I was talking with my sig. other last night about Pa school and he said very wisely that he thought the most important thing to learn from it was how to look things up and know where to go for things because no Dr (or PA) could be expected to know everything. He is so wise and very encouraging, however something about this struck me as disharmonious. That is not really what PA school is about. PA school is about orienting to the Medical culture its ethics, rules (which I think we will get more in the fall with our clinical experiences and classes) but also and moreso this summer about learning the basics-- the alphabet or vocab of medicine. If you don't know what the Ventral Medial Thalamic Nucleus is you could go to wiki and look it up in but that would be like a writer looking up the meaning of the word "the" or not understanding basic grammar rules. You have to know the schemas of anatomy and physiology that things fit into so you have a body (metaphorically and actually speaking) to put all your questions on.
I think that is what PA school is. Learning the big picture of the human body and its inner workings. Yes the little things like the orientation of muscles in the hand and what innervates them can be looked up, but everything must be at least learned and forgotten at one point so that there is an appreciation for material.
I think my man is sweet, sweet and so wise but I think he got this one a little wrong.
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