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I start PA School in t-minus one week and 3 days! I am so over-joyed to get into the school of my choice on my first time applying! However, needless to say, I am nervous!!! While I got good grades in undergrad, I had to work HARD to get those grades. 

Nothing ever came super easy to me!

Does anyone have any advice to a student who is just starting? Any words of wisdom?

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Congrats! Here are a few things I learned through my first semester. I'm into my second semester now.

 
Let your support system know what you are getting into. No, you are not dying, but let them know you might miss out on things. For me, I basically come home, have dinner with my husband and then I'm in my study room for the rest of the evening and usually try to be in bed by 11pm. We average 3-4 exams/quizzes per week and then midterms and finals it can be 5-8 exams in a week.
 
Be open to change with your study habits until you find what works best. What you did in undergrad may or may not work in PA school.
I personally spent a ton of time studying in undergrad so the amount of studying in PA school wasn't an insane shock but it was for many of my classmates. The hardest thing for me is in undergrad I had my job which provided a change of scenery and a break from studying. I don't have that now and so while it is nice to have the one focus of just school, it is also hard and monotonous at times.
 
Don't stress about what other people are doing. If you study differently than everyone else and are doing well, who cares! If someone got a better score than you, it doesn't matter. There is no more competition between who has the better GPA. You are all in this together and it doesn't do any good to compare. Different aspects will come more naturally while others won't. 
 
Keep all your notes organized and have them in way you can use down the road during rotations and for the PANCE. Literally everything is cumulative and I feel like there aren't firm lines between classes sometimes. Things you learn in history and physical draw from what you know from clinical medicine which draws from the meds you are learning in pharmacology.
 
Don't think you can cram and regurgitate information. You constantly need to be studying so you don't get behind. 
 
I'm also learning that I'm not necessarily going to love every subject we learn about but regardless it is all important. Some lectures or topics will be boring and you just have to find the bits about it that keep you interested.
 
Lastly, celebrate your milestones and accomplishments! And be able to evaluate any short comings you have and improve on them.
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I'll echo the "don't get behind" ... and it can be easy to do.  

 

Along that vein, ask for help when you need it, as soon as you know you need it.  You won't have time to figure it out later, and everything you're learning does tend to be interrelated and cumulative.  

 

And I don't mean just going to your instructor, or your advisor.  As was said above, you're all in this together, these are your future colleagues, and you're training to be part of a health care team.  Your classmates are part of your resources. Don't let pride, or shame, or anything else, get in your way of asking for help.  I got some real pearls of learning/teaching aids from classmates who weren't part of my usual study group, just by posting to my entire cohort that I was struggling with XYZ and asking if anyone had anything to help.  Requests like this also led to some the class holding open-invite student-led sessions after hours.  e.g., one of our classmates was extremely knowledgeable on the cardiovascular system (our cardiology PA instructor used him in class too!) and he held ECG basics sessions to help anyone struggling; same goes for a former respiratory therapist - they held some sessions on assessing and treating acid-base disorders.  

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PA school is a challenge but certainly manageable with good study habits.  The trick is learning how to (efficiently) learn right from the beginning.  This is a skill that requires research and honing.  I've seen people who really struggled in undergrad apply these principles in PA / medical school and only studied 1-2 hours a day, had plenty of time every day for exercise, eating well, friends/family, and still did excellent.  Truth be told, I wish I had learned these techniques before starting because my biggest regret was not enjoying my awesome classmates as much as I could have if I had been more efficient.  Yes, PA school is about learning medicine, but don't forget the value of your classmates... I made several friends for life there, and years after graduating we are still a big support for each other. 

 

 

 

So what is "high quality studying"?  I certainly was never taught it...  

 

1)Watch this video:  https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=marty+lobdell+study+less+study+smart

 

 

2) read this:  http://tguilfoyle.cm...hat_doesn't.pdf

(if the link is broken, just google, "studying what works what doesn't scientific american", and you should find a PDF download on any number of links from universities around the world.)

 

 

3) For a medical perspective on how one might apply these techniques to medicine, check out this blog post by one of my favorite emergency medicine bloggers:  https://first10em.com/2016/09/26/making-it-stick/#more-2803

 

 

Take some time now before you start and learn how to learn, and spend as much time as possible with your classmates during that first month - its when most of the friendships are made.  Those are the two most important things in my opinion - the rest of the details will iron out with time.  Enjoy PA school... it can be a great time if you make it so!

