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Any advices on how to study for the end of rotation PAEA exams? Not necessarily which books to read (can mention if you want), but more about HOW to study (how many days you studied, how many hours each day, etc.). What worked for you and all that. As one above said, I am tired when I come home and I don't feel like doing any reading.

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  • 8 months later...

I was also hoping to find some insight here on the study tips for EORE's regarding hours and study schedule. Any tips?

Go to endofrotation.org

Exams----> Exam Details

Find the exam you will be sitting for.

Clicking on the blueprint will bring you to a matrix of organ systems correlated with task areas. The percentages of each and the actual # of questions that will appear on the exam complete the matrix.

Clicking on the topic list will provide a list of conditions associated with each organ system.

From this you can decided what is important and what is less so.

For example, there will be 5 questions concerning diagnosis of cardiovascular disease in the emergency medicine EORE but zero for clinical therapeutics in hematology.

Looking at the topic list in cardiovascular, a test taker should be able to diagnose the entities listed in cardiovascular disease. On the other hand, focusing on the clinical therapeutics associated with the conditions listed for hematology is a waste of time.

Will this approach guarantee you a high grade? Who knows.

Will this approach guarantee you to pass the test? Likely.

This is similar to studying for the PANCE. No one is going to tell you the questions on the test for obvious reasons and too much direction voids the purpose of assessment. But the above directs a student to develop structure. From this framework, it is likely that they will be able to answer questions correctly. More importantly, they also will have the knowledge base to assist them in being a competent clinician.

Good luck

G Brothers PA-C

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  • 4 months later...

I just finished my Surgery rotation and I can say "Surgery Recall" was an outstanding book. Highly recommended.

 

I studied the parts about the surgeries I would see the next day, and answered most of the questions the doc would pimp me on during the surgery. Was great for answering pimp questions, not so much the EOR exam.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hey everyone! I'm a PA student at Touro University of Nevada and I'm set to graduate in November. I keep a blog and my most recent entry has lots of advice and some resources for clinical rotations. Hope it helps someone! See the link below :-) 

 

https://reviewofsystems.wordpress.com/2015/10/18/clinical-year-reflection-advice-and-resources/

Thanks! I have been reading your blog from the beginning and never took the time to thank you, until now. Best to you and I hope to read some of upcoming adventures as a PA. 

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  • 3 months later...

In summary...  TRY.  Literally just try your hardest to master each rotation you are at.  If you are doing your best you will learn a lot and have a good experience.  Even if you're not interested, fake it til you make it or til the rotation is over.  Whenever you are saying you don't know, also throw in "but I'll look it up" or "can you explain that to me?"  And actually take the time to look up confusing concepts.   Be timely, have a good attitude and study when you can and you'll be golden.

 

:)
 

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Show up early.

Stay late.

Work hard.

Study harder.

Smile at everyone you meet.

Don't piss anyone off.

Be an asset to your team, not a liability.

Never run in the hospital. Period.

Don't be afraid to say something if something seems wrong or you feel like you know something important regrading patient care.

Absorb it all. This is the time to make mistakes, learn from them and grow from them.

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  • 4 months later...

There is some fantastic advice in this thread. One nugget of advice from my pharmacology instructor helped me immensely during clinical rotations, on my first job, and has helped me throughout my career when I have switched specialties:

 

Get a blank planner / telephone book with tabbed dividers with letters of the alphabet on them ("ABC", "DEF", etc).  Whenever you come across something interesting, difficulty for you to remember, or that you find you are looking up frequently, put it in the book. For example: Under "M", I'd write Mastitis, dicloxacillin 500mg PO QID 10-14 days. Or, under "K", I'd write "Knee lac - 4-0 Nylon, check in 7 days, leave in up to 10 days". Also helpful was a chart detailing when to order a CT vs MRI (put under both "C" and "M"), and a photocopied/reduced chart of different types of splints (taped in under "S"). It doesn't end up being in perfect alphabetical order, but since it's yours, it's generally pretty organized and easy to find stuff. When I was studying for the PANCE, it also helped me identify areas of weakness.

 

In the back of the planner, there was a clear zippered pocket that I could put a copy of my DEA, license, BLS/ACLS cards in, etc.

This became my "bible" and I think it was the single most useful thing I did to prepare myself for real life, and to serve as a quick reference for when I was out and working.

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  • 10 months later...

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