Week 1

Well PCP is under way and  it is already going at quite the steady clip. I wanted to post after day 1… then day 2… then days 3-5… let’s just say I was too busy/tired/lazy (most likely the latter) to put anything up.

That’s not to say we haven’t been doing anything interesting… to the contrary, it has been a packed week and change. It’s been quite the adjustment going back to the 8-6+ days going full tilt, but it is an absolute blast. The instructors are fantastic, I have clever, fun and hilarious classmates and we are all doing the thing we love. We have a huge class at 23 and there are a lot of us but we seem to always have a good time and get things done.

Week 1 was a introduction to our classmates, the instructors, the campus and all the fun things we get to play with. We went through the JIBC ambulances, the jump kits and all the equipment and spent a lot of time practicing proper lifting mechanics. I’ll admit it did get repetitive at points, but it was really really good to do. The instructors start early and ingrain it in you to always lift properly and appropriately so that we don’t injure ourselves. This is a much forgotten skill that will protect us the rest of our career and lives. A healthy back is a safe back.

We brought cots up and down, in and out of the ambulances, on slopes and flat ground and it is a lot harder than it looks to do it safely and smoothly, especially on a slope.

We went over radio codes and the phonetic alphabet, proper PPE and lifting/ transfer techniques. All the important behind the scenes skills that are the base of what we do as paramedics.

Sprinkled in amongst all this was the all encompassing CS200 review and practice. Anyone who has heard or though about taking the PCP course has heard the horror stories of the CS200, and I’ll tell you it is an absolute TON of information to learn and memorize.

On Day 5 we had our CS200 exam, 100 questions multiple choice, 75% to pass 2 hour time limit.

Our class did exceedingly well, highest mark was an amazing 99%. I did fairly well myself, as did most of the class. We had 4 miss the 75% mark by a mere 4-5 marks which was too bad, but I don’t anticipate them having any trouble passing the remedial.

After we got the result it really felt like a weight was lifted off my chest and I could relax a little… but only a little before jumping right back into it and riding the whirlwind of information once again.

 

How to grow fruits & vegetables – CS200 study tips

Studying for the CS200 course is a lot like growing vegetables. If you don’t water them everyday they will die, if they don’t get any sun they won’t grow very well.

Let’s go over the basics shall we?

Start planting in the right season

You wouldn’t plant summer veggies like carrots or tomatoes in the winter would you? No way Jose, my intrepid readers aren’t that silly.

Just like carrots, there is a ideal time to plant the seed of knowledge in preparing for the CS200 material.

Allow sufficient time for plants to grow to their full potential

Want to eat zucchini  in a few months? Would you plant them the day before your big dinner party? Unless you want to be serving the Von Hammerstiens seeds you’ll need to plant them in advance and give them enough time to get all the nutrients and water to become tasty goodness.

Got your acceptance letter for the PCP course? You should be starting to study your CS200 already. Go to the library and take out some A&P books and read through them slowly. Give yourself ample time to digest the information that you can without any pressure. you will be surprised how much you have learned by the time you get your textbooks and work book. By the time  the online portion actually officially opens you should be nearly covered the material. This gives you the entire month to review and go deeper into the material.

Water everyday, but don’t overwater!

Just like your swiss chard, your brain prefers manageable sources. if you overwater your chard it will become overloaded and may not survive to your dinner plate. If you try and cram as much as possible into that skull of yours everyday you will burn yourself out. Study in smaller chunks, taking lots of breaks so you can absorb the information you learnt. If you study a little everyday for 3 months you will not only know the material, but you will retain and understand the material for a longer time than simply memorizing it for the test.

Prune to focus growing power

If you don’t prune your grapes or fruit trees there is a lot of wasted energy going to leaves and branches that could otherwise be making you some succulent fruit.