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The things I am going to say may sound bad but I came out of PA school with a 3.91 GPA...

 

Do not try to listen/take notes every moment of every lecture.  I tried that.  I came home every night the first month or two of PA school and went to bed at 7 without eating dinner.

 

You will probably be in lecture thirty some hours a week sitting behind a laptop.  Use that time to complete assignments from that class or other classes as needed.. 

 

Do not study in groups.  Do not make flash cards.

 

Learn about the kidney in exquisite detail.  JUST DO IT.

 

Get on youtube and use Paul Bolin's lectures to study for pretty much everything.   There are also some good videos on regional anatomy here and there.  Maximize passive studying.  I listened to these videos in the car on the way to class, while cooking dinner, while painting my nails, etc.

 

You hopefully will have some awesome attendings during clinicals but you will also have some who are abusive or apathetic.  Study up and act professional.  Remember you are only there for a month.  Do not lie about what specialty you want to go into.  I had some great experiences in the OR on GYN and Ortho with surgeons who were well aware I was going into Psych. 

 

Congratulations on your achievement and best of luck in PA school.

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The things I am going to say may sound bad but I came out of PA school with a 3.91 GPA...

 

Do not try to listen/take notes every moment of every lecture.  I tried that.  I came home every night the first month or two of PA school and went to bed at 7 without eating dinner.

 

You will probably be in lecture thirty some hours a week sitting behind a laptop.  Use that time to complete assignments from that class or other classes as needed.. 

 

Do not study in groups.  Do not make flash cards.

 

Learn about the kidney in exquisite detail.  JUST DO IT.

 

Get on youtube and use Paul Bolin's lectures to study for pretty much everything.   There are also some good videos on regional anatomy here and there.  Maximize passive studying.  I listened to these videos in the car on the way to class, while cooking dinner, while painting my nails, etc.

 

You hopefully will have some awesome attendings during clinicals but you will also have some who are abusive or apathetic.  Study up and act professional.  Remember you are only there for a month.  Do not lie about what specialty you want to go into.  I had some great experiences in the OR on GYN and Ortho with surgeons who were well aware I was going into Psych. 

 

Congratulations on your achievement and best of luck in PA school.

 

I wouldn't discourage anyone from studying in groups or making flashcards. If that's what works for them then that's what they should do. I study on my own (and make flashcards), but I also have a weekly study group with 5-10 of my classmates. It's been working well for me so far.

 

The important thing to figure out is what works for you. I'll echo what's been said before - what works best for others may not work for you and vice-versa. Good luck to you BadgerPA.

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Everyone of the many thousands of us who went through PA school each have our thoughts so take us all with a grain of salt. Here's what I learned:

 

1. Each of us had his or her own learning style prior to PA school. That style may or may not still work for you in PA school, and what works for you in one class may not work in others. Be willing to try new approaches when what you are using doesn't seem to be working.

 

2. Stay calm and don't get flustered. Get some exercise to clear your mind, eat when you should, and try to get some rest. Find out if you're really a morning or evening kind of person and adjust your schedule to study when you are at the top of your game.

 

3. Don't agonize about your grades. Do your best but don't be hung up on being the best. In the end, all you need to do is survive to see what's next.

 

4. Have a good support structure. Enjoy your classmates, call your wife and/or parents, whatever.

 

I was (and am!) an old guy when I went to school. I loved the experience. It was hard, but very focused. In the rest of your life, you have lots of competing priorities. Not in PA school. I lived away from home all week and generally drove home for the weekends (unless I had a Monday or Tuesday exam). I didn't study at home because, there, I was first of all a son, husband, father, and grandfather. I felt like the traveling salesman who busts his butt all week so he can spend time with his family. That was doable.

 

And, as I said, thousands and thousands of others have followed this path and made it successfully. Odds are that you will too.

 

Good luck!

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Can someone here provide examples of PowerPoints or course material from PA school so some of the pre-PA's can get a feel of what the exams will be like? I for one would absolutely love that, as I have no real idea what to expect. Everyone just keeps saying you'll need to study and study a lot which is kind of vague.

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I can give you an idea of the classes I'm in now and the subjects we are covering.

