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Tips on preparation texts before starting PA school?


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I know that there are some variations of this topic on previous threads, but I am interested specifically in books to get and read before starting PA school that may be helpful. Here are two texts that I've heard are useful:

 

Bates Guide to Physical Exam and History Taking

Clinical Pathophysiology Made Ridiculously Easy

 

Any comments on these books/additional suggestions? A book on pharmacology would also be helpful, since I've only taken behavioral pharm and I suspect that course will be a rude awakening. Just looking for some good bedtime reading so I don't stumble in completely unprepared :)

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I would advocate not reading a ton of medicine books. Read something for entertainment (you won't get a chance to read ANYTHNG for pleasure once school starts). If you must pre-study I would also recommend any of the (fill in the blank) ______ made ridiculously simple series.The Language of Medicine by Chabner is an easy and useful read (depending on your clinical experience, you might find it very basic). Brushing up with a good anatomy book wouldn't hurt. If you haven't read a lot of EKG, you might look at that a bit. I have found the Dr. Najeeb you tube videos (recommended in another thread) to be useful. To reiterate my original advice, relax while you can!

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I would relax now while you can (spend as much time with family and friends). A couple of weeks before starting school, start a routine by increasing your reading everyday on medical terminology, anatomy, and basic physiology. You don't want to start school cold, but you also need to relax and get out and about while you still have the chance.

 

As far as pharm books, I would advise not going too far in depth until you get to school and the profs tell you what you need to know. If you already have some HCE and have a lot of pharmacology knowledge then I would review "Basic & Clinical Pharmacology" by Katzung. Also, the best way to learn pharmacology is repetition. Use flash cards and carry around a Tarascon Pharmacopia or some kind of pocket drug reference and look up new drugs and review everyday while in school. Hope this helps, good luck.

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I disagree. Not doing anything all summer before PA school has significantly added stress. I would buy a regional anatomy textbook and start going over all the regions. If you can't do that, just read your undergrad textbook. Really study it as well as you can. Trust me it will save you a lot of stress when you realize you "already know it."

 

Bates guide will most likely be a required book on your list. It sucks big time, but I am pretty sure all med school and PA schools use it. I doubt it will make a lot of sense before they teach you any physical exam, but it might be helpful.

 

If you don't want to study the sciences, wait until your program assigns a mentor to you and then ask them what "easy" classes you can prepare for, what to read for them, etc. Take notes! This way you can focus on the hard stuff when you need to.

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Good of you to not slack off, despite the contrary advice in this thread. Having said that, you will be reading a TON in school, so strategically pick things that will prepare you to succeed.

 

* Bates is a good idea, but might not be my top pick. I like to know "why?" before "what?".

* Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment is a great one-book overview of a LOT.

* A lot of people in my class seemed to struggle with evidence-based medicine. Unless you know you have a different textbook for that, you might want to pick up "Users' Guides to the Medical Literature: A Manual for Evidence-Based Clinical Practice, Second Edition" by Guyatt. EBM is a non-medical topic--it's statistics, logic, and risk management--so it may be a bit of a change of pace.

* You can't go wrong with more A&P review using your resource(s) of choice.

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If you do get to anatomy, focus on what you had the most trouble understanding in undergrad. It won't hurt to just memorize all the muscles and bones because it's the driest topic and there is a lot of them :). Maybe focus on functions of cranial nerves too.

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If you do get to anatomy, focus on what you had the most trouble understanding in undergrad. It won't hurt to just memorize all the muscles and bones because it's the driest topic and there is a lot of them :). Maybe focus on functions of cranial nerves too.

 

And the branching innervations from the spinal cord! I try to think of it like.. if I had a trauma patient come in with his/ her spinal cord severed at this level, what would NOT function in that person's body? If you can even start to get that down before school you will have yourself at lot of frustration.

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85% of what will be covered in any accredited PA program ... is in that book.

