Organization on Rotations

[PAruby]

Hey all... the joys of clinical orientation this week. I'm realizing how much paperwork, procedure logs, drug logs, and the list goes on, there will be to keep track of...

 

any suggestions on what worked well for you? I'm a major organization person, but I am lacking a tried and true system for keeping track of all these things. Did you haul around a binder/notebook to write down every encounter? A small note pad? 3x5 cards? an ipad ap? ... what tools did you use to make sure you had all the books/paper/notecards/study aids/ patient logging data that you needed on a day to day basis?

 

Thanks for the tips :o)

[PAruby]

Hey all... the joys of clinical orientation this week. I'm realizing how much paperwork, procedure logs, drug logs, and the list goes on, there will be to keep track of...

 

any suggestions on what worked well for you? I'm a major organization person, but I am lacking a tried and true system for keeping track of all these things. Did you haul around a binder/notebook to write down every encounter? A small note pad? 3x5 cards? an ipad ap? ... what tools did you use to make sure you had all the books/paper/notecards/study aids/ patient logging data that you needed on a day to day basis?

 

Thanks for the tips :o)

[kem2127]

Your school is obviously different than mine, and what you bring and how you arrange your schedule will depend on which rotation you are in and what they provide you with. Ex: IM, Peds inpatient and Psych ER were good for me because they gave us a daily pt sign out list, good for assignments and good to keep everything organized and everyone on the same page. Everything else that was clinic or OP based I used a small 3x5in notebook to write down basics between seeing pts.

 

As for schedule:

Example, for my school we do:

1. weekly Typhon: We are required to do 20 typhon entries a week for pt encounters, I did my best to do 5 a day M-Th that way I was finished with that aspect of my assignments before the weekend, this doesn't always happen though if you are working odd days or weekends in ER or Surgery or OB/GYN.

2. weekly 200+ word blackboard assignment with 2-3 responses to other students posting per week: 4 out of 5 of these repeated themselves each 5 weeks and topics change depending on the rotation, ex pathophysiology for OM in Peds vs AAA for Geriatrics, so the weekend after I finish my EORE I use that entire Sunday to go through the syllabus and write the 4 assignments prior to when they are due and save them to my computer to post when assigned. That way each week I only have to write 2-3 responses to other students essays. I try to do these the Tues or Wed of the week to also get them out the way before the weekend. The only week that is more difficult is the one I can't plan ahead for since its a current public event regarding medicine.

3. write up 3 full Bates likes H&Ps- this is determined by when you have good patient encounters and time to write them up

4. write up 10 drug cards- I also try to do these the first week or two of the rotation

5. find a research article and create a presentation based on one of your H&Ps- also dependent on pt encounters, but try to find the article the same time you are on Access medicine or Up to Date etc and doing your BB assignments, it saves time

6. End of Rotation Exam every 5 weeks- if you finish the majority of your assignments before week 4 then you have a solid week and a half to study for the exam.

 

...Then repeat 8 more times before you graduate!

 

On top of that you also have to study for your exam, do practice questions (Exam Master and PA easy) plus make sure you are doing your job at your site. If you do most of the required assignments earlier in the week then you can use your weekends for reading about topics you are seeing in clinical practice and doing practice PANCE questions. And you can probably even find the time to go out to dinner or for a few drinks or to get to gym without feeling overwhelmed. I also set a Google calendar of when I *should* complete assignments that way it is a reinforcement to get work done.

 

Also you may want to set email reminders for about two weeks prior to the start of your next rotation so you know when you should contact for health clearance, orientation or any training needed or drug tests before the next one.

 

Hope that helps.

[kem2127]

Your school is obviously different than mine, and what you bring and how you arrange your schedule will depend on which rotation you are in and what they provide you with. Ex: IM, Peds inpatient and Psych ER were good for me because they gave us a daily pt sign out list, good for assignments and good to keep everything organized and everyone on the same page. Everything else that was clinic or OP based I used a small 3x5in notebook to write down basics between seeing pts.

 

As for schedule:

Example, for my school we do:

1. weekly Typhon: We are required to do 20 typhon entries a week for pt encounters, I did my best to do 5 a day M-Th that way I was finished with that aspect of my assignments before the weekend, this doesn't always happen though if you are working odd days or weekends in ER or Surgery or OB/GYN.