History/physical exam- finishing up the HEENT physical exam with a competency this Friday where we perform the physical exam with a proctor and write documentation of findings.

Pharmacology 2- Cardiac meds (HTN, CHF, antianginal drugs) with an antibiotic overview.

Clinical Medicine- Currently cardiology module. Exam this Monday covering CHF, cardiomyopathies, cardiac emergencies and all meds, diagnostics, treatment/management for everything. We are getting some EKG lectures this week too which should be good!

Medical seminar- mostly case study reviews and clinical thinking skills

Physiology/biochem- respiratory system

Pathophysiology- respiratory pathologies

Integrative medicine- really cool class. We learned about yoga recently and did some as a class.

Anatomy 2 with cadaver dissection lab

 

Personally, in undergrad I usually had 4-5 different classes. Now I have 8 classes. For example we have 12 hours of cardiology lecture this week. My schedule in undergrad was a 50 minute lecture three times a week usually. So the comparison of one subject for 3 hours a week versus 12 hours a week is a difference. Yeah I have my actual powerpoints you could go through but the context of the lecture is important too.

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Can someone here provide examples of PowerPoints or course material from PA school so some of the pre-PA's can get a feel of what the exams will be like? I for one would absolutely love that, as I have no real idea what to expect. Everyone just keeps saying you'll need to study and study a lot which is kind of vague.

 

Every program is different - both with lectures and exams.  I personally wouldn't feel comfortable sharing powerpoints (feels wrong) but the main point is, PA school is often death by powerpoints.  A 1 hr lecture may have 60+ slides and every slide is packed with information that is important and testable.  And you have 6-8 hrs a day of that.  Your exam on a section may only be 60 questions but you have 20+ hours of lecture that is considered fair game for the test.  In addition to likely 20+ chapters of reading (big, boring chapters like Current, Cecil's, Harrison's, etc.) also fair game.  

 

When you cram all of didactic into 1 year there is just always something to be studying.  Don't worry about not knowing what to expect - you're in the same boat as your classmates and every other new PA student.  You'll learn quickly how your program does lectures, how they do exams, and the most important thing: there actually isn't enough time in each day to study everything they tell you you should be studying.  Find what works for you and do it.  It might change with different courses, different sections, etc.  As someone else suggested, Bolin videos are great if you're an auditory/visual learner.  Maybe reviewing powerpoints where you can recall what the lecturer said is for you.  Or maybe you need to ignore it all and just hunker down and read the books.  Maybe you need to do it on your own or maybe you need to talk it out with classmates.  Everyone has what works for them.

 

There are a lot of details and just a ton of information.  And everyone studies and learns differently.  I personally learn by writing so I had to type/write notes for things to sink in.  Did I study several hours every day?  No.  Do I have classmates who did?  Absolutely.  Some people spent all their time studying and happily pulled B's.  Some people hardly studied and just paid attention in class and breezed by on A's.  There are so many variables.  But you WILL have to study.  

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For most classes my least useful study tools were my lecture notes. I found good review books (pearls and van rhee were my most used) along with some good text books (CMDT, step up to medicine and lippincott pharmacology review) helpful. For videos Khan academy is good but doesn't cover all the topics, cme4life has some helpful mnemonics. pa exam review is one good podcast lots of others. Im partial to the AFP and EM boot camp ones but they are not always exactly relevant to didactic and might be more suited to clinicals. Finally use quizlet, search for sets based on your class and you will find lots. I found reviewing questions the best way to learn.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

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I can give you an idea of the classes I'm in now and the subjects we are covering.

History/physical exam- finishing up the HEENT physical exam with a competency this Friday where we perform the physical exam with a proctor and write documentation of findings.

Pharmacology 2- Cardiac meds (HTN, CHF, antianginal drugs) with an antibiotic overview.

Clinical Medicine- Currently cardiology module. Exam this Monday covering CHF, cardiomyopathies, cardiac emergencies and all meds, diagnostics, treatment/management for everything. We are getting some EKG lectures this week too which should be good!

Medical seminar- mostly case study reviews and clinical thinking skills

Physiology/biochem- respiratory system

Pathophysiology- respiratory pathologies

Integrative medicine- really cool class. We learned about yoga recently and did some as a class.