 

Anyone who knows that book prior to the first day of PA school will be ahead of the game by a stretch. Primarily because when the fontain of info is presented in the PA program and on the MANY tests that will be administered... it won't be the first time its been seen.

 

Knowing this info prior to matriculating will inculcate the dx and tx of the "bread and butter" (horses) of what we know and do .... and therefore allow the student to spend that in program study time learning the "hard stuff/concepts." (zebras)

 

Most other general medical texts are entirely toooo verbose... this one is slim, trim, succinct and to the point.

 

YMMV...

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I just graduated. I was really glad I did the two things I did:

1. Med term: http://www.amazon.com/Medical-Terminology-Short-Course-5e/dp/1416055185/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1352742030&sr=8-3&keywords=medical+terminology

2. EKGs: http://www.amazon.com/Rapid-Interpretation-EKGs-Sixth-Dubin/dp/0912912065/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352742109&sr=1-1&keywords=dubin

 

These were really helpful, and they gave me a little refresher in time management.

 

And YES. Also read for pleasure.

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Addition to what everyone posted above:

 

 

DEFINITELY start looking over EKGs if you are not familiar with them. We had 4 lectures over 2 week span total to know the EKGs. It will save you a lot trouble. Dubin's EKG book is great for that!

 

Start looking over anatomy!!! If you are very keen and eager just go ahead and buy the AP revealed online program, it has everything, muscles/bones and much more. I would definitely start looking over muscles and bones. And yeah it depends on the programs how much they emphasize on origin/insertions and innervations. If you didn't do anything, then just look over muscles and learn there innervations to start.

 

Cecil's is kind of similar to CMDT but its more in a txt book format and easier to handle than CMDT. (We're almost done with our first semester and I only used CMDT twice, take this as you will). Ridiculous simple series are amazing and so are the review board books, bc guess what? That's what the program wants you to know when you leave and that's what the exam questions will reflect. :)

 

Oh and also don't buy all the books bc they are on the list. Wait and see how everything pans out. But these listed above are a great help and I highly recommend these.

 

I wish someone told me to look over anatomy especially muscles/bones stuff bc we have an exam coming up on that stuff (we've had 3 lectures on this stuff only!).

 

Now with that said, does this mean you lock yourself up and stress about the material? No!!! Take it by bits, pull up anatomy chart or something if you're watching tv, working out or are just chilling in your bed. Enjoy your time! Trust me you'll miss it once the school starts :)

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Cecil's is kind of similar to CMDT but its more in a txt book format and easier to handle than CMDT. (We're almost done with our first semester and I only used CMDT twice, take this as you will). Ridiculous simple series are amazing and so are the review board books, bc guess what? That's what the program wants you to know when you leave and that's what the exam questions will reflect.

 

Which Cecil's? I'm also trying to learn some stuff before school next year. I just looked up Cecil's on Amazon, and here are the 3 options that come up first and look the most relevant:

 

1) http://www.amazon.com/Andreoli-Carpenters-Cecil-Essentials-Medicine/dp/1416061096/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352911415&sr=1-1&keywords=Cecil%27s

 

2) http://www.amazon.com/Goldmans-Medicine-Expert-Consult-Premium/dp/1437727883/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352911415&sr=1-2&keywords=Cecil%27s

 

3) http://www.amazon.com/Cecil-Medicine-Expert-Consult-Online/dp/1416028056/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352911415&sr=1-3&keywords=Cecil%27s

 

Note: Thank you to all the experienced PAs and PA students who answer questions from those of us who don't yet know much (comparatively). I hope I will be able to help someone on this thread at some point when I am in or finish school.

