Big Changes at the Johnson house!

It would take me days to talk about everything that has happened since my last post (I know...October was 5 months ago) so I'll give the highlights.

In December, I GRADUATED from PA school!!! My family came out to Toledo for the ceremony and to celebrate with us.

{Me and my incredibly supportive husband after the white coat ceremony}

{The Hadleys}

{My PA friends}

The day after graduation, Steve and I left to go to Lewiston to spend Christmas with the Johnsons. We spent the week after Christmas in Pocatello with my family. It was a busy two weeks full of family, friends, food, snowboarding and the Zags!!

{Steve and his parents at the Gonzaga game}

{Noah opening presents}


{Enjoying a milkshake with Juju}

{Snow flurries in Park City}

After 3 weeks back in the library studying, I took my board exam on Jan 22. Two days later, I was in the car driving to New York City to spend some time with Becky and Caroline.

{I was really hoping to capture the whole word - LOVE - in the background but the girl who took the pic was grumpy}

{Caroline met us in city for a fantastic dinner}

Now I am adjusting to life post-school. I accepted a job at the hospital here in trauma surgery and although it will still be a few weeks until my license and credentials are finalized, I have been able to do some shadowing shifts. I am looking forward to working, cooking more, reading for fun, blogging more, and running a half-marathon in April with Erin!

Can't believe it's October already....

I am a blogging slacker!!! However, I have two more blog topics planned after this one so there will be lots of new stuff to come!!! I can't believe it's already October. June feels like yesterday. Here's a snapshot of what we've been up to the past few months.

JULY was a busy month in the Johnson household. Steve started his rotations with family medicine in small town Lima, OH while I was busy doing my family medicine rotation in Toledo. Steve was gone during the week but came home every weekend. We traveled to Akron, OH in July for our friends Derek and Erin's wedding.

July 29th Steve and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary!!! We had an early celebration in Chicago a few weeks prior so the night of our anniversary we had dinner a PF Changs!

AUGUST - My fabulous sister Kelli came to Ohio the first week of August!! We had a great week that included going to Wicked, Cedar Point and lots of shopping!!

All dressed up before leaving to go see Wicked!

The 2nd week of August I went to Priest Lake in Northern Idaho to spend a week on the lake wiht Steve's family. Steve was in the middle of a rotation and wasn't able to go so I went without him. I had a great week with my in-laws and our niece and nephews!!!

The beautiful lake

Me and Noah bug!

My brother-in-law Bren taking my mother-in-law Cheryl out for a jet ski ride

We ended the summer with dinner and drinks at one of our favorite places, El Camino. It was a great night before we all started our FINAL rotation!!! This is a pic of 4 soon to be successful PAs!!!! Only 74 days to go!!

We are not "Physician's Assistants"!!!

When I started this blog, I didn't intend to just post pics of us doing fun things, but it appears that is what's been happening the past few months. HOWEVER, today I have a new platform.

Today we are going to talk about the Physician Assistant (PA) profession. For those that are unfamilar, may I suggest wikipedia.com (normally I wouldn't recommend wikipedia but I have reviewed their article on physician assistants and it's accurate). In a nutshell, PAs earn a master's degree in a 24-30 month postbachelor program that is designed to mimic medical school. We take the same courses (minus histology and embryology, in most cases) and complete the majority of the same clinical rotations with the biggest difference being that we are not required to complete a residency. Those that decide to become a physician assistant don't do so because they are "too lazy to become a doctor", "not smart enough to become a doctor", or "didn't get into medical school." I put those 3 statements in quotes because they are all things I have been asked by patients in the past 6 months. Those reading this blog that know me know that I am hardworking and smart enough to be a doctor and that I would have gotten into medical school. Why did I decide to write this post you may ask. Well this post was stimulated by a few aggravating events in the past 24 hours.

Let's start with event #1. We were invited to a friend's new home last night to share wine and conversation prior to going out to a fundraising event. Amongst the crowd of 10 sitting around chatting was a couple we hadn't met before. We learned that they too were students, him a 4th year medical student and her a pharmacy student. Upon learning that I was a PA student, the pharmacy student first mentioned her disapproval of the "new" PA prescribing rights in Ohio (which aren't really new - the law was passed in Ohio 2 years ago and PAs has been prescribing medications in most other states for 30 years or so). Then she preceded to say something to the effect of "I don't really think PAs are that good." Now I strongly believe in the ability to have your own opinion, but why in the world would you share it with someone has spent the past 2 years STUDYING TO BE A PA???????

Event #2. While at the fundraiser for a medical mission trip which several medical students and PA students are going on, a 3rd year med student in Steve's class was trying to initiate conversation with me and asked "so what are you interested in?" I wasn't sure that he knew I was a PA student (most in Steve's class know me as "steve's wife"), so I said "I'm a physician assistant student and I'm not sure yet. I've liked most of my rotations including ER and surgery. The kicker is that he replied with....."well have you considered medicine?" Unsure of what he meant, I asked "you mean internal medicine?" and he said "no, medicine like going to medical school." Steve and I were both so shocked by his response, I didn't even know what to say. I'm pretty sure PAs and physicians practice the same "medicine."

Event #3. An article in Toledo's newspaper, The Blade, about the aforementioned fundraiser, said "UT students studying to be physicians, nurses, and physician's assistants...." The correct term is PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS.....lose the 's!!

In summary, I would just like to say that I think all the members of the healthcare system are valueable. The whole hierarchy thing is ridiculous...I don't feel that my job is any more or less important than a nurse's, pharmacist's, physical therapist's or physician's. We all have necessary functions and should be working together as a team.

