Preparations

[whoRyou]

I was wondering if any of you can suggest in how to prepare for PA school properly. I have had the tendency in the past getting more information than I needed for classes. What I would do is find out who the prof is and find a most recent syllabi and follow it to a capital "T". Meaning, if the prof mentioned they were going to be teaching cardio, neuro, etc I would find power points, notes, etc in connection with the prof and get too much information. By the time class got started I 'thought' I would be ahead of the game, but I wasn't because I was so overwhelmed with stuff I did not know where to go or what to do. Almost Maximum Overdrive. Can anyone suggest some effective ways so I can be ahead of the game, and not feel so overwhelmed once class starts? I am already finding myself doing that again with G Chem and O Chem by reading things on here and I am not even taking these classes this semester. :=-0:

[Lemon Bars]

Yeah, there is so much information it's easy to get lost in it. I use wikipedia, youtube, and whatever other online information I can find to help me understand difficult concepts from class. For example, there are some great animations on youtube that show how cellular mitosis works, how the kidneys work, etc. Trying to learn ahead on my own has never worked well for me because it's not systematic. I think it's best to take the class, follow the textbook and then supplement this with additional information whenever a concept is not clear. Other people may be smarter than me and better able to absorb and assimilate knowledge without following a plan, but for me that is a poor investment in terns of time spent vs. relevant information learned.

[UGoLong]

I think it was hard to be ahead in PA school. After a while, it was hard even to remember what topics we had just covered the week before. A pathophysiology class before you go would be a good idea, along with some rest. You will do well to have read the material for tomorrow; I doubt you'll be able to be any more ahead than that. Once you get there, just keep up and, as Lemon Bars says, use all available resources for topics that confused you in class.

 

Early in my didactic year, the head of the college's Learning Center came in and reminded us that (a) not everyone learns the same and (b) not every technique is applicable to every subject. I took that to heart and found myself experimenting as I went. That's described in a book I wrote about going to school.

 

Good luck!