In 2nd year PA school, PA students complete clinical rotations at 4-6 (or more!) weeks at a time in different areas of medicine including Family Medicine, Emergency medicine, Internal Medicine, Surgery, Psychiatry, and more! Brooke started her clerkship year by completing a rotation in a very specialized area – Radiation Oncology.

Maitry and I interviewed Brooke Grant, a 2nd year PA Student who just completed her clinical rotation elective at Princess Margaret Hospital – Cancer Centre. She shares her experience – as well as a few tips on how to excel during your clinical year!

In this interview, Brooke discusses:

– How I heard about the PA Profession: 0:48
– What attracted me to the PA profession: 1:13
– My First Clerkship Rotation – Radiaion Oncology 2:01
– Starting with an elective instead of a core rotation: 3:44
– Learning Objectives in Radiation Oncology 4:41
– Imaging Exposure in Radiation Oncology 5:37
– Meeting My Personal Learning Objectives 6:06
– Presenting at Tumor Boards 7:15
– What a Clinical Clerk can Expect from a Preceptor 7:47
– Having a PA as a Clinical Preceptor: 8:37
– How my Confidence changed 9:49
– My Personal Learning Project (PLP) 11:14
– Process for Developing Standarized Templates for different cancer site groups 13:01
– What I enjoyed about my Radiation Oncology Rotation 14:25
– Advice to 2nd year PA Students 15:29
– Tips on How to be Successful in a Challenging Clinical Rotation 16:59
– Adjusting to a Different Schedule 18:31
– How My Understanding of a PA changed after starting 2nd year PA School 20:18
– My PA Elevator Pitch 20:48
– How I interact with Patients 21:26
– Building Rapport with Staff 22:46