Sketchy Medical, Picmonic, or Pathoma???

[Mawrter]

Hey all!

I'm starting PA school in a few weeks! (yay!!!!!!)

I'm looking for study resources and found Sketchy Medical, Picmonic, and Pathoma.

Has anyone used any or all of these and which do you most recommend for didactic year? Clinical year?

Thank you in advance.

 

[fishbum]

Whatever you get, make sure to get lots of practice questions to work on. That has been the most valuable tool for me by far. 

[Blynn12]

I personally didn't find these types of study techniques to be helpful, but I had a lot of classmates who liked learning this way.  Just not my thing.  However, I think PicMonic is good because the clips are short and to the point - they're usually just a few minutes long so its easy to maintain attention and you can watch a clip anywhere quickly.  Sketchy med clips were longer and so a more elaborate storyline to follow.  These are decent supplements to help learning during didactic year.  During clinical year, I use UpToDate through my school library to look things up more than anything and of course PANCE review books.

[Hckyplyr]

In my experience, micro wasn't nearly as detail oriented in PA school as it was in Med school. I did not use those sources in PA school, did great in micro, but didn't really remember much at all. In med school, I used pathoma and sketchy, and I remember literally everything from sketchy and will remember those details for years. Many friends used picmonic too and loved it. However, those sources might be too detailed for PA school, so I wouldn't want you wasting time memorizing things you won't be tested on. In PA school, time is limited as it is. Also, I'd recommend finding the PDF versions of sketchy if you can, it's basically the picture, and a bunch of bullets points describing what each detail represents. That way, you don't have to waste time watching the video. Since I've done it both ways, (with and without those sources), I would highly recommend them for long term retention.

[Rondaben]

I have two of the three--picmonic and pathoma.

In retrospect, picmonic was ok but after using for the first round of exams or 2 I moved to pathoma and never looked back.  I would buy it again in a heartbeat (and probably will as review for the PANCE). Its a great time saver and the explanations are on point.

[Bf555]

Pathoma is phenomenal. I loved it especially for hematology


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[mooredc]

I would also throw a vote out for pathoma. I think it is a lifesaver. 

[Kavanaugh]

I loved sketchy pharmacology. Some of their videos are up on youtube or you can watch a few samples on their website and see if it is for you. I also used it occasionally for micro. A bunch of us shared a login.

[EastCoastPA]

If you haven't yet, check out DIRTYUSMLE on youtube, some of their stuff is straight up gold when it comes to memorizing the really gritty and dry topics

[stargirl]

I haven't tried Pathoma yet but SketchyPharm has been a lifesaver for me. I can watch a video once and remember details on the medication months later just by recalling the storyline.  I watched a few Picmonic videos and I feel that Sketchy is more memorable in general.

[JoyfulNoise]

I’m in 2nd semester and have been looking into this question quite a bit.

I’ve decided to use Sketchy Medicine, Osmosis, Golji Audio, PANCE Pearls and distill everything into Anki. 

:-)

[Hopeful2015]

I think Anki is totally overkill for PA school and most people would drive themselves insane trying to keep up with it. Medical students have a lot more time between topics. Imo you should keep it simple. PANCE prep pearls, online med Ed, and smarty PANCE questions covers everything you’ll ever be tested on in school. 

[Dono]

I personally used Sketchy Pharm and Sketchy Micro– yes some info is over kill, but it the info doesn't take a lot of time. I will use Pathoma here and there– may use it more often in the near future to understand the topic better. 

Anki does not work for me since spaced rep requires enough space between topics. It may only be beneficial for finals or PANCE. I would love a PANCE Anki app. 

[psych2PA]

In regards to sketchy pharm, how can I start the free trial on there? I would just like to try it out before paying for it... I do see "start your free trial" on their website but every time I click it, it brings me to the checkout screen with no other choice but to pay for the whole subscription. I emailed their company but just curious if any of you have any experience with that.

[jzh0002]

I started using Picmonic a couple months into PA school and it was incredibly helpful for pharmacology. I would definitely use it early on to supplement your studying as all the information up front can be overwhelming. Picmonic and Sketchy Medical both operate on the same audiovisual principle, which is great for building a foundation of facts that can be retained long-term (which is incredibly helpful as things begin to piece together nicely in your Clinical Medicine courses where anatomy, pathophysiology, diagnostic interpretation, and pharmacology all collide). 

Picmonic has a free trial you can use - I would recommend finding a few "hard to remember" disease states or drugs and trying it out. They also have a quiz feature that is very helpful to test your short/long term memory!

I am actually on my PA program's challenge bowl team, and I use Picmonic and Anki A TON to stay on top of all the buzzwords, triads, etc because Picmonic does a really great job on focusing on big ticket items and high yield info. 

Let me know if you have any questions!

jzh0002369@gmail.com

[Jenn22]

1. Onlinemeded

2. Picmonic is good in therory, but the detail is lacking for me. I paid for it and it's meh

3. YOUTUBE!!! Save your money - NinjaNerd, AnatomyZone, Noted Anatomist, Armando Hausudagen (?)

4. Search your classes on quizlet -you might find material from the class ahead of you. "*** PA 2020" or the specific class. (Work smarter, not harder) 

5. Teamwork makes the dreamwork - use googledocs and spread out objectives and tasks