So we've been on a bit of a hiatus, eh? So, Savannah, I'm a dermatology PA, the creator of the PA platform, and to be perfectly honest, I needed a break from the podcast. It was not inspiring to me for a while, but I've had so many of you guys asking for it, and I really love getting to connect with our guests, so we're back! And some of these interviews that you'll hear coming up are ones that we have recorded a while back, but It feels good to be back. It feels good to be recording.
I'm in a new office. We're back in in school. Got this first kind of semester down. Uh, we survived Hurricane Helene in Georgia. A lot has happened. We had our virtual MappedCon conference last month. If you missed that, you can go to mappedcon. com to get all the replays for free. Highly recommend the admissions panel, by the way. But I hope you guys are doing well and that you still want to become PAs, right? So this episode that we're jumping back in with is Brittany and Cameron.
They have coached with us at the PA platform for a long time. They are taking a break right now as they have become foster parents and I highly recommend you follow them on Instagram and TikTok. They're so funny. So they're called married. Married PA. What is it? Married PAS. I gotta look it up. Um, but they have a, an account together and they share so much stuff. Um, so it's married, married to, hold on, married to PA underscore C. There you go. Um, so definitely, you know, enjoy this episode.
Go say hey to them. They're great. And, um, Again, it's good to be back. We have some cool stuff planned for you for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Make sure you're following us. Pre PA Academy, our first year, was fantastic. We'll be doing that again starting in February. And just continuing to spread the word about the PA profession and help more people figure it out. All right, let's jump in. We're back, and today's podcast episode has two of my favorite humans, Brittany and Cameron.
They are both PAs. We are going to hear about their journeys, their jobs, and you will laugh. I promise you will laugh during this episode.
Alright, do y'all want to do introductions? Tell me who you are and why you're here. No, I'm just kidding. I'm just telling you who you are.
Okay. my name is Brittany. I am a PA in Texas, and I work in gynecology. I'm Cameron. I'm, also a PA in Texas. What are the chances? And I work in interventional radiology and we're married
Cool, cool. Good to know. I know this from y'all's, social media and Instagram and just what I've seen, but, can you fill me in on your, PA journey? Where y'all both Pre PA like I don't know this how these stories intertwine
No, so I okay, so I was at a young age. I was my cousin ingrained into me that I needed to go into medicine. She was mainly orthopedic surgeon though. Okay. She's like, you're going to be an orthopedic surgeon. But then whenever I was 12, I got to see her birth my baby cousin and that kind of solidified medicine for me moving forward. And from that point forward, it was women's health. From that point on, it never, it never really changed. Now that baby cousin is 17 years old.
I was pre med whenever I was an undergrad, go figure, at first I was a biology major, got out of there as fast as I could, and then I switched to, allied health and, but I was still pre med at the time, so I took all the pre med prereqs, physics, biochem, ochem 2, all the things, and then, I did not decide that I wanted to go, into the, like to be a PA until after I had graduated undergrad. So at that point I was still premed and my GPA wasn't, I mean, It wasn't bad, but it was 3. 6.
And I was like, you know, that should probably be higher because my science GPA was lower than my overall GPA. So I decided to enroll in a master's course or a master's program, at the university at Texas A& M. Um, and I completed that and then in the summer between graduating undergrad and starting that masters, I decided to switch to, the PA profession, mainly because, I didn't know about the profession as a lot of people do not.
and so Cameron had found this interest in the profession while in undergrad, and I would go to his meetings. just cause we had the same ride home. so I would go to his meetings and I got to learn about the PA profession from that standpoint. So I made that decision between undergrad and then starting my master's and that was, that was my goal. Like even during my master's.
And looking back, you know, I probably, instead of doing a master's since my GPA like wasn't terrible, I probably should have just went and got PCE, but you know, looking back, looking back.
there you go. It's okay
Yeah, so I finished my master's applied to PA school. During my master's I was the, my third, my second semester and the master's applied and then got in my first round and I went to UT Health San Antonio.
Yay, and now you're here doing what you wanted to do, which we'll talk about in a minute
Yeah.
All right.
So aside from being her positive influence to the world of PAs, well, Cameron's story is a little bit different. A little. Yeah. I never knew I was going to actually go to college at first. and then somehow I wound up at a community college that wanted to accept me. Um, and it was feel like we gotta, we gotta go back. Let's back. What was your life goals? I originally wanted to get into the military. Is that what you're talking about?
Yeah, so Cameron did not have any, ambition to go, into any sort of, extra schooling. we actually met in high school. Not saying that I helped him on his His algebra test, but you know, I may have, because he was two years ahead of me, but I was in the same class, but pre AP and so I would help him. So Yeah Cameron, Cameron had no like ambition whenever I was trying to get through. That was it.
He was, yeah, he was just trying to get into the military because that was kind of his background and his family. No child left behind was great until it wasn't. Um, so, yeah, I was trying to, I thankfully somehow got into a college, and started at like probably fifth grade math when I got there, and then slowly built back up to what would be college level math. And then at that time I was like, well, I really love football. I love sports. I love everything about them.
I think I want to be a coach. So I was kind of like along that path when I was in my community college phase. And then Brittany at that time was obviously doing all of her pre med stuff. And she started shadowing a gynecology doctor, OB GYN doc, gynecologist, whatever, and, was really loving it. And I was just, you know, we're in a relationship. So we're talking about our days and. She's going over this stuff and I'm like, wow, that sounds like really, really cool.
And so, um, I somehow got into the point where I was like watching surgeries on YouTube and like, I was really interested in things. And then I was like, oh, this is kind of interesting. And so my, my paths are going down the lines of, well, I think I want to maybe go to med school and see how that path treats me. And I was, for whatever reason, extremely lucky. And my biology teacher.
I had a married in cousin who was an orthopedic surgeon and I started shadowing him and he was an extremely positive influence, really, really great physician and was, he happened to have two PAs as well. And so I was shadowing all of them and I was like, Oh, these like PA guys are like, they're number two in the surgery. They're doing half of the surgery. He's doing the other half. this is really gnarly. I was. Kind of curious. And so I was starting to shadow them and then I got onto the line.
I was like, oh, yeah, this is definitely what I want to do. I want to, I want to be a PA rather than a physician, mainly because of the years. I thought I was like really far behind. Cause when I went to college, how old was I? Um, probably 22, 23. I don't think you started. Yeah. I don't think you started college until, uh, I was, you have to make everything your age. Don't you? Yeah. Yeah.
Nice.
So you were 22. Okay. So I always, for whatever reason, I was like, Oh, I'm really far behind. I don't want to go to school for 10 plus years and do all the things. And probably in some aspect of my brain, I was really insecure about like my, my level of, uh, smartness. Um, so I was like, maybe I'm just not smart enough to do all those things. And that was probably a part of it at the very beginning.
