 Okay you guys, so I just wanted to come and talk to you guys and kind of check in because I've been a PA for over a year now which is crazy to think. And so I just want to talk about what I've learned over the course of this year. What's up you guys? This is Madonna, welcome back to my channel. So as the title says, as my little intro says, this is really just me sitting down and kind of like catching up with you guys, taking a break from all of the, oh this is what you should do for PA school questions and videos and just really talking about my life thus far as a PA a year later. It's crazy to think that it's been over a year that I've been a PA. You guys, I've seen so much and I've been able to experience so much as well. And I'll share one of those experiences with you all very shortly because it was like something straight out of ER or I don't know if Scrubs was like this or the resident or the good doctor but it's like, it's that kind of feel. It's literally like made for TV drama that I'm like, how did I get in this position? I don't even understand what's happening right now and I feel like I'm in like a movie or you know some type of drama like television show. But honestly, when it comes to being a trauma PA, I like it, you guys. I really do. I didn't necessarily think that I would like it as much as I do but I get to see so much and I get to do so much and that is really what I like about this because my scope of what I'm able to do is so broad. I'm able to like, I'm putting in chest tubes on like a consistent basis you all. I'm doing central lines on a consistent basis and you know, it's cool. I'm going to surgery and I'm seeing like the peristalsis of the bowels move and that's amazing and cool to me because it just reminds me even more of how great God is, you know, that he could put all of this together and it worked in such great symphony. And so, you guys, I like being a PA, okay. So that is one thing that I've learned thus far. I chose the right career. I like being a PA. I also like being a trauma PA. Now does that mean I still don't want to be, I no longer want to be an OB PA? No, okay. That is not what that means. I still would like to actually go and do some work in the OB scope because I like interacting with people and talking to people and I like babies and I like, you know, interacting with parents and doing that kind of education. And so for me, that is still something that I want to do like down the line. But right now I am really loving where I'm at and being in this scope of practice that I'm in with trauma because I get to do and see a lot. And one such thing that I've gotten to do is we've gotten to kind of see a lot of thoracotomies done, which is where they take essentially like a scalpel, a big knife and, you know, they'll clam shell the patient because they are like what we're doing on the outer part of the body. Like we're not getting good compressions or we're not being, we're not able to stop the bleeding. There's internal bleeding and we need to stop it emergently so that we can get to the OR. And so seeing a lot of thoracotomies done and over the past year, I've been in quite a few thoracotomies because my patient population, there's a lot of like stabbings and shootings and, you know, blunt trauma and that type of trauma that causes internal bleeding that we may have to stop and we can't necessarily do it quite acutely or very quickly without opening up the patient. So in one of my thoracotomies, you guys, I had, like we literally took the patient, like the patient was open and I had, like, let me tell you, my hand was in the patient's rib cage and then like on one side and then my other hand was in this patient's like wound up here on the top part of like right close to the clavicle because I had to compress the subclavian artery, okay, because it was injured and it was bleeding and the patient was bleeding out and we were not able to give the patient blood fast enough without compressing this vein and artery without compressing the subclavian to stop the patient from exsinguinating and so we're pushing blood and I'm sitting up here like holding compressions, you guys, and I'm like in the chest, okay, you guys, in this cavity and I'm like compressing, you know, this artery and this area, the subclavian there and, you know, we had to emergency rush this patient to the OR and I had to get up on the stretcher while compressing the patient's subclavian and let me tell you guys, like, when I'm telling you, like, this, I felt like I was in one of these dramas, I legit felt like I was in one of these dramas, okay, because like you can't make this stuff up. I'm like legit on top of this stretcher in this body cavity compressing this artery so that the patient doesn't bleed out while we're pushing blood at the same time and it's like, oh, okay, like, we're doing this, like, we're going to the OR, like, this is working and so like these are the experiences that I have and it's not to say that this is something that happens on a consistent basis by no means am I in body cavities on top of stretchers flying down the hallway to the OR on a consistent basis but it's something that I get to experience and I wouldn't necessarily experience that in primary care or, you know, Peds or even internal medicine. So I love what I'm doing right now. Okay, I'm having a good time. I'm learning a lot. I'm getting so much smarter and so much more proficient in a lot of these advanced procedures and advanced practice skills and I am so grateful for the opportunity that God has placed before me to get this done and to learn this. So I wanted to talk to you guys about that just kind of give you a little like story time but just update you on where I'm at a year later as a trauma PA and a year later I'm feeling good. I'm happy and I'm so excited for what the future holds because I see a lot more really good experiences in my future in terms of a learning standpoint and just practicing medicine. Alright, if you guys have any questions for me, you know, based on anything that I've said in this video or just any questions for me based on the PA profession or what I do as a trauma PA please leave that in the comment section below. Go ahead and subscribe to my channel and like this video, follow me on Instagram and on the PA and on Instagram and get that to university. Thank you guys so much for watching. I will talk to you guys next time.