student representative. She graduated from the UMD with a B.S. Biology and a B.A. Environmental Studies in 2009. She has worked at the Twin Cities-based non-profit, Tree Trust, and participated in AmeriCorps for two years in the Conservation Corps of Minnesota and Iowa on a crew based in Fergus Falls. She has enjoyed returning to her old stomping grounds of Duluth and once again living by Lake Superior.
The first-year students have been busy in their academics, progressing from all-things pulmonology, cardiac, and transitioning into learning about endocrine disorders in their fundamentals of medicine, pharmacology, and history & physical exam courses. In anatomy, they most recently concluded studying the upper extremities. As an optional review exercise, Dr. Kimberly Lakhan, PA-C, interim-program director, and Carolyn Jahr, PA-C, hosted an Anatomy Through Body Painting session at campus. Students were provided scenarios specific to the upper body extremities, and in groups of 3, they demonstrated the health issue on a student via body paint. To complement the exercise, students were also able to use ultrasound equipment to practice identifying the body structures that would have been affected in the scenario. It was a fun, hands-on activity, and will be repeated!
This fall wasn’t all work and no play! Several students dressed up in costume for class on Halloween, and most recently, the class got together to celebrate PA Friendsgiving, pot-luck-style.
Alumni News
MacKenzie Dwyer, PA-C, Alumni Class of 2019
MacKenzie attended the WONCA World Rural Heath conference with Drs. Conniff and Bressler in Albuquerque, New Mexico in October to present her Capstone research on Quality Improvement of Primary Care Provider Cultural Competence and Knowledge for Transgender and Gender Noncomforming Patients.
L to R: Dr. Conniff, Dr. Bressler, and MacKenzie Dwyer, PA-C
Nicole is the College of Saint Scholastica first-year student representative. She graduated from the UMD with a B.S. Biology and a B.A. Environmental Studies in 2009. She has worked at the Twin Cities-based non-profit, Tree Trust, and participated in AmeriCorps for two years in the Conservation Corps of Minnesota and Iowa on a crew based in Fergus Falls. She has enjoyed returning to her old stomping grounds of Duluth and once again living by Lake Superior.