And then, um, Whenever I really got onto the path, like I chose my path, my grades started really improving and being really good. And I was more on the upward scale rather than the, uh, just playing even at the Britney level. And so I was able to eventually overcome some like learning problems and, uh, had like, uh, testing disabilities and stuff like that. And so then I eventually was accepted at UT Southwestern, which is one of the best schools in the state.
Oh, you forgot to say that you transferred into A& M. Oh, well, I did go to A& M. Yeah. Thankfully, somehow I got into A& M as well. Which, uh, I'm really proud to be an Aggie because I never thought I would ever be, quote, smart enough to go to college. So that was a really big accomplishment to me. So, little different backgrounds.
Yeah. That's great though.
we are both, um, first generation college students. my dad didn't graduate high school. He is in his 70s. So that was like Just what they did back then My mom actually did really really well in school, but then like it was just you know blue collar thing to just not Go to college
Right.
Both my parents went to the military. Yeah That's where military came from me
Yeah. Medicine. I love it. Uh, so wait, were y'all, wait, did I get so confused by the Texas schools and be honest because there's a lot of them. Did y'all go to the same PA program or you didn't
No, no,
know? That's what I thought. It was different.
Yes. Hours
Okay. At the same time or not at the same time.
We applied in. May of 2000, May of 20. 18. 18. We applied in 2018. Whenever we were applying, I was like, you know, hopefully this is not going to be an issue for me. Like, I had like a master's, and I was like, you know, they look at you well rounded. I don't have the best PCE, but I have a really great GPA. 0 in my master's program. I mean, not to like toot my own horn, but, you know. Um, and
That helps.
Yeah. Yeah. And then, um, so we applied in May, we both did. And then I was like, you know, we were already planning. This is one of the things that I always tell the people that I advise is that like, you always have to be preparing for the next cycle, no matter how great your application is. I had a non healthcare job on campus and I was preparing to quit that and then move on to just full time, patient care experience afterwards. Cameron was already planning to apply to my master's program.
Like, we had, we had a plan in place. Um, what happened was, is that we thought that I was going to get accepted, no problem. And then Cameron might have to, you know Do the master's program. Do the master's program. Yeah. And, um I got accepted first. What happened was, okay What happened was, is that, so I got, so yes, there are schools, there's several schools in Texas, and Texas is a massive state. So I got my interview, um, probably in like July, I think, June or July. You got the invite.
I got the, yeah, the interview invite in June or July, and I was like, heck yeah, bag secured, let's go. And then before my interview, Cameron got his interview invite for UT Southwestern. Like two weeks prior to my to my interview. Yes. And so early. Yes So Cameron got his interview invite later than me mark that myth. Let that be in the notes. Okay?
Hey, he got his interview in a right after me, but his interview was before me And Anything about Texas geography is that my interview that UNT in Fort Worth and then his was in Dallas So would have been perfect. They're in the same Metroplex would have been a perfect situation. Right.
Um, but Cameron interviewed on a Saturday and we were napping on Sunday or on Monday because it was the first day of the semester because it takes it to takes it out of the, you know, they literally called him during our nap and it was after five. Wasn't expecting that. So when he, when he called the school back. I maybe called like at 5 or 6 or something. Yeah. Something really early. I immediately got the voicemail line of UT Southwest and I was like, What does this mean?
Are they saying they hate me? Are they saying they like me? I don't know.
up.
Yeah, and yeah, so like, it was such a cliffhanger that
Yeah. That's very nerve wracking.
do you, are you excited or, you know, you, you can't be until
I would assume I messed up. I would assume they like, needed something. They're like, oh, we need a background check. Like we need something from
yeah, yeah,
Not that they were calling with
yes, I don't, how did, how did you actually figure it out? I called, I called the program the next day and I spoke to Isela, which is like one of the, now that I know she's like one of the main people for admin. And she was like, Oh, your last name is Orm. Yeah, you got accepted. And I was like, Huh? What? I'm like walking around campus. I'm like, are you sure? Or she's like, yeah, you got accepted. She's like, extremely like, flat. Very
no big deal.
you know. Oh my God. Thank you. And so,
No big
I like told everybody. And that same night, day number two, The admissions director called me again. And what was I doing? I was
sleeping. They're like, this is, should we have done this? No, that's
was so mad. Yeah, so, so when my interview was a couple weeks later, after he had gotten his acceptance, you can only imagine the immense pressure that I was under.
Yeah.
And my sister was like, thinking about buying a house like wherever we went so that we could rent it out from them. Um, so she was like looking at Zillow, being like, this is where y'all are going to live type of thing. Like, are you planning this out? And I was like, I'm the kind of person that's like, no. You can't do that yet. Because then when it doesn't work out, you're going to be extremely sad. So, um, I was under a lot of pressure, obviously.
Didn't think I performed poorly, but God, I really did not like their interview style. Um, it's what they call modified MMI. And there's like writing portions and group portions. I mean, I feel like the face to face was only like 15 minutes. Which I really hate interviews like that. But, um, so got the call like maybe a week or not. I got the email and didn't get a call. I got an email a week or two later at work.
Um, being like, hey, we regret to inform you, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So, I, yeah, so I, I go into my office and I like cry the whole day because life is ruined. But, I still had an interview for UTHealth San Antonio. So whenever I, and that was in October, so this interview I had at UNT was in August or September, and this one was in October. And so I was like five hours away from Dallas.
And so I was like, you know, this is very selfish of me and I hate saying this now, but honestly I feel like it worked to my advantage, but I walked into that interview kind of being like, you know. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't. Because I was like, if I get in here, it's gonna suck. And if, but if I get in here, it's gonna be great. You know? At the same time. But I was definitely focusing more on the first one. For
yeah,
Because we had lived together for five years at this point. And we were about to get married. And it just was not gonna be a good situation. So, I interviewed on a Monday. Got a call on Friday. A call this time, not an email saying that I was accepted. Oh, I forgot to say, I walked into the interview because I was so like, whatever happens happens. I was way more relaxed in that interview than I was for UNT. And that's why I say, I think that that was to my advantage because.
Whenever you're stressed out and anxious in an interview, you say random stuff. Um, also San Antonio had a really great MMI. Like a real MMI. Like A
true one.
a very standard like 10 room MMI, which I hated before, loved after. Um, but yeah, I kind of went in there just being like, you know, whatever. And it worked to my advantage. So, here we are.
Yeah. That's helpful. Wait, did y'all apply to the same programs and that's just how it fleshed out, or no?
interestingly enough, the 2 programs that I interviewed at Cameron did not apply to because they had certain, prereq requirements that I had from being premed, and Cameron did not have. So biochem was why he did not apply to San Antonio.
