Studying while in PA School during the Didatic year

[AZ-Buckeye]

My question to PA's who have completed there first year of the program or have graduated. I start school in July and the advice I have received was when studying to keep it general and know the concepts or theory rather than trying to memorize everything, I know PA school cant teach you everything and the volume of information taught in a short period of time is the challenge. I also know it is the students responsibility to learn the information for there own benefit to become a strong clinician and pass the pance. In the past when studying I have tried to learn everything in an attempt to be prepared for exams. My question is how do you know how far and how in dept to study and what study techniques or strategies have been successful or unsuccessful. Also, what techniques or strategies have been utilized to prepare for the pance during while you are in school that first year ? I know the first year will be a challenge and good time managment is a must. For me its the fear of not being prepared and I have over compensated by trying to study and learn everything. Any advice is welcome.

[UGoLong]

You raise an interesting point and one that initially caused me angst in PA school. I had worked my way through a BS and two masters, along with PA prereqs, before getting to PA school. I figured that I had studying down to a science and, for the most part, maybe I did.

 

As they say in the military, no plan survives initial contact with the enemy. I learned quickly -- in anatomy -- that what got you to PA school isn't what necessarily gets you through it. We had a great talk by the head of the College's learning center about adapting your study techniques to different classes. I found the following to be true for me:

 

1. The only way I could get through anatomy was to memorize and, in my case, to have a really good picture or a plastic model at hand when I did. The cadaver quickly turned into a raw pot roast and it was hard to remember stuff that we had already cut away. I used a computer program, printed pictures from it, and marched around my apartment reciting things over and over.

 

2. In pharm, I found that drawing family trees of drugs worked better for me than trying to memorize tables (drug, indication, mechanism, interactions, advantages, disadvantages, etc). I used lots of colors and was pleasantly surprised that I could visualize the trees during exams.

 

3. For physio and patho, my engineering background may have helped. I learned to visualize how things were supposed to work as a mechanism and then how they could go wrong. If you build up a good understanding for how the body and its processes work, then remembering what the heck is  Factor V Leiden or temporal arteritis is the main thing to remember.

 

4. I never could study in groups and didn't even try. I was always happy to help if someone asked me something, but I wanted to spend my time studying what I didn't know, so I mostly studied in my apartment. 

 

I could go on (I wrote a lot about it in the book), but the important thing is not how I did it, but to get you ready to EXPERIMENT.

 

What gets you to school as far as studying goes, is a good place to start. Like any good football team, be ready to make adjustments as things work (or don't). And don't get discouraged. 

 

Good luck.

[AZ-Buckeye]

Thank you for the great advice. My undergraduate grades were not competitive so when I re-took the pre-reqs for PA school I knew I had to alter my study methods. I did much better but I want to avoid the pitfalls. Unfortunately I am not one who reads a book  or  hears a lecture once and able to recall the info. I need and am willing to put forth extra time to learn a topic. That said, it becomes a comfort level for me to learn and know everything in order to succeed. However, trying to learn and know everything in PA school would be immensely stressful and unproductive. My fear is gaining comfort in not knowing everything and still succeeding. I too am a visual learner, I made rxn maps in O Chem which helped for exams. How do you know how in depth to study a topic ?

[UGoLong]

I think your latest question depends on the topic and what is expected of you. In anatomy, there might be question like "what is this?" or "what nerve enervates this?" In patho, you need to know, for example, diseases, their symptoms, causes, effects, and treatments. A good professor lets you know something about his or her expectations. You can't know everything, but you'd better know what he or she is expecting you to know!

 

If you are the obsessive type (and you might be), then make sure you spend at least 90% of your time learning what the professor expects you to learn and the other 10% chasing other things you are worried about. Tests in PA school are like lampposts on a highway; there's always another one coming. I couldn't remember what I was testing on the week before.

 

Just understand your professors' expectations, apply what you think are your best study techniques for the material, see what happens, and make adjustments as you go. You will not learn everything or remember everything you learned. You will be surprised at how it comes together when you start seeing patients during your rotations.