Craigk Posted August 7, 2010 Share Posted August 7, 2010 2 hours before class in the am, 4-5 hours at night after class, none from Friday after class til sat around 2-3 (this is my time with family, fetch in the back yard with my Labrador, just defrag time) then start up sat afternoon til midnight and all day pretty much Sunday. Then repeat........ah the joys of PA school. Everybody can tell you what its like and say how much your going to study/read and the volume of information but until you sit down, get a backpack full of books handed to you, stack of power points and they start lecturing then you really have that oh Sh!# moment and understand you DIDN'T realize how hard it was going to be. I'm 2 weeks into my first year and I'm pretty sure I've studied more in those 2 weeks than I did the entire time in nursing school and that is in no way an exaggeration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acozadd Posted August 7, 2010 Share Posted August 7, 2010 2 hours before class in the am, 4-5 hours at night after class, none from Friday after class til sat around 2-3 (this is my time with family, fetch in the back yard with my Labrador, just defrag time) then start up sat afternoon til midnight and all day pretty much Sunday. Then repeat........ah the joys of PA school. Everybody can tell you what its like and say how much your going to study/read and the volume of information but until you sit down, get a backpack full of books handed to you, stack of power points and they start lecturing then you really have that oh Sh!# moment and understand you DIDN'T realize how hard it was going to be. I'm 2 weeks into my first year and I'm pretty sure I've studied more in those 2 weeks than I did the entire time in nursing school and that is in no way an exaggeration. The amazing thing is you get used to it. Over time you realize that you will get through all of the material regardless of how endless it seems, and that you will be prepared for each exam even though it seems like you wont. Im a little over 2 months in (just finished block 1!!) and at least 14 exams down and eventually it becomes just another day, and just another test. Do well in the beginning, gain your confidence, and just keep it going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceBanner Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 Everyone is different. In our class it's all over the board....some people (always girls, lol) study incessantly; like several hours a night and ALL weekend. Others can get away with maybe 6 hours or less a week and they smoke the exams. Personally I tend to goof off a lot, so in a 6 hour block of sunday studying I might do 3-4 hours of actual work. Not very efficient, I know, but I get it done. Honestly if I cut out all the games and web browsing I could study for a SOLID 3 hours sat and sun and be fine for exams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delco714 Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 First I got to a 30mo program. Class sched is: Mon - sometimes have a seminar class on the profession tues - behav. Med 8-12, anatomy lect 2-330, anat lab 330-6 Wed - heent 8-10, derm 10-12 Thur - phys 9-12, anat lab 2-5 Fri - same as Monday. So as you can see this schedule is pretty rockin. Having said that, I don't study at all on weds after class usually and on fridays I study from 11-2. Sat I study from 11-9, Sunday from 11-7, Monday all day, Tuesday I read over notes after class, Thursday after class I don't really accomplish anything. Reading to prepare for phys lecture and preparing for our weekly quiz in anatomy on last weeks stuff while reading up for this weeks stuff is really where most of my time goes. Next sem we can clinical med skills and pharm. It will be different, and for me personally, I think better. Btw my program is nyit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jen0508 Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 First I got to a 30mo program. Class sched is:Mon - sometimes have a seminar class on the profession tues - behav. Med 8-12, anatomy lect 2-330, anat lab 330-6 Wed - heent 8-10, derm 10-12 Thur - phys 9-12, anat lab 2-5 Fri - same as Monday. So as you can see this schedule is pretty rockin. Having said that, I don't study at all on weds after class usually and on fridays I study from 11-2. Sat I study from 11-9, Sunday from 11-7, Monday all day, Tuesday I read over notes after class, Thursday after class I don't really accomplish anything. Reading to prepare for phys lecture and preparing for our weekly quiz in anatomy on last weeks stuff while reading up for this weeks stuff is really where most of my time goes. Next sem we can clinical med skills and pharm. It will be different, and for me personally, I think better. Btw my program is nyit. yall actually have a set class schedule?? wow lol. ours isnt set, we have guest lectures come in for most of our classes, so its totally random... no week is the same for us. they post the weekly schedules online at the beginning of the semester so we know ahead of time, but it changes alot. all we know is the program owns our butt between the hours of 8 and 5 and we better be there.. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acozadd Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 yall actually have a set class schedule?? wow lol. ours isnt set, we have guest lectures come in for most of our classes, so its totally random... no week is the same for us. they post the weekly schedules online at the beginning of the semester so we know ahead of time, but it changes alot. all we know is the program owns our butt between the hours of 8 and 5 and we better be there.. lol My program doesnt have a "set" schedule persay, but we use microsoft outlook and they update our schedule for us months in advance. Right now I can see exactly what my schedule looks like (aka classes, times, exact lecture, exams, etc) from now until christmas. It's nice to get a feel for what's coming up, but when you start looking to far into the future it just becomes depressing. Sounds somewhat similar to yours, but ours is pretty consistent. My schedule for second block has been borderline insane. 