Okay. Mm-Hmm.
we were just like, so we had done long distance before. Um, cause we started quote unquote dating in high school whenever I was 16 and Cameron was graduated at creepy age. Let's just say that. Yeah. Um, but he was out of the state. So, you know, nothing could happen. So, um, we were long distance for two years. So we were like, we're going to apply wherever it's only for two and a half years. Do what you need to do.
Yeah.
Frickin hard. Yeah. I thought I was going to love it. I was like, I'm going to get Indian food every freaking week. Let's go. And cause at that time I did it. I did. I, I, I loved it at that time.
That's a really funny thing to be excited about.
he was excited for Indian food and to turn the AC up to like 80. And I did that one. I did that
That's really funny.
I usually
Oh, no, but that's hard. Even like from like a loan standpoint, like you're having to take out living expenses in two different places. Like that's a lot to
Yeah, no, our loan amounts. So right now, I think we're sitting at, well, you know, interest started re accruing, but before it did, um, we were sitting at like 220, I think, um, cause I think that if daddy Biden would have given us our money, it would have gone to under 200,
Yeah.
but it didn't. So, um,
makes sense for two people going through PA school. I mean, that's
Yeah, tuition was not the problem. No, I mean, our, our programs are like in the top, like five cheapest programs in the nation.
just
So, our, our tuition, my tuition was only 45 K. Cameron was like, between 45 and 50, but it's the living expenses that are so expensive. I mean, I paid, you know, a cheap. A relatively cheap amount for my rent. It was 7. 50. Um, Cameron was paying like 1, 000 because he was in Dallas.
Yeah.
and then I lived with my sister. I did not get that for free. I just want to have that on the record. I tell people that I live with my sister and they're like, Oh my god, that's so nice! I'm like, no. It was still cheaper. I mean, it was nice, yes, but It was still cheaper.
Yeah.
Yeah. So,
shamelessly say I moved in with my parents.
Yeah, dude, if you can absolutely, because if you think about it, 750 times 30, what is
Yeah.
I mean, that's
More than I want to think about.
over that's over 20, 000. So, I mean, here, let me do the math.
Yeah. I moved in with my parents for the first year.
750 times 30. 22, 500.
Yeah, and that just compounds and all that fun
Yeah.
did y'all see each other ever?
So whenever we first started school, Cameron, we both had an extremely hard time. Yeah, that first summer was extremely tough. Yeah.
With the academics or the transition or
all of it?
all of it? Okay.
not living together for the first time ever was tough. Figuring Like just life in general, like my car battery died. Thankfully I was like less than a mile from campus. And once I figured that walk out, I was like, this is incredible. I've walked every single day to school. I never drove. Yeah. I was able to either walk through school buildings in order to get there or walk to the, like the on campus bus. It was incredibly nice being so close. I would never trade that again.
And then we had, um, So we got married 16 days before PA school started. I don't think that matters in this part of things Yeah, did you just see your face? That was a
No, that does suck.
we got married 16 days
Like people, like a lot of you would think they couldn't do that.
Yeah, yeah, so we had to move our wedding twice, because, and we had a destination wedding, so it wasn't like a huge deal to do that. but our initial wedding was like in the summer, because usually PA's will start in the fall ish. and so Cameron got accepted, his start date was May 20th, so we had to move it up to before that. I got accepted.
My school also started on May 20th, but I had a week of orientation before, so then we had to move it up even more, so, yeah, we ended up getting married 16 days before PA school, coming back to Texas, and then going to our separate cities after that, and I,
That's just a lot.
the day that he left was like, because we were in San Antonio, and he left to go to Dallas, was miserable, and then Memorial Day was shortly after that. So I was like, I'm driving to Dallas. and the traffic was terrible. So here I am just sitting in traffic, like crying all the way to Dallas. Cameron's like, stop crying. You can't see the road. And I was like, I can't, I can't. Yeah, that was really tough.
So in that first weekend, Cameron was like, we're not going to be able to see each other, like when I saw out of the schedule, like the amount of work was in that first summer, I don't think it's possible. And thankfully we found the bus system that went back and forth between San Antonio and Dallas. And let me tell you how much nausea I had, like,
reading the books.
take opalamine once, and I should have, honestly,
Huh?
was just nauseous and studying. That's all I could, so it was bad. Yeah, I like to, I would love to say that I studied, but I didn't. Yeah, she had never, but you needed decompress as well. Yeah. yeah.
Well, that's, that's nice. Cause then you don't have to drive it.
Yeah. Yeah. But then also, every time I got on that bus, something happened every time they were late. one time our bus got into a wreck. one time, which I was already in distress because I had left my keys, my car keys at Cameron's house, which also had my house keys on it. And my sister was gone for that week. So I couldn't get into my house. Then the bus ended up filling up with people, which never happened. So here I am crying, no chapstick, which fun fact about me.
I'm addicted to chapstick physically, not mentally, physically.
I might have somebody do their perioral, to be honest. We might need to talk about that.
maybe, um, so yeah, no chapstick, no keys. I have a lot of anxiety about staying home alone, like at the house that I lived in San Antonio. So it was just, it was terrible.
That's a lot.
Cameron had the best time though.
talk about. Oh
I never had a problem on Just me. Just me. A lot of stress about, getting there on time and stuff like that, but Yeah. Yeah. Besides that, it was great. I mean, I remember going back to, like, how tough PA school was. Also another thing that happened was that in undergrad and in my master's, I had a study method that was, like, you put a PowerPoint on one side of your screen and you put a Google Doc on the other. And you just type everything out.
And then once you're done typing that out, you print it out and study from it. And by the time the paper crinkles a certain way, that's how you know, that you're ready.
Yeah. I like that. I'm similar.
Uh huh. so when I got to PA school, I don't know if you know this, but, uh, that you can't do that.
Yeah. There's not time.
No, there's not time. And there's a lot of pictures. So I. Quickly, quickly had to realize that I couldn't, I tried to put like a group together to be like, Hey, you do this lecture, I'll do this lecture. Um, it fell apart very quickly. Immediately. I, I don't think he ever got off the ground and then I was like, doctor tried something with cooking too. Yeah. Um, and so I,
All good intentions.
I had to, I had to learn how to study directly from the PowerPoint, which was extremely difficult for me because, but I introduced you to that. I told you that, and you said, there's no way I can't do that.
You have to.
got no choice. That's the only way to study. But,
And y'all probably couldn't even study together necessarily because a lot of programs don't go curriculum wise at the same
No, they weren't. one moment in particular that I remember, it was like, I think the second week of PA school, and one of my favorite, actually my favorite professor, came up to me and was like, How are you doing, Brittany? And I literally looked at him with this like blank fake smile face And I could feel the tears like welling up behind me and I was like I need to go to the bathroom and I like went to the bathroom and just like had a good little cry session there and Yeah, I went back.