From the blogging slacker....

One of my adoring readers told me tonight that if I didn't post something soon, she would stop reading my blog and well let's just say I'm not in the business of losing readers since I'm still not sure I have any....so Caroline, this is for you, despite that the majority of this post is old news to you. First off, I have returned to Ohio after my month in Pocatello for my OB/GYN rotation. I had a great rotation...the Dr. I worked with was awesome, I learned a lot and liked OB/GYN much more than I thought I would. I didn't realize how many surgerical procedures are done in OB/GYN and I really liked the half office time/half hospital time aspect of it. It was also nice to spend a month with my family! The weekend before my rotation in Pocatello ended, I flew up to Spokane to see Steve, who was playing in Hoopfest with some friends and his brother. After spending three weeks apart, I was really excited to see him and had a great weekend with him, friends and his family! I don't have any pics because my camera was having issues :(

However, I do have pics from last weekend. Steve and I both had a weekend off together (which I think has only happened 1 other time since we started school - not including christmas break) so we decided to head to Chicago for the 4th of July and as an early anniversay present to ourselves. We had the absolute best weekend...in fact, I'm not sure there are enough words in the English language to fully describe how great it was. We were able to relax, spend some real time together and not think about school the entire time. It felt like what I imagine other people who have weekends off regularly feel like. So enjoy the pics and I'm going to try to be a more regular blogger :)


For those that haven't been to Chicago, did you know that it is right on Lake Michigan and that you can go to the beach and play in the water and sit by the palm trees (yes...that's right palm trees in Chicago)?? I didn't when we first went there last summer but Lake Michigan and the trail on Lake Shore is one of my favorite things about Chicago in the summer. These are definitely not the most flattering pictures of me, which is why they are small but I really wanted to include them


This picture is on Michigan Ave. where we did some shopping one of the days.


Saturday we went to Lincoln Park and the Lincoln Park Zoo which is free to the public (they do get you on the $6 hot dogs though). Chicago has so many free activities in the summer which I think is so great!

P.S. I convinced my sister Kelli to start a blog. Her link is on the side of my page. She's hilarious and I assured her she'd have adoring fans.

Father's Day at the Lake

I apologize to my adoring readers that I have been on hiatus for the past few weeks. For those that don't know, I'm in Pocatello (the 'Ho') for my OB/GYN rotation. When I'm not busy doing pelvic exams, measuring fundal heights and listening for fetal heart tones, I'm hanging out with my family. I was happy to be home to spend Father's Day with my dad this year! We went to breakfast in the morning and then spent the rest of the day at the lake boating, jetskiing and wakeboarding. Thanks dad for the awesome day! Love you mean it :)

me and my dad


Bro and sis


Shawn (bro) + Mish


Dog paddling Stephanie

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My uncle and the cutest girl ever (my cousin Julia) on the jet skiing. This girl has zero fear...the entire time she kept saying "go faster."


This is her sleeping in the boat with Mr. Bear (who also needed a life vest).

THINGS I'M THANKFUL FOR

My post tonight is more of a motivational post to myself. I'm still not even sure if I have an audience out there in cyberspace, but hopefully you (and I) find this uplifting. I've had somewhat of an internal struggle the past month or so. I've been emotionally labile (more so than usual) and I've felt vunerable. I'd like to blame these feelings on Steve's rigorous study schedule but it's more than that. I'm nearing the halfway point in my rotations and I'm feeling mixed emotions about what lies ahead...close friends moving away, finding a job, the mountain of student debt about to crash on my head, etc. This should come as no surprise to those that know me..I always have and always will be a planner. So it's fitting that I would start to worry about things are that aren't going to happen for over half a year. Tonight I've decided to stop and take a minute to reflect on a few of the things I am thankful for...

Number 1 - For my husband - for his patience when I call him 10 times a day cause I'm bored, for his determination to succeed so that he can get a residency spot closer to Idaho because he knows how much I want it, for his "smothering" when he comes home because he missed me, and for telling me that I'm beautiful every day even if I don't feel like it.

Number 2 - For my family - I feel blessed to have a mom who always answers her phone when I need to talk (no matter what time it is), a relationship with my dad unlike any other father-daughter relationship I know and siblings who are also amazing friends. I'm also blessed to be a part of the Johnson family - I was lucky enough to marry into a family that I comfortably spend hours chatting, laughing, cooking, shopping, hiking, and canoeing with.

Number 3 - For friends both old and new - I'm blessed to still have friendships that date back to grade school (I guess I should be thankful for cell phones at this point for these friendships wouldn't be possible without frequent conversations) and I couldn't be more thankful for the close friends I have made in Toledo...I can't imagine going through PA school without them.

Number 4 - For the physical ability to run, jump, dance, walk, and everything else that I probably take for granted - I've been running a lot the past month to keep myself occupied and I love the feeling after a really tough run.

Number 5 - For the Toledo Metroparks - Toledo has a dozen or so parks scattered throughout the city with trails and trees and furry woodland creatures and lots of open space to run.

Number 6 - For a cerebrum (and I guess cerebellum, pons and medulla) that have developed over the last 25 years so that I can achieve a level of education that I am incredibly proud of and still be humbled by all that I have to learn.

Guess that's enough for tonight as the aforementioned brain is telling me it's time to head to bed. One last thing - ONLY 6 DAYS UNTIL I GO TO IDAHO!