2. weekly 200+ word blackboard assignment with 2-3 responses to other students posting per week: 4 out of 5 of these repeated themselves each 5 weeks and topics change depending on the rotation, ex pathophysiology for OM in Peds vs AAA for Geriatrics, so the weekend after I finish my EORE I use that entire Sunday to go through the syllabus and write the 4 assignments prior to when they are due and save them to my computer to post when assigned. That way each week I only have to write 2-3 responses to other students essays. I try to do these the Tues or Wed of the week to also get them out the way before the weekend. The only week that is more difficult is the one I can't plan ahead for since its a current public event regarding medicine.

3. write up 3 full Bates likes H&Ps- this is determined by when you have good patient encounters and time to write them up

4. write up 10 drug cards- I also try to do these the first week or two of the rotation

5. find a research article and create a presentation based on one of your H&Ps- also dependent on pt encounters, but try to find the article the same time you are on Access medicine or Up to Date etc and doing your BB assignments, it saves time

6. End of Rotation Exam every 5 weeks- if you finish the majority of your assignments before week 4 then you have a solid week and a half to study for the exam.

 

...Then repeat 8 more times before you graduate!

 

On top of that you also have to study for your exam, do practice questions (Exam Master and PA easy) plus make sure you are doing your job at your site. If you do most of the required assignments earlier in the week then you can use your weekends for reading about topics you are seeing in clinical practice and doing practice PANCE questions. And you can probably even find the time to go out to dinner or for a few drinks or to get to gym without feeling overwhelmed. I also set a Google calendar of when I *should* complete assignments that way it is a reinforcement to get work done.

 

Also you may want to set email reminders for about two weeks prior to the start of your next rotation so you know when you should contact for health clearance, orientation or any training needed or drug tests before the next one.

 

Hope that helps.

[PAruby]

@Kem2127

 

Thanks! The general tips are helpful. The abundance of paperwork and documentation we're required to do is so overwhelming, that I think the goal of getting it done early is probably the most tried and true - we'll see if it's actually possible!

 

Our school requirements are SO different it's interesting! We have to enter EVERY patient encounter into the computer. Thankfully no blackboard discussions, but similar patient write ups and a research paper each rotation. Although the drug cards aren't required, this is a good idea and I might start a collection just to get the practice in! Do you find either of the Exam Master vs PA Easy a better resource, or would you recommend them both?

 

Thanks for the tips!

 

Any others?

[PAruby]

@Kem2127

 

Thanks! The general tips are helpful. The abundance of paperwork and documentation we're required to do is so overwhelming, that I think the goal of getting it done early is probably the most tried and true - we'll see if it's actually possible!

 

Our school requirements are SO different it's interesting! We have to enter EVERY patient encounter into the computer. Thankfully no blackboard discussions, but similar patient write ups and a research paper each rotation. Although the drug cards aren't required, this is a good idea and I might start a collection just to get the practice in! Do you find either of the Exam Master vs PA Easy a better resource, or would you recommend them both?

 

Thanks for the tips!

 

Any others?

[kem2127]

Exam Master is a larger bank of questions and I prefer the "Study" mode where it explains to you why the other answers are not correct. For me it's a great review resource. I think the questions stems are longer in Exam Master than in PA Easy. I've heard some say they are too convoluted and that is why some of my classmates like PA easy more. PA Easy seems too easy to me. Depends what you are looking for in a question. I tend to make groups of 50 questions in specific genres, ex Neuro or ENT that way I have an idea of how I am doing in the specific area, and when you do them on study mode it's helpful because you can really review a lot of medical conditions while taking the exams, but it is very time consuming.

[kem2127]

Exam Master is a larger bank of questions and I prefer the "Study" mode where it explains to you why the other answers are not correct. For me it's a great review resource. I think the questions stems are longer in Exam Master than in PA Easy. I've heard some say they are too convoluted and that is why some of my classmates like PA easy more. PA Easy seems too easy to me. Depends what you are looking for in a question. I tend to make groups of 50 questions in specific genres, ex Neuro or ENT that way I have an idea of how I am doing in the specific area, and when you do them on study mode it's helpful because you can really review a lot of medical conditions while taking the exams, but it is very time consuming.