I went back to him and I said stop asking us how we're doing We are not okay. We are not. So every time, every time like a new class would start at my school, I, I get like so much anxiety from it. Like, just like secondhand anxiety.
I feel like that's a, a universal experience in k school is like that moment when at some point. Someone, whether it's faculty or another student or family for me, it was like all three at some point. We're like, how are you doing? And I was like. Not good. Not good. Like I remember one we went to, a small group session and it was me and three other girls in my class and my favorite teacher and it was our teacher for that section and she was teaching us ortho.
It was like towards the end of The first ClinMed semester, and she was like, guys, how did, how's it going? What y'all, like, y'all studying going well? And I was like, no, I was like, last night I sat at the table and cried. Like, no, it's not good. And then everyone else in my group was like, me too. I was
Yeah, yeah, and that's yeah. Yeah. You realize like everybody's kind of handling PA school a little bit differently. You're all kind of roughed up by PA school, but some people are able to put on a better front than others. But like, when we would start talking with each other about it, be like, oh, no. Yeah, I'm on antidepressants and.
not good.
A ton of our, my class, and I think maybe your class too, but a ton of us were on antidepressants that had never been before. I
some help.
You know, I, I did not start so Lexa Lexa, a Lexapro is my best friend.
I've seen you post on Instagram and it's so
I, yeah, so, um, I made it through all of didactic, not being on any sort of anti depression, anti anxiety medication. I went to the student counseling center a couple of times, you know, cried my face off. never really talked in the sessions, just cried. and then really what, what broke me was clinicals, which everybody says clinicals get so much better and easier, right? Which is true. But
You're different.
what they don't tell you is that there's a change. So there's going to be a complete change in your study methods from didactic to undergrad, which I had mastered didactic. I'd mastered it. Um, again, not to shoot my own heart, but I got a 4. 0 in PA school. Uh, thanks.
I did not.
So I had mastered didactic and then going into clinicals, it is a whole new ball game and there is no power point to study from. You have to find your own materials to study from. and I just remember that 1st weekend crying so much that my eyes were like, almost swollen shut because I was like, I was chilling that 1st week. I was chilling and then we, I got together with my peaceful friends and they were like. Freaking out. And I was like, why are y'all freaking out?
And then I finally looked at my internal medicine, like topic list. And I was
was that your first one?
yeah, yeah.
Ooh.
Uh huh. And I looked at that topic list and I was like, Oh. And then I started crying That's when, and so after, I didn't get to start my Lexapro though, until I literally got the prescription, like the day before my EOR, but I was like, I'm not gonna start it before my EOR. Yeah. So I started it the day of my EOR, like, but you got prop propanolol. I did get propanolol. I did take that. Mm-Hmm, so yeah, me and Alexa have been together for. Three years now, we're best friends.
Um, and let me, let me tell you the difference that I was from my first EOR to my second EOR, just 28 days later was my second EOR was emergency medicine.
Ooh. Oh.
And the world of difference between those two days was incredible. And so I always like to, like, especially when I'm talking to my patients now, when I'm talking about anxiety and stuff, I tell them that story because if I would have started my Alexa pro. In didactic, I probably wouldn't have hated PA school so much. In didactic. I tried telling
Had a different experience.
Yeah. But Cameron had more depression. Oh yeah. I was pretty depressed.
because you misread me
Yeah.
and you were in P. A. school.
Yeah. He was on Wellbutrin.
It's just a tough, I think the biggest thing is that, well, luckily y'all had each other, but like, no one else understands. And that is also difficult. Like, the people that you're in class with understand, but like, they also have their own stuff going on and, can only support each other to a certain extent.
let me tell you, my friends put on a good front. They did. I know they were
In P. A. school? Or not? Oh,
when we studied together, we were all anxious, but like my friend, Shelby in general, she always just seemed so chill, so chill. And that's just her personality. But I was like, are you? Are you, am I supposed to be like you? why why am I over here and you're over here? I don't understand.
I was probably in the middle, but I had a super chill friend, and then I had a not super chill friend, and so I was kind of like the teeter totter, like in the middle of like, you should be more worried, and you need to chill out more, like. No, you can't know every detail in every book. Like, that's not possible, so we gotta reframe this. but you over here, I need you to worry a little bit more.
I Wilson?
that's the interesting thing about PA school, too, is they give you every personality. I feel like it's this, like, little melting pot of a class.
You, really do. but kind of how I combated my anxiety in PA school is killing myself. Like, studying until 10pm every night, like, and just wake up the next day and do it over again. Because my anxiety is when I get to a test and I don't know the answers to several questions, and that's when it kicks in. So I knew in order to prevent that, I needed to kill myself in order to get there.
But do you feel like that was helpful, or
No!
like
No!
Okay, okay. Because I did that, too. My first two semesters, that was me. I'm, like, literally falling asleep in my bed. With my book hitting my face. And then going into probably third semester, like I, I almost remember the day I actually do remember the day, cause I was living at home with my parents and they said, Hey, do you want to go get Mexican for dinner? and I would like look to them And I was like, are you crazy? I was like, I have to study.
No. and they're like, you also need to eat, but like, we'll bring you dinner. and after they left, I was kind of like, wait. I do, you're right, like, at some point I am going to have to eat dinner, and yes I can study while I eat dinner, but like, for us to run up the road and get food and come back, it would take at most probably 45 minutes.
Yeah, yeah. And also you're like, falling asleep setting. That's not,
it's not effective. And that's why I was like, will this 45 minutes be the difference in me, like, passing a class or will it be the difference in maybe me getting one question right? And then after that I was like, oh, okay, maybe I should take some breaks and not
I honestly, I honestly wish that I would have gotten a B early on so that I wasn't competing with myself. Because really that's what it was. It's like I made it this long. I can't I can't go messing that streak up now
How many people GPA was?
Uh, like professionally, none. Mm-Hmm. .Right. And that's, and that's
No one cares.
tell people. That's what I tell people. It's a cool bragging point. I'll say
It is. I'm proud of you. But, it's also,
but professionally,
doesn't matter.
when I talk to people, I tell them like, yes, I got like, 'cause they always ask me like, was pa school hard for you? And then they'll be like, what's your, what was your GPA and I'll be like, okay, wait. This is not a fair question because my GPA was a 4. 0 because I literally didn't do anything. And I don't suggest that.
Don't do it.
So.
Well, I'm going to tell you something that will probably make you um, mad or sad. But, so, I didn't have standardized EORs. They started the year after me.