The same goes for studying, if you can recite the cranial nerves and their areas of innervation backwards and forwards, but cannot name the endocrine organs or hormones to save your life… trim your study time to focus on your weakness and buff that up. Your understanding will be broader and this will help your systemic understanding of the body.

Make sure they get plenty of sun

Your rhubarb needs lots of sun to grow, and you need sun to keep yourself from turning into an albino cave dweller.

Studying is important, but your health is even more so. Hit the books, but spend a lot of time outside. When you take your regular breaks step outside, go for a walk, horse around with friends or study partners. throw a frisbee around. Try to study outside and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine.

In no time at all you will be harvesting your glorious bounty of fruit and veggies!

Oh and your A&P shouldn’t be too shabby either.

Baby steps

My PCP course is officially underway, our CS200 course opened up about 2 weeks ago and we had our program orientation.

“Good bye social life for 4 months! Say hello to 7 day a week students. Make sure you develop good habits now, if you wait till the classroom starts it’ll be too late!”

They warned us and I’m inclined to believe them! But man am I excited!

To sum up everything I have heard and learnt about the program prestart is this:

Prepare yourself for a tough and challenging journey, and be prepare to have an absolute blast!

The PCP bootcamp was fantastic, it was great meeting some of my classmates, touring the campus, meeting some of the key players in the JIBC hierachy. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire day and highly recommend any future students to attend.

Our day looked like this:

• talk from the dean, the program co-ordinator
• workshops on time management, financial aid and budgeting, study habits
• Q&A and presentation with current PCP students
• Workshop on Library resources
• Free lunch!

It was like a full school day, 8:30-4:00 and lots of information was there for the taking.

We had some speeches from the program bigwigs welcoming us to the program, then off to various workshops to help prepare us for the coming 6 months. Effective time management, effective studying, stress management; these were all very helpful using proven techniques for your learning style (an overwhelming majority of the students were kinesthetic ~70%).

Techniques like rewording the headings into questions (Why is the musculoskeletal system important?) skimming through the first read-through, using different ways to study (watch a video on it, practice quizzes, draw pictures, write and re-write, use flashcards).

Information on financial aid and how to properly budget not only your money but also your time. How to cut out distractions and focus on what is crucial is going to be a big challenge!

We had a good presentation and Q&A with some of the current PCP students and their list of things we wish we had known/ done better. Was very interesting and made the course seem much more real to speak with people who have just gone through what you are just about to begin.

The day ended with a rousing speech by the Program Director that had some very inspiring words that I took to heart.

But the best part of the day was how it freaked me the hell out! it made me shift into the next gear in terms of studying and preparing for the course. Hearing all this information and advice really made one thing hit home: This is really happening

I continue to take my small bites of the CS200 material and soon I will have a complete meal in me. I feel like I’m a baby just learning how to crawl and soon I’ll be needing to know how to run.

On your marks, get set…

Clinical Sciences 200

Being accepted to the Primary Care Paramedic (PCP) program at the Justice Institute of BC (JIBC) means one thing. For 7 months starting in August I will be eating, breathing, sleeping and seeing paramedicine. i have heard how intense the course will be, how straining and stressful it is, how difficult the coursework can be… but oddly enough that just makes me all the more excited to start.

I am chomping at the bit to start and having received my textbooks and first study guide in the mail a few weeks ago i have lost no time in diving into the first portion of the course.

Clinical sciences 200; I have heard the horror stories about this online course    that is to be completed before “official” classes begin. I cannot count on a single finger  how many times I’ have heard the words “It’s the hardest part of the course” or “Start  asap if you want any chance at all of covering that material”

For those who are unfamiliar CS200 is the Anatomy and Physiology portion of the  PCP course, we are expected to have quite a detailed knowlege of the human body and it’s  various systems before we even start the main portion of the course.

Now many students are coming in with previous A&P experience or knowlege which simplifies it slightly for them, no unfortunately for me my entire A&P repertoire consists of reading the book “Everybody Poops”.

I think I have my work cut out for me…