Anatomy 2 with cadaver dissection lab

 

Personally, in undergrad I usually had 4-5 different classes. Now I have 8 classes. For example we have 12 hours of cardiology lecture this week. My schedule in undergrad was a 50 minute lecture three times a week usually. So the comparison of one subject for 3 hours a week versus 12 hours a week is a difference. Yeah I have my actual powerpoints you could go through but the context of the lecture is important too.

This was a great rundown! Yeah if there's anyway you could shoot me that file that'd be wonderful as well. Thanks!

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Every program is different - both with lectures and exams.  I personally wouldn't feel comfortable sharing powerpoints (feels wrong) but the main point is, PA school is often death by powerpoints.  A 1 hr lecture may have 60+ slides and every slide is packed with information that is important and testable.  And you have 6-8 hrs a day of that.  Your exam on a section may only be 60 questions but you have 20+ hours of lecture that is considered fair game for the test.  In addition to likely 20+ chapters of reading (big, boring chapters like Current, Cecil's, Harrison's, etc.) also fair game.  

 

When you cram all of didactic into 1 year there is just always something to be studying.  Don't worry about not knowing what to expect - you're in the same boat as your classmates and every other new PA student.  You'll learn quickly how your program does lectures, how they do exams, and the most important thing: there actually isn't enough time in each day to study everything they tell you you should be studying.  Find what works for you and do it.  It might change with different courses, different sections, etc.  As someone else suggested, Bolin videos are great if you're an auditory/visual learner.  Maybe reviewing powerpoints where you can recall what the lecturer said is for you.  Or maybe you need to ignore it all and just hunker down and read the books.  Maybe you need to do it on your own or maybe you need to talk it out with classmates.  Everyone has what works for them.

 

There are a lot of details and just a ton of information.  And everyone studies and learns differently.  I personally learn by writing so I had to type/write notes for things to sink in.  Did I study several hours every day?  No.  Do I have classmates who did?  Absolutely.  Some people spent all their time studying and happily pulled B's.  Some people hardly studied and just paid attention in class and breezed by on A's.  There are so many variables.  But you WILL have to study.  

I'm awful at reading textbooks. My preferred learning style is by learning the meat of it usually hit on in PowerPoint and reproducing what I studied from them on exams. Not necessarily regurgitating since I actually learn from what I study, but nevertheless I prefer PowerPoint to textbooks. Is that an effective technique or is there no way around reading textbook chapters?

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Not only is each program different, but so is each professor. Some put most of the major takeaways in the slides while others take some of their test questions from the readings. You can usually get a sense of which camp your instructor is in from him or her, as well as from students a year ahead of you.

 

While some things need to be memorized, the focus -- to me -- is on understanding the material so that you can best recall it in the clinical setting.

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I'm awful at reading textbooks. My preferred learning style is by learning the meat of it usually hit on in PowerPoint and reproducing what I studied from them on exams. Not necessarily regurgitating since I actually learn from what I study, but nevertheless I prefer PowerPoint to textbooks. Is that an effective technique or is there no way around reading textbook chapters?

 

Depends on your program.  

 

If they put all the details in the powerpoints that will be on the exam, then you might not need the books.  If they intentionally test from the book details that they don't include in powerpoints in order to ensure that you ARE reading books, well, there you go.  You could likely just study powerpoints and pass in that scenario but you wouldn't be getting everything your program is trying to get you to learn. Also, depending on who is doing your lectures/powerpoints you'll find that they aren't always good.  No point in studying bad material.

 

We had one class where the lectures covered most the material in class but exams did come from the book and, quite honestly, the book was more interesting so we all abandoned the powerpoints and just read the chapters.  Might not have been everyone's *preferred* studying style but at the end of the day it was the best option for that course.  Your time is limited, work the system. 

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Thanks to all who are answering this thread; I start in July and really appreciate the insight, advice and recommendations.

I'm curious about your thoughts on visual mnemonic services, in particular Picmonic. The content of theirs I've seen looks good; I'm wondering if it's applicable enough to PA school to justify the expense.

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  • 1 month later...

Thank you all so very much for your help. Finding this forum as a pre-PA student was one of the best thing I have ever came across. I am starting PA school in August and I can't tell you how happy I am to start this next chapter of my life. I am very nervous, but that's a good thing.