Yeah.
So, we just had the ones that my school came up with. So, I don't think ours were nearly 3. What yours were
I mean, that doesn't make me mad. I.
were hard I mean every test is hard, but like the ones now like they are Really rough, especially like I've heard internal medicine emergency medicine like those big ones that just have everything
yeah. I found my faculty tests to be way harder than any other test that took in PA school. Because I really leaned on the fact that they had had hundreds of people read that test question. My faculty, my cardiology test, she wrote those questions the day before. And they were trash and they did not make sense. And, and you would have so many questions where they'd be like, yeah, there's like 30 percent of y'all that didn't get that one, right. Which is high, but we think it's still fine.
So we're going to accept it. And I'm just like,
It's a problem.
not fair. and there's a reason why 30 percent of the class chose this one answer because you told us that that was a thing during the lecture and I can pull up the freaking notes to prove it. And there was a question, not even, not even cardiology, but I remember it and they had never told us that, DDAVP is also the drug called Desmopressin. They'd never told us that. Hashtag trauma. And every single lecture, they called it DDAVP. No idea what that stands for. Not a clue.
But I know the other name for it is Desmopressin because I took Kaplan testing. And I tortured myself with her questions that she never even looked at. And I got that question right, but I was like, there's no way anybody else in here should know that unless they looked up other names for DDAVP. I was so mad and so many people got it wrong, but they still counted it as like a legit question. But you know, who didn't get it wrong? You,
Yeah
but
Good job.
Yeah. I really, I thought every single other test besides maybe The gynecology EOR was, or OB GYN, was extremely easy. I was never worried about failing besides the gyne one. That was it.
Well, you probably felt very prepared for boards.
Yeah, I really did. I wholeheartedly believed I had failed my first EOR. Mainly because I had a whole two hour panic attack throughout the entire thing. Um, and that's when, yeah, that's when my friend Lexa entered my life that night. So, um, but see, here's the thing about Cameron is that he doesn't have anxiety. He had depression.
Yeah.
My anxiety was cured by my testing, my testing allowances. That, so my anxiety got cured by that. What do you, what do you mean by your testing allowances? I had extended time during testing, which allowed me time to have mini panic attacks during a test. But then I could work my way through it and be like, Oh, I'm just gonna skip this after my two to three minute session of like, I don't know anything. And then I could just move on. So, that allowed me to have that time.
There was times where I used a full two and a half hours. Cameron, so here's the thing is like, Cameron was never anxious for his tests. Yeah. Um, to where like, I would literally, No, I would wake up at like, On test days I would wake up at 4am, Go to Chick fil A, Chick fil A was not even open yet. So I'm waiting in their drive thru, and then get Chick fil A, go to the library, eyes super heavy, super itchy because they're so tired, and just like look over everything before the exam.
Just one more time. But Cameron, like, did not, did not have that. And so when he says that he wasn't anxious for any of his EORs, just know that doesn't come, like, from the same place. It's a different place, that's fair. And I definitely do think that the PAEA, is that who makes them? So far, I don't know. I don't even know. Yeah, so I think PAEA makes the EORs. And I will tell you that our clinical director who, like, administered the EORs for us scared the crap out of us.
she was like, it's so
think
So many people fail. be prepared, do not like, do not take it lightly. and so I think everyone ended up, I don't, I wouldn't, that was the goal though. I wouldn't necessarily saying over prepared, but, I definitely do think studying for all of the EORs, like from a pa EAC standpoint and having the topic list helped so much when, when going to take the pants, because, you know, I had a lot of.
I wouldn't say confidence because I was never confident in myself, but I didn't have as much anxiety going into the pants because I had already, I had been preparing this for this for the past 30 months. Like, I I took an EOR at the end of every single rotation and we had 15 of them, so I took 15 EORs and then I was like, that, that should be enough. Yeah,
Yeah, and you felt ready
Yeah. Yeah.
ready as you could be
Plus your cumulative exam at the end, which nobody tells you about. Now, do I still have dreams about me having to take the pants now, even though I haven't done any studying for it? Yes.
Really?
every week.
I'm saying I had a dream recently a very vivid dream that I at this point in my life Decided to go back to PA school to see what it was like again So I, I applied. I'm working as a Durham PA still, this doesn't logistically make sense, but I applied and I like went to class the first day and I like went to class and sat down and they started and I was like, why am I here? Why am I doing this again?
Yeah,
And I, I don't know why, like,
Yeah, I've definitely done that. Like, mine's more like high school, like sitting back down in high school in a math class. And I'm like, what? I don't need to be here, but I have a test. I have to take it.
No, why am I
have a
here?
dream from high school. I was in drill team when I was in high school. but I quit because there was conflicting, um, Things between student council and I was just more into student council and I still have dreams that I like Rejoined at this stage in my life and don't know the dances, but they're either expecting me to go dance And I don't know where that comes from Some sort of trauma in my life, but That one happens pretty often, too
These have to mean something.
Mm hmm. Yeah
right. I don't want to take too much of y'all's time. but I do want to hear about your jobs because Well number one, I'm be perfectly honest. I don't know you doing interventional radiology Number
don't know that I do. So,
everyone wants to go into gynecology or things they do and everyone wants to quote deliver babies So I'd love to hear your thoughts on that as a PA in gynecology
Yeah. Who do you want to go first?
whoever
You go. so I only do gynecology. I don't do OBE and that is not specific to PAs though, because in PA school. The PA that I was with did both OB and GYN, but she didn't deliver babies. She was purely clinic. now I will say I am a person of repetition and that is where I'm comfortable and that is a lot of what my job does and Cameron's is the complete opposite of that. so I work in a clinic Monday through Friday, I see a lot.
Of annuals, a lot of them, you know, okay, go ahead and put your hands up in the air. Like you just don't care. I'm going to do your breast exam. That kind of thing. now what I like about that is I'm getting to the point now to where I'm seeing patients. I, I know them, uh, or at least I, when I look back, I'm like, Oh, I've seen them before because I have such a terrible memory. Um, but, or, you know, and those people that I do know, you know, usually it's not.
For a good, a good reason, you know, So I see I'm getting to that point now where I'm seeing people over and over again, and it's fun because One thing that I do and that I I said that I would do from a long time ago Was that I make little notes in their chart about what we talked about that time And then I bring it up again, and then they're like you have such a good memory, and I'm like
No, I don't.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I, I can't remember faces and I cannot remember names, but I can remember the entire story that we talked about the last time that I was with you. And that's why I'm so big into telling stories and personal statements, because that's, that is really what makes things stick. But, anyways, so I see a lot of annuals. My favorite part about my job is that I. Everybody knows women's health, as a female going into a gynecology appointment, is uncomfortable.
