elliemc Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 Current PA student here and I am really struggling with the fact that I am making more B's than A's in PA school. I am very type A and made almost perfect grades in undergrad, so it's really affecting my confidence and ego to not be making consistent As anymore (I know it's silly but I can't help it) and I'm worried this means I will be the kind of provider that misses diagnoses or small details about patients. Current PA-Cs (or PA students in the same position), how did you deal with these feelings of inadequacy/adjusting to not making perfect grades? If you made mostly B's, did you feel like it affected your skillset or abilities as a PA in your current job? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SedRate Posted April 24 Share Posted April 24 (edited) On 4/23/2024 at 11:25 AM, elliemc said: it's really affecting my confidence and ego to not be making consistent As anymore (I know it's silly but I can't help it) and I'm worried this means I will be the kind of provider that misses diagnoses or small details about patients You won't know everything in medicine. That's a fact. There's just too much to cram in to two years of PA school. PA school is really designed to teach you to evaluate and treat medical conditions by utilizing pre-PA skills. If you didn't have a prior medical career (like me and most PA students nowadays), you will struggle to some extent because you are learning even the basic stuff. Keep learning how to form a good differential, take a good history, and perform a good exam. And then work on understanding the concepts within each system. Focus your first years out in practice on filling in any blanks and get a job that has mentorship. On 4/23/2024 at 11:25 AM, elliemc said: Current PA-Cs (or PA students in the same position), how did you deal with these feelings of inadequacy/adjusting to not making perfect grades? Accepted it and understood that it's not a competition. In medicine you won't know everything and you're not taking a test so do your best to learn how to evaluate a patient and what next steps need to be taken to take care of the patient. On 4/23/2024 at 11:25 AM, elliemc said: If you made mostly B's, did you feel like it affected your skillset or abilities as a PA in your current job? No. There are still some areas I'm weaker in and so I just don't work in those areas. Mainly because those concepts aren't as natural for me to understand so I don't like them. Lol. I like understanding things. The unknown bothers me. I don't really remember what grades I got but I didn't get straight A's. Edited April 27 by SedRate Grammar 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGoLong Posted April 24 Share Posted April 24 It's been a while, but I was a bit like you when I went to PA school. Other than organic chemistry, I had straight As in my prerequisites. My first course in PA school was anatomy and I got pounded early. It made me wonder if my dream was over. I finally realized that the only thing that mattered was: Keep doing your best but realize that you just need to do well enough today to still be there tomorrow. As far as the downstream impact, I think SedRate stated it well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAAdmission Posted April 25 Share Posted April 25 On 4/23/2024 at 12:25 PM, elliemc said: it's really affecting my confidence and ego Lose the ego. If you are not humble, medicine will humble you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SedRate Posted April 26 Share Posted April 26 23 hours ago, CAAdmission said: Lose the ego. If you are not humble, medicine will humble you. Great point. I've seen this on many occasions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.