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Here you go man, pre-PA reading list:

 

1) Since you wanna know about medicine early:

http://www.amazon.com/Clinical-Pathophysiology-Made-Ridiculously-Simple/dp/0940780801

 

2) Best book on medical ethics and it's pseudo-fiction and very very easy and entertaining read IMHO

http://www.amazon.com/House-God-Samuel-Shem/dp/0425238091/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352925590&sr=1-1&keywords=house+of+god

 

3) I guess if you really want to but I would say wait til school starts IMHO:

http://www.amazon.com/Comprehensive-Certification-Recertification-Examinations-Assistants/dp/1605477265/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352925561&sr=1-2&keywords=physician+assistant+board+review+certification+and+recertification

 

 

For now, again just my advice, skip Cecil's, wait til you start reading it for school. I may get bashed for this (who cares) but Wikipedia is a great source to learn from, just type in a disease that interests you and read to your heart's content.

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

Which Cecil's? I'm also trying to learn some stuff before school next year. I just looked up Cecil's on Amazon, and here are the 3 options that come up first and look the most relevant:

 

1) http://www.amazon.com/Andreoli-Carpenters-Cecil-Essentials-Medicine/dp/1416061096/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352911415&sr=1-1&keywords=Cecil%27s

 

2) http://www.amazon.com/Goldmans-Medicine-Expert-Consult-Premium/dp/1437727883/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352911415&sr=1-2&keywords=Cecil%27s

 

3) http://www.amazon.com/Cecil-Medicine-Expert-Consult-Online/dp/1416028056/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352911415&sr=1-3&keywords=Cecil%27s

 

Note: Thank you to all the experienced PAs and PA students who answer questions from those of us who don't yet know much (comparatively). I hope I will be able to help someone on this thread at some point when I am in or finish school.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Andreoli-Carpe...ords=Cecil%27s

 

This one! :) Sorry for late reply!

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Here you go man, pre-PA reading list:

 

1) Since you wanna know about medicine early:

http://www.amazon.com/Clinical-Pathophysiology-Made-Ridiculously-Simple/dp/0940780801

 

2) Best book on medical ethics and it's pseudo-fiction and very very easy and entertaining read IMHO

http://www.amazon.com/House-God-Samuel-Shem/dp/0425238091/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352925590&sr=1-1&keywords=house+of+god

 

3) I guess if you really want to but I would say wait til school starts IMHO:

http://www.amazon.com/Comprehensive-Certification-Recertification-Examinations-Assistants/dp/1605477265/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352925561&sr=1-2&keywords=physician+assistant+board+review+certification+and+recertification

 

 

For now, again just my advice, skip Cecil's, wait til you start reading it for school. I may get bashed for this (who cares) but Wikipedia is a great source to learn from, just type in a disease that interests you and read to your heart's content.

 

 

Totally agreeee! Wikipedia comes in handy when you just want the dead-on facts without the itty bitty details! :)

 

And yes don't worry about Cecil's for now, bc your program will guide you as to what to focus and what not to focus on. It will get over-whelming if you're just trying to grab a book to read.

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For what it's worth - I think reading ahead in this regard is pretty much a waste of time. I strongly recommend that you hone your technical reading and comprehension by working on your reading skills. At least a couple of you are looking at that last sentence and think I've lost my mind but here's the thing. I doubt that any program you have been in to date has required you to read the volume of reading you will be called upon to do with similar density. I have given the Nelson-Denny reading test to PA students and some of those with great undergraduate GPA's were extraordinarily slow readers. That didn't make much difference when the volume and complexity of the material was lighter but when they were assigned 25 pages per night in 4 classes it made a huge difference. Increasing your wpm and your comprehension will make a huge difference now and for the rest of your medicine-reading life.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Don't study. ENJOY your family, friends, favored activities. Your life will come to a screeching halt once school begins and your time with those you care about will be greatly limited. Take the time to let those you love know how much you love them, the next couple of years will be tough, and you'll make it up to them when it is all over. If you've got to study, pick an area of medicine where you have NO exposure and spend 5-10 minutes per day reading up on it, NO MORE. You'll be amazed how much you pick up and how well it serves you down the road.

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