Everybody knows it, right? I've been putting off my pap for a while now. You know, probably shouldn't, but I have been. It's uncomfortable and I know that, but what I love most about my job is that I have the personality, where if somebody comes in, I have a smile on my face the entire time. I will make it the funnest visit that you've had a very long time. and I will make you comfortable and I will listen to you. Whatever you're saying, I will listen to you.
and I will have a conversation to where we will get to the end of the visit and you'll be like, that wasn't bad at all because we were talking the entire time. And so what I love about my job is that I can be someone who makes a situation fun, even though it's supposed to be uncomfortable.
Yeah.
and I really love seeing like the 21 year olds because I get to shape their entire perspective of women's health, like their life moving forward. so those are probably my favorite visits, that and like my Lexapro visits. But yes, I work Monday through Friday, 8. 30 to 5, and then on Fridays I work 8 to 3 ish. What's your extra time? I see about, um, 20 patients a day. What are you talking about? You don't leave at 5 o'clock every day?
I usually leave at like 5. 30 because I'm clearing out my box. Yes, you have a box that you have to clear out, which is toxic. I don't got one of those. Oh, you don't have a box, that's why he's saying that. Yeah.
Um, I don't know if I have a box, like an inbox.
Yeah. Like, uh, results that come back. Yeah, yeah. You have like biopsies and stuff. You have
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I, I do it. You, I usually do mine first thing in the morning
I just do mine throughout the whole day.
and then Yeah. Throughout the day.
Yeah, and then if I still have some in the evening, then I'll go ahead and I'll finish it out. You know, get the ones out that I can. For ones that I have to use my brain. I'm like, we'll save that for tomorrow. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that's what my day is. It's very, it's very like repetitive and I see the same people every day. And I love that. I love it. Yeah, I don't
I love that you found that perfect match job for you.
yeah. Yeah. Oh, but I will say that I do have a person in my class who does deliver babies. Yeah. So, but,
Georgia, PAs cannot, are not allowed to deliver
Oh, really?
Mm-Hmm. only midwives.
Yeah. Do you have any nurse practitioners? No midwives. Same.
they would have to like specifically have the like
women's health nurse practitioners are purely clinical. Purely. So, could a surgical nurse practitioner? Would that be
not in Georgia.
Yeah, but P. A. S. Can deliver babies in Texas, but it's pretty rare because the midwives, the residents, the physicians take over. but she works in a rural setting. So,
okay.
what's her name? Ashlyn, she, she works in our area and she delivers Ashlyn bone with Janet. Yeah. So anyways, I work in the little black box called interventional radiology, which a lot of people say, uh, so interventional
it have to do with cardiology or am I wrong?
they, there there is interventional cardiology. There is some radiologists which do that. Yes. But that would be kind of like, um, another subspecialty within interventional radiology. There's neuro interventional radiologists, which do stroke cases, thrombectomies. carotid and up essentially, plus all the other interventional radiology stuff.
so as a PA in interventional radiology, the way I see my role is to be like a little vacuum that sucks up all the baby cases so that my docs can do the big cases. I really don't like that you say that. That's the way I see it, Michael. It's not your story, it's mine.
Oh, you don't like that?
No, because, you know, people will be like, and I hate when they say this like in their mock interviews or in their personal statements, is that like yeah, so the PAs see like the easy cases so that the doctors can see the big cases, and I'm like, I mean, true to like some extent, but like not in all settings. It's just, it's just like, I feel like it's like bringing down what you do when you say that. I mean, I don't see it like that. Okay.
I, I don't, I, I get what you're saying. I, I think I wouldn't necessarily like it. It like what you're saying, Brittany, like an interview setting from a
Right.
student, but I get what you're like, cause I, I say something similar. Like when people are like, Oh, do you like assist the doctor? I'm like, yeah, I let her take more vacations. Like that's my job. That's why I'm there. I guess part of what I really do see my job is like make her life easier, whatever that looks like.
And, and my docs realize that their lives are easier. Every single interventionist that works with PAs says, I would not be able to do what I do without you. They're able to read more diagnostic images. they can do a CT scan in the same, like five CT scans in the same time that I can do 20 procedures, but they wouldn't have been able to do those. And let me tell you, those CT scans pay way more than a little paracentesis or thyroid or even a line placement. So they truly appreciate it.
And like the way that I see it most is we just started at, uh, the PAs started at a new hospital. And we've not been at this one before, but our docs have, and they had been there for probably two or three years PAs to help. And the company's like, you don't have enough, you don't got enough cases or patients for us to be able to give them to you. So they're like, yes, we do. Yes, we do. And when we came in there.
The highest RVUs, because now we gauge RVUs, which is essentially like the, the points at which, um, your cases count. And if you have so many RVUs, then they pay so much, blah, blah, blah. And so the RVUs at our biggest hospital was 2, 500. This hospital now has 1, 500, which is a big jump. The next hospital has 1, 400. So that's, there's a big jump there. But it's a lot of, it's a lot of points that this hospital gets and our physicians that work there are like, this is incredible.
That doesn't even count what the docs do. That's just what the PAs are doing in that hospital, which is a lot. And so they're like, first, the diagnostic docs that we're having to do something called ferroscopy, which is essentially you swallow contrast or we put contrast somewhere in the body and we take pictures of it. They're like, they hate that part of their job. A lot of them really don't like it. So do you! I just like it, yes. But, it's still semi interesting. But they really hate it.
And they're like, thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for doing this enema, or this esophagram, whatever. They really like it. So I do a lot of different cases. So The thing that is different in my job, like I may go months without doing a certain type of procedure, and then I'm like expected to be able to, oh, now this procedure dropped onto the board and it's quote, a PA case, so I will do it.
like the other day, I did a, a feeding tube exchange except for it's, it's a, it's a J-tube, so it goes deeper down into the small bowel. And I hadn't done a j-tube exchange. In a long time, I'd done G tubes, but not a J tube. And so, I was doing this case and I was like, trying to remember the steps. And, um, the biggest thing in interventional radiology is don't lose your access. It's important that once you have access, you try to always have it. Because you may not be able to get it again.
And, I lost access. And so, me and the, the rad tech that I was working with were trying to get access back again. But it's like, I really like that part of my job is I do a lot of different things that I may not have done in a while. Um, and then I might go do rounding and then I might go downstairs and help with fluoroscopy. So, depending upon where I'm at, I work either 730 to 430 or 8 to 430. But usually I could be done by 4 o'clock and leave,
Yeah. Nice. And you're doing mostly procedures. You do mostly procedures.
