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Once Accepted, what do I do between now and when schools starts?


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I am now a proud member of Northern Arizona University's PA Class of 2019. I have approximately 8 months before school starts. For those people who are just getting accepted or those already in school or through it, what do I do between now and august? I have been told to relax and not do any studying. Others have told me to start brushing up on my anatomy? What is the best way to spend my time? I don't want to get to school and kick myself for not spending the time I have the best way possible. Any advice would be great.

 

Fyi I work full time. This is specifically what to do in my free time.

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Congrats on your acceptance! Your hard work has paid off! I'd personally take pharmacology for credit no credit and brush up on medical terminology, so that way when you take these classes it'll be just a repeat. If your program requires medical Spanish, id study and brush up on that as well. Enjoy yourself and savour every moment of sleep you can get :) congrats again on your acceptance!!!

 

 

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Thank you. Those are awesome Ideas.  Fortunately for me, my program does not require medical Spanish. Although it can never hurt to learn especially since I am going to school in Arizona. That's an excellent Idea with the Pharm.  Would undergrad level or even community college be sufficient enough detail to be worth taking?

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Sleep. Relax. Breath. Enjoy the moments of not having a deadline looming. Enjoy not feeling like you are ill-prepared or have no idea what is going on (these moments will happen more than you are comfortable with).

 

And I am in direct opposition to the other posting. I feel there is very little I could have done to prepare me for the volume of information that is thrown at you. I would say a better idea is to get yourself into a schedule that you are comfortable with. Know how you study best. Improve on basic science areas you may feel weak in. Even the content that is "review" is taught at a much more complex level (at least in my program). I had a pretty solid foundation going into my PA program, and was hoping there would be "review" components, but so much of learning medicine is different than learning sciences.

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Thank you. This is why I posted this. I wanted to get others opinions. I think that's a great idea to get myself into a schedule now.

 

The whole thing about constantly feeling ill prepared makes me nervous. Im a type A guy. I like being ontop of my stuff.

 

Am I crazy to want to factor into my day an hour at the gym every day? Do you have enough time to do anything else but study?

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You can make time still for what is important to you. This is why I think dnvrlikethecity advise of getting into a good routine and schedule is huge. I'm in a 3 year program and just finished my 4th of 5 didactic semesters. There are a few things I still make a point to do which is workout 3-4 times a week and every Sunday I spend about 2-3 hours food prepping for the week so I can stay eating healthy. You can easily still make time for those things that are important but you have to have a schedule and know how you study best in order to make your time studying as efficient as possible.

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Thank you. This is why I posted this. I wanted to get others opinions. I think that's a great idea to get myself into a schedule now.

 

The whole thing about constantly feeling ill prepared makes me nervous. Im a type A guy. I like being ontop of my stuff.

 

Am I crazy to want to factor into my day an hour at the gym every day? Do you have enough time to do anything else but study?

You can definitely still train during school. I actually competed in a few powerlifting meets even. Your time is limited though. I feel/felt as if you sort of get one activity outside school.... whether it's lifting, socializing, or whatever else you choose to prioritize.

 

Planning and prepping is important. You'll have to figure out what schedule works for you. For me, I preferred to train Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. That's just what worked for me.

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I would say you should definitely budget time into your day for exercising. You'll feel better about yourself and be a more efficient studier. Do what you need to do to make yourself sane and happy. 

 

Pharmacology is a great idea if you wanted to review some of the basics. Of all classes I felt it really connected the dots between all of the prerequisites like orgo, biochem, and A&P. I would have been a clinical pharmacist in an alternate life. If you're working in a clinical position right now, try writing down one or two drugs a day that certain patients are on. When you get home, look up the mechanisms of that drug and the drug class in general. You'll remember it if it's actually associated with a patient, and it doesn't really feel like "studying." Don't worry about all the wonky names. Focus more on the patterns (i.e. -lol = beta blocker or -pam = BDZ). 

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This is a FAQ.  To summarize what I've said elsewhere:

* You need to be able to sit in class 30+ hours per week and study 30+ more on day 1.  If you don't have study stamina, develop some so you don't fall behind.  WHAT you study isn't that important, but anatomy and pharmacology are reasonable choices.

* Don't get your loved ones' hopes and expectations up by spending excessive time with them.  Even if they intellectually know that you will be consumed by school soon, the sudden removal of your presence can still be an emotional system shock--they will feel abandoned.  I advocate tapering down your presence sustainably to avoid that.

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Hi! Congratulations! I recently took gross anatomy at NAU with the PA students as an undergrad last semester and it was amazing. You're going to LOVE it! What I found that had most people stuggle with was origin & insertion of both upper and lower extremities and their muscle actions. You will also have to know what nerves innervaye these muscles. If you can get your head around that you will be golden! There are 2 exams on that stuff alone. Good luck!

 

 

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* Don't get your loved ones' hopes and expectations up by spending excessive time with them.  Even if they intellectually know that you will be consumed by school soon, the sudden removal of your presence can still be an emotional system shock--they will feel abandoned.  I advocate tapering down your presence sustainably to avoid that.

 

"No, Dear, I'm not going fishing for the weekend. I'm sustainably tapering down my presence!"

 

That's awesome...why didn't I think of that?!?

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