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Thank you all for this topic and discussion.  I have a few questions as well!

1.  I see a lot of people that use the self testing method (I know that method also works for me).  I plan on using ANKI because of the spaced learning aspects of it over quizlet.  Do any of you have suggestions on why one would be better than the other or why you prefer one over the other?

2.  I see a lot of people use outside resources not just to supplement but in many cases to replace some of the recommended course materials.  I am think about Pathoma, PANCE Prep Pearls, the "ridiculously easy" series, etc.  do you have any other suggestions for these other types of supplementals?

3.  I'm a strong visual and kinesthetic learner.  Listening to lecture is often not the best use of my time and I am anticipating that I will use it more to identify the key points to focus study time on.  Are there any suggestions you may have for your learning type?

4.  Like UGoLong I'm a lot older student (almost 46 at matriculation) with a family.  My kids are older (just starting high school the week before I start PA school!) so although there is a lot of outside things I will be missing they are all very supportive and have a good idea of what to expect.  Those of you that are married and have families--what are some specific suggestions you would have?  I'm a realist and know that there will be things that I will miss out on but it is only for a season.

Thank you all very much for your help!  Like Kanwon2013  I'm starting in August and am starting to feel the nervousness about it but it will be an amazing ride!

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On 7/12/2017 at 11:42 AM, Rondaben said:

Thank you all for this topic and discussion.  I have a few questions as well!

1.  I see a lot of people that use the self testing method (I know that method also works for me).  I plan on using ANKI because of the spaced learning aspects of it over quizlet.  Do any of you have suggestions on why one would be better than the other or why you prefer one over the other?

2.  I see a lot of people use outside resources not just to supplement but in many cases to replace some of the recommended course materials.  I am think about Pathoma, PANCE Prep Pearls, the "ridiculously easy" series, etc.  do you have any other suggestions for these other types of supplementals?

3.  I'm a strong visual and kinesthetic learner.  Listening to lecture is often not the best use of my time and I am anticipating that I will use it more to identify the key points to focus study time on.  Are there any suggestions you may have for your learning type?

4.  Like UGoLong I'm a lot older student (almost 46 at matriculation) with a family.  My kids are older (just starting high school the week before I start PA school!) so although there is a lot of outside things I will be missing they are all very supportive and have a good idea of what to expect.  Those of you that are married and have families--what are some specific suggestions you would have?  I'm a realist and know that there will be things that I will miss out on but it is only for a season.

Thank you all very much for your help!  Like Kanwon2013  I'm starting in August and am starting to feel the nervousness about it but it will be an amazing ride!

I relate to your third question, and it's something that is making me nervous. It was easy for me to not "focus" during lectures in undergrad, but I know that won't fly in PA school. I am having trouble figuring out what to do to aid that, because I feel like I don't learn much in lecture-based settings. 

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On 7/16/2017 at 0:57 PM, Wellness said:

I relate to your third question, and it's something that is making me nervous. It was easy for me to not "focus" during lectures in undergrad, but I know that won't fly in PA school. I am having trouble figuring out what to do to aid that, because I feel like I don't learn much in lecture-based settings. 

You will certainly learn that not being able to listen in lecture will at some point hurt you. It did me. I am also a very visual and kinesthetic learner who got away with simply not going to most of my undergrad classes. Depending on your program attending class daily may be a requirement- i know it is for mine. 

Long story short I ended up having to go on ADD medication to help me focus in class- not my first solution but i figure whatever will get me through didactic year. 

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11 minutes ago, Wellness said:

I was diagnosed with ADD a few months ago, but I am super hesitant to go on the medications. I believe my program allows three absences for the whole year, so I won't get away with not attending. I wouldn't want to anyway. 

Look at options and think about this. Are you going to be the "do as I say not as I do" provider? 

Look at behavior modification with a therapist. Think about how you are starting a profession and how you REALLY want to carry it out for years to come.

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1 minute ago, Reality Check 2 said:

Look at options and think about this. Are you going to be the "do as I say not as I do" provider? 

Look at behavior modification with a therapist. Think about how you are starting a profession and how you REALLY want to carry it out for years to come.

You're definitely right, I don't want to be that type of provider. I actually wasn't aware there were other options other than medication. My PCP just suggested stimulants (he would refer me out) or Buproprion (something he would prescribe). 

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