It's a, it's a, it depends upon where you're at. So that newest location, we do all 3. We do rounding, fluoroscopy and procedures. And so, like this last Friday, I did a ton of light place line placements into the neck. Um, I did some biopsies. I did. drainages, and then I did rounding on like five different people that we had seen the prior day. So since Cameron is no longer in training, he's going to several locations now.
Yeah. But whenever he was at his initial location at like their training hospital, every day he would have like a different like, I'm on IR2 today. And IR2 is the rounding team, but tomorrow I'm on IR1, and that's the procedure team. And then the next day I'm on fluoro, so I'll be doing fluoro. And then if there like ever is like a lull or anything, then they can go help other people. And at that hospital, which is our training hospital, it's very sectionalized.
So usually one team doesn't have to help the other team. And it's a, it's a really good learning basis. Like we have. Probably five new PAs that are going to be onboarding over the next eight months or so. And so they'll be mainly at that hospital doing all the learning stuff. And my company is really great. Like when they say like you're going to have one year of learning, it's not like, Oh, we're actually going to throw you into the wolves in two months. It's a true learning basis.
And I feel like our company does a really good job trying to value us and make us feel valued most of the time. They're a company still, but they do a really good job of, helping the PAs when they need it. And we have a really receptive supervisor who's also a PA as well. Uh, and we all really like each other. All the PAs work really well. We're not gunning for some of each other and like trying to like, I don't know, steal cases and stuff like that. we do a pretty good job helping.
We do a lot of like individual get togethers and stuff like that. So it was fun. I forgot to say I'm the only PA in my practice. is what they say, right? They'll be the first PA and make you work.
NPEs or just, no, like you're you're a.
we have like, I, I, I should know these numbers by now. But, we, I think we have like six physicians. And then, me. And then we used to have a nurse practitioner, but she left in September. She's been there for a while then. Yeah, she's been there for 17 years. And then we have midwives. We have three midwives. but me and Kristen, the NP, we were the same thing. we were clinic only, everybody else, the midwives and the docs have like a call day and a post call day.
but yeah, I'm the only PA in the office, so.
That's the one thing I love about our profession is like we're all three PAs and our jobs are completely different. Like we have the same title, but we do not do any of the same things. And
yeah. Then also, like,, if I didn't want to work in gynecology anymore, my 2nd interest far from 1st, but 2nd interest was peds. So, like, if I was, like, I really don't like this repetition, I could go work in peds, but peds is also repetitive. So.
think everything, like I think I've decided everything kind of
Yeah. Yeah, that's, that's, my thing was like, I don't want repetition. Like day to day. Right. And so like, thankfully, uh, I was able to talk to my supervisor about that. And I am currently credentialed, I think, at four or five different hospitals. So like next week I'm at three of those five hospitals. So it's, it's pretty nice. I would hate that. And I love it. Cause I get to see all different people every single day. See, I am an extroverted introvert.
And so, if I am in a situation to where I am like, I'm having to meet new people or be with people I haven't seen in a while, it, I'll like pull back. But if I'm like with the same people every day, I'm like, What's up, Dr. Shimer? Hey, like I'm like the personality in our office. Um,
I can see that, Brittany. I can see that.
yeah. But if I had to go to three different hospitals in one week,
That would be a lot. Uh, yeah. See, I, I don't think I'm a hospital person. That's what I decided. Like, I'm, that's just like, not my setting. I would be fine if I had to do it, but like, it wouldn't be my preference ever.
I'm glad you would be. I wouldn't be. I wouldn't
so I, so here's my thing. I love an OR. Like if I could do general surgery and like just be in an OR and not have like the schedule of general surgery and the call and all that, like, I would love that. Yeah. Like, but if, but like, that's where derm, you know, I still get to do procedures, but it's not that, um, but yeah, my, and then my second, if I didn't do. Derm, I'd do either general surgery or endocrinology would be my second, which I, so here's the thing. Here's the thing.
So I hated it in PA school. I hated it. Like that was, that was my least favorite section of didactic. So because of that, I was, when I was choosing rotations or
Oh, you're 1 of those people.
it. You got to split it.
people.
I went and I did an endocrine rotation and I loved it. I was like, this makes no sense because I hate this, but now I love this. And so I just like, and honestly, I had a terrible preceptor. Like I did not like, him at all, but just actually doing endocrine, I enjoyed so much. And so if. Isn't that so weird though?
I mean, when people would say like, yeah, do your electives and what you didn't do well in, in didactic, I'm like, I would never do a cardio rotation in my life. Keep me away from the heart. You
I probably should have.
a substantial amount, you know, from the heart to, you know, where I need to be. That's a pretty good approach. Distance. I'm good. I'm good. You'd be a podiatrist. I could be. I could be a foot pa, but
see I would not want to do that. I see way too many feet in my job.
I'm sure you do. Yeah. Uhhuh. Mm-Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I send a lot of, uh, vulvar moles to you. Um, I send a lot of hair thinning acne. Mm-Hmm. Mm-Hmm. Yeah.
Yeah, we, that, yeah. We do get a lot of those referrals.
Yeah. But then it makes me think, do you take your dermatoscope and get in there
What, if you send me a vulnerable? Yeah. so here's the thing, and that's, that's the thing, like if it, if it is external, like I can see it, sometimes people come and they're like, I have this like internal mole, and I'm like, I don't, like, I literally can't, I, I don't have the tools to see that. Yeah, and so, and, and that's, you know, a few certain. People that will send that to us and we're like, Hey, like we just aren't really equipped for that.
Yeah, that's
I ever did on a vulnerable, the patient that was also the first patient who ever passed out on me. Like right in the middle, like. Just out and
least she didn't have very
it was also like I was fairly new. I don't even practicing for maybe like 6, 8 months and I like went to my doctor and I was like, Hey, like I've never done this type of biopsy before. Like, what do I need to do? Just like, it's fine. Just do it normal. Like you always would like just a little punch. It's fine. And I was like, okay. And then the patient passes out and I'm like, I'm never doing this again. Oh, my gosh.
External rub. Here we
Now it's fine now it's
far to fall. She was already laying down.
yeah, she was laying down but like eyes rolling back like
Oh, my
It wasn't good, but I was like in the middle of it I was like, I just gotta finish this like y'all fan her y'all talk to her like get her awake But like
Yeah.
it
Well, now you gotta close up that little hole you just put there.
Yep And that's what we did. So, yeah. Yeah, she was, wasn't very happy with me, but that's fine. Uh,
just trying to save her life. Mhm.
degrees. I'm like, it's gotta stay cool in here or everybody's gonna pass out on me.
I have an extra fan, so anytime anybody gets like, I feel woozy, I'm like, get my fan!
yeah. I'm feeling a little hot. I'm like, lay back,
I got peanut butter crackers.
We got a Coke and a straw, yep.
mhm.
fun times in medicine.
