Cha123 Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 Hey guys! I’m writing on here because I can’t find a thread already made about this topic. So I just finished my second to last quarter of didactic. And have gotten LOTS of Bs… I always have an A throughout the term then finals roll around and it messes me up by literally 1-2 points every time. I truly put in 110% so it’s so discouraging to be off by 1 point to an A. I only have 1 more term of didactic before rotations and it’s making me nervous that I won’t be well prepared for rotation because of my Bs and that our only grade will be by our preceptors & EOR exams because I can’t get any Cs at this point or I’ll be below the 3.0 cut off to stay in the program. It’s really freaking me out and would appreciate any advice or info from anyone that has been in a similar boat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGoLong Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 13 minutes ago, Cha123 said: Hey guys! I’m writing on here because I can’t find a thread already made about this topic. So I just finished my second to last quarter of didactic. And have gotten LOTS of Bs… I always have an A throughout the term then finals roll around and it messes me up by literally 1-2 points every time. I truly put in 110% so it’s so discouraging to be off by 1 point to an A. I only have 1 more term of didactic before rotations and it’s making me nervous that I won’t be well prepared for rotation because of my Bs and that our only grade will be by our preceptors & EOR exams because I can’t get any Cs at this point or I’ll be below the 3.0 cut off to stay in the program. It’s really freaking me out and would appreciate any advice or info from anyone that has been in a similar boat. Stop worrying! You have done well enough to still be there. No Cs so far and it's up to you to keep it that way. Worrying at this point only makes things worse for you. Relax and keep learning! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cha123 Posted December 16, 2023 Author Share Posted December 16, 2023 2 hours ago, UGoLong said: Stop worrying! You have done well enough to still be there. No Cs so far and it's up to you to keep it that way. Worrying at this point only makes things worse for you. Relax and keep learning! Thank you so much for the encouragement and putting my mind at ease. Happy holidays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGoLong Posted December 17, 2023 Share Posted December 17, 2023 On 12/16/2023 at 12:25 PM, Cha123 said: Thank you so much for the encouragement and putting my mind at ease. Happy holidays. You too! Get ready for an exciting year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawton Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 (edited) Holy cow, this is me. I am an older student with a family, and I have been humbled by the fact that I'm getting B's in almost all of my classes (I am class 2025, so same semester as you). I have A's going into finals...then whammo...88%. It seems like all of my other classmates have at least 3.5's. I'm concerned that I am not going to be able to make it through all the EOR's after didactic ends, as my program has a 3.0 probation cutoff and I have a 3.2 right now. I have a substantial amount of prehospital experience as a paramedic, but it seems like my program is designed to bend people into submission (in regards to formulaic patient treatment standards). Every day I question whether I have the fortitude to finish this large of a commitment. Just know that you aren't alone. In my program it seems as though most of the students play their cards very close to their chest, so I am unsure if I am at the back of the class or riding in the middle. I have a family and am just trying to keep my head above water, but I wonder every day if I am at the bottom of my cohort. I guess we just keep pushing forward and try to do our best. If its not enough, so be it. Edited January 19 by Jawton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGoLong Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 (edited) On 1/18/2024 at 4:58 PM, Jawton said: Holy cow, this is me. I am an older student with a family, and I have been humbled by the fact that I'm getting B's in almost all of my classes (I am class 2025, so same semester as you). I have A's going into finals...then whammo...88%. It seems like all of my other classmates have at least 3.5's. I'm concerned that I am not going to be able to make it through all the EOR's after didactic ends, as my program has a 3.0 probation cutoff and I have a 3.2 right now. I have a substantial amount of prehospital experience as a paramedic, but it seems like my program is designed to bend people into submission (in regards to formulaic patient treatment standards). Every day I question whether I have the fortitude to finish this large of a commitment. Just know that you aren't alone. In my program it seems as though most of the students play their cards very close to their chest, so I am unsure if I am at the back of the class or riding in the middle. I have a family and am just trying to keep my head above water, but I wonder every day if I am at the bottom of my cohort. I guess we just keep pushing forward and try to do our best. If its not enough, so be it. Couple of thoughts here from an older student with a family and experience as a paramedic: Number 1: trying to blame the program for being "formulaic" is probably not a great coping strategy. Quite a bit of medicine -- once you have a diagnosis, that is -- is evidence-based and increasingly algorithmic. In the early days of your PA school experience, just assume that the program knows what it's doing and go with the flow. To do otherwise is to waste your effort on internal rebellion instead of just working the problem. Number 2: Carrying a good grade in and then getting a less-than-expected grade on the final may suggest your study techniques (or timing) isn't working as well as you'd like. Time to do some experimenting. Number 3: Feeling that your classmates "play their cards close to their chest" may suggest you haven't made a lot of friends in PA school yet. Somewhere in that class are people you could be enjoying a friendship with and one or two may become lifelong friends. Keep looking! I was 30+ years older than the rest of my class and found friends, even after I became a grandfather during my second semester. Number 4: You aren't on probation now and worrying about getting put on it without working the problems above is probably not effective. Just do your best and hopefully it will work out. Hang in there! Edited January 20 by UGoLong 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohiovolffemtp Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Another thing to think about is that the underlying thought process for being a PA is different than that for being a paramedic. Note: UGoLong and I both have been both medics and PA's for years. In over simplified terms: medics are taught and think to consider a relatively few potentially serious causes of signs and symptoms they see in the field and then apply a relatively small set (compared to the breadth of medicine) set of diagnostic tools and treatments to address the potential causes of those signs and symptoms. PA's are taught to consider a much broader range of disease processes, apply much larger diagnostic work-ups, and then implement a much larger set of treatments, both acute and long term. It can be very tough to move away from a work style that you've become comfortable with, and it may be possible that your PA program instruction isn't the best, but still, it's teaching you far more medicine than you know as a medic. Go through their process, graduate, pass PANCE, then embark on the life-long learning process to become a good PA in your own style. You won't get to that last key step unless you jump through all the other prerequisite steps. As a medic you should remember having to pass National Registry - view this as the same sort of inescapable hoop to jump through. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SedRate Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 I wouldn't worry. Make sure you're learning the concepts and how to apply them, and be ready to work hard on your rotations and learn all you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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