8-5 daily plus extra labs here and there (gyno lab, opthalmo lab, etc.) 2-3 tests per week, with classes like pharm (we do all of pharm in 1 block with the med students-- it's fast paced, right now we are getting all antibiotics and cancer drugs in 3 days and only have 1 week between exams lol...) medical micro-- again a ton of memorization, physical diagnosis, and a whole bunch of systems courses -- womens health, opthalmo, ortho, rheum, derm, others. This block I have barely had time to: breathe, shower, eat, sleep. Last time I checked those are pretty fundamental... It's been quite the ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jen0508 Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 My program doesnt have a "set" schedule persay, but we use microsoft outlook and they update our schedule for us months in advance. Right now I can see exactly what my schedule looks like (aka classes, times, exact lecture, exams, etc) from now until christmas. It's nice to get a feel for what's coming up, but when you start looking to far into the future it just becomes depressing. Sounds somewhat similar to yours, but ours is pretty consistent. My schedule for second block has been borderline insane. 8-5 daily plus extra labs here and there (gyno lab, opthalmo lab, etc.) 2-3 tests per week, with classes like pharm (we do all of pharm in 1 block with the med students-- it's fast paced, right now we are getting all antibiotics and cancer drugs in 3 days and only have 1 week between exams lol...) medical micro-- again a ton of memorization, physical diagnosis, and a whole bunch of systems courses -- womens health, opthalmo, ortho, rheum, derm, others. This block I have barely had time to: breathe, shower, eat, sleep. Last time I checked those are pretty fundamental... It's been quite the ride. hahah yea, we have our schedule until thanksgiving, but is is "subject to change"... every so often someone cancels or they switch something around... if the schedule says we get out at 3 next week on wednesday and something comes up, they can change it and we have to be there... and yea our 2nd semesters schedule was crazy too! 8 to 5, even fridays! thank god it was only 3 months ! I totally feel your pain! our schedule this semester is a little better, but not the easy ride i thought it would be.... i keep thinking.. "maybe rotations will be easier".. then i hear that you still have to study ALOT during rotations....... So then i think, "well maybe when i graduate things will be easy"... Nope! gotta study for the PANCE... so then i think "well maybe when i get my 1st job things will b easier.. " oohh well, our last guest lecturer told us, she studied more during the first 6 months of work than she did during PA school... smh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acozadd Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 Studying while on rotations at your own pace and learning while on the job (and actually getting a paycheck) will trump studying for a constant onslaught of exams. I have 6 exams in the next 8 days of class (12 days total if you include weekends). It's been at this pace for the past several months and it doesn't look like it's gonna get much better between now and christmas... Anything is better than this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delco714 Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 ...it doesn't look like it's gonna get much better between now and christmas... Anything is better than this. big thumbs up there! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pingpong Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Cervantes21 - Can you elaborate on the 'making the excel spreasheet for every serious lecture for notecards later'. It sounded like an interesting study method. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delco714 Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 What I do is use the highlight/font color function during lectures and highlight important stuff on our powerpoint. This way I know what the professor really stressed without taking the info out of its intended context. This worked very well for me as I finished my 1st semester all As Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cervantes21 Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Cervantes21 - Can you elaborate on the 'making the excel spreasheet for every serious lecture for notecards later'. It sounded like an interesting study method. Thanks. Sure. I'd take the powerpoints as my reference and make two columns on an excel spreadsheet, one questions and one answers. Then I'd just boil down what they emphasized into those questions and answers. Then I'd upload the spreadsheet to flashcards deluxe on my ipod touch and I'd have a way to study anywhere. I started flashcards when the 1st semester was winding down and used them until didactic was over. I'm not using them now, and will probably just buy the PANCE review flashcards. Let's just say I'm not studying at nearly the pace as didactic. It's stressful in a different way, but the knowledge sticks around a lot longer. It's hard when a preceptor pimps you on something from a year and a half ago, but expecting yourself to have perfect recall is a recipe for depression. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mdub83 Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 lotss throughout the day. It's important to take a break every hour though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayakr Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Index (flash) cards have worked very well for me. I make them for almost everything and find that most of the information is absorbed while actually making them, with very few reviews needed. I also plan to save them to study for the PANCE so I don't have to re-create everything later. Also - pay attention during lecture and get your investment out of the time spent there. You are going to be in lecture one way or the other, it might as well be time well spent. I certainly spend a fair amount of time studying (and haven't been on the forum until now, which has been my first break) but you are able to have a life with a little self control and time management. However, plan to be very busy...there is always, literally always something to do - but that is the trade off for trying to pack so much info into 2 and some change years. Do the best you can with it. I'm really enjoying it so far, even with the huge volume. Very interesting and humbling all at the same time - it's quite a journey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acozadd Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 For some of the classes with a crazy amount of information, I'll literally take my powerpoint-- publish it into a handout-- and study from these. The amount of info can become a bit ridiculous at times (we are taking renal with the med students and for our first exam I have a handout that is over 120 pages of typed material size 11 font...) all covered in 1 week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyMadisonPA Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 We have lecture from 8-6 Mon-Fri. Yup, that's 5 10-hour days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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