Yeah. I've had only one person
love it.
fluids in days. So that was a good reason. So I just held on to the little fluoroscopy machine and we went back down. It was good. I've never had anyone pass out on me. Nauseous. Yes. But, um,
on wood.
usually the people that pass out are the people who are in lab. We have a special whistle system. So Ms. Betty has a whistle that she blows whenever somebody is starting to pass out. And then the providers will go up there and make sure that
uh, yeah, I, we have quite, we have quite a few, uh, honestly with
I mean, I
biopsies and procedures,
the one time I basil bagel was in Durham,
like watching it or like on you.
watching it,
Okay. So when I did the first time I ever saw the first time I saw a punch biopsy, I was in college shadowing and you just don't expect it to be as deep as it is and all that. And then the PA looked at me and she was like, you need to sit down. And I was like, Yes, I do.
ma'am. No, mine
I'm glad she
uh, mine was, no, mine was a cyst excision like on the shoulder. Um, and it, you know, you can excise any cysts anywhere on the body and I'd be fine, but just the shoulder where there's like not a whole lot of tissue there and like, like weird scraping noises. That's what got me. And I, it, I mean, I, I've watched knee replacements. I've watched C sections. I have seen barbaric stuff and, um,, and that I was like.
All I could think of was like just a pa like, you know, just a pa at just APA on Instagram. She was like, if you're, she's a surgery pa. So she's like, if you're gonna pass out, leave, do not be a second patient in the room. And so, like, my butt was sweating. I was starting to get like cold, but I was sweating. I was starting to get nauseous. I was like, I need to get outta here. I need to get outta here. And I was like, but I was like, don't be a little b Brittany. Don't be, don't be a little.
No, you gotta get out.
Yeah. But I was like, get out, get out. And I was like, I'm going to go sit out here. And I like went and sat in a chair and my preceptor like walks around the corner cause he was not in that procedure. And he was like, Oh, you are very white. And I was like. Yeah, not feeling the best. And then that night I was staying at my cousin's house for that rotation. And I was like, I need to wash my pants. I got sweat all up in my booty. It was not a good situation. It was not good.
That's it. Everybody has their like thing. And I think if you see it enough, you get. But yeah, that's how I am with ortho stuff. Like bones I don't do. And I have the exact same experience on a ER rotation. A kid had broken both of his arm bones and they had him sedated. And the doctor was like, here, come feel it. You need to recreate the injury to set it and he like made me feel it and move it around. And my vision just started like going, I could feel it.
And I was like, ah, like, and I was like, I'm going to go. And so I walked out and like, at that point, like couldn't see just stars. And I was, I sat down in the nurse's station, like in a chair and they came out and they're like, you look like a sheet.
Yep,
I was about to hit the floor.
isn't it
don't do that to me again, and then my preceptor was like, yeah, ER's not for you, and I was like, okay, thank you.
I really hate critical. Yeah,
I don't either, but he was, he was very like blunt and straightforward, and he was just like,
I mean, I could totally do derm. Totally.
yeah, you, I mean, yeah,
Totally. But like, maybe like excisions on shoulders, I would give that to Savannah.
Well, well, so like the PI I work with, she won't do an ASIS.
Really?
Um, so she won't do, yeah, she doesn't do any cis excisions, like she just doesn't like them, and that's fine. And then the other PA that works with us doesn't do any excisions at all. So,
Do you do excisions?
I love them. Like, I would be fine doing all of that.
Well, the, the, the precepts, so I did a derm rotation. And, um, the PAs didn't do excisions. So, I didn't know if that was,
It just, it's practiced a bit. So my old practice, I didn't do them very much. But I do a lot more cosmetics and in this office I do a lot more surgical cases and less cosmetics.
Yeah. Nice.
which is my, my preference.
Yeah. Nice. Now on the last day of my derm rotation, I saw this great, and you probably call them something different, but blackhead on this person's back, and I was like, I was telling my preceptor that I wanted to get these things so bad, but he was like, oh, nope, gotta suggest an excision for that, because you gotta get the whole sac out, whatever.
yeah, yeah. Can't just drain it.
yeah. And the last I like pointed out to him. I was like, and then he was like, you know, you got a pretty big open coma dome on the back of on your back. Do you want us to get that for you? And I was like, and so I got, I got it out and I even got the sack out too.
Good job.
it was, it was quite,
Derm's very rewarding when you like fix it or get it or whatever. You're just
Yeah. Yeah.
got that. I got that.
Yeah. Uh huh. Yeah. And sometimes, I mean, I'm sure you see it with like HS, like in the groin and stuff.
Yeah, we get a lot of those referrals
yes. Yes, that is also another one that I send to you. Yeah, because they'll be, they'll be like, I get these bumps all over me and I'm like, yeah.
Yeah.
brutal disease process there. Yeah. Yeah, I've seen some commercials out there.
Um, cause when I started, like, we just didn't really have much at
like, or antibiotics, right? Like,
Yeah. Antibiotics, topicals, um, sometimes hormonal therapy will help some, but like, it, yeah, now there, there are some medicines that do better and then really like even surgery doesn't. Help often and can cause some problems. So,
more scarring on top of scarring really.
yep, exactly. And so, yeah, it's like, that's a tough one that that's the hard part about Derm is there are so many things that like, we don't have a reason for, like, why it happened or why somebody has it. Um, and we don't have a cure, so it's just a lot of conversations about that, um,
I always tell people, I can't tell you what you do have, but I can tell you what you don't have.
yeah. And there's a lot of that and figuring out, so, yeah. But it's fun. I'm not planning on going anywhere. I like my, my job.
Yeah. Yeah, you also have one of those coveted jobs.
I do, and I have a fantastic office and practice that, It's just like crazy flexible and kind and yeah, like as long as y'all have me, I will be here.
Yeah. That's awesome. That's kind of how I feel about mine. I feel really happy every day that I'm like, I somehow landed this great job with great pay, really good benefits, and they're actually willing to teach me everything that I need to know, and they're not going to force me? Like, what? Yeah. And
that's a bit like, I think all of us have great jobs. Like it's like, you hear a lot of complaints about jobs, but like, we're here to say like, they're also great jobs out there
Yeah. I think also though, you have to be adaptable. Yeah.
I agree with that.
Yeah. But I really do like my job, so. I think it was a good place for like, new grads. Really good place for new grads. Because we have, what did I say, six doctors? I don't know if that's accurate,
A lot of people to learn from. Yeah,
And like, I'm constantly surrounded by people. So I always had somebody to ask questions to. Whenever I had to.
lucky to have you.
Oh,
Well, y'all are great to talk to. This is going to be like one of my favorite episodes ever.
Glad to help. We like it.
your own podcast.