I feel like the process of getting licensed will never end. It looks as though my start date for my job will be pushed back to the middle of March since the state takes a VERY VERY long time to hand out licenses to those who have had prior health care experience/licenses before. Not much more to update on other than this quick rant.
Please ask some questions about PA school to cure my boredom waiting for these licenses lol
I'll cure your boredom! :o)
ReplyDelete1. What was your study method throughout school? Did you have to use different methods for each class?
2. What were your must have study supplies?
3. Do you have any recommended books that were not included in your book list?
4. I've heard the material isn't really that difficult, it's more the speed it comes at you. Is this really true? What was athe most difficult class for you?
5. What do you wish you would have known before starting PA school?
A few to get you started. :o) I will be starting PA school in June and thought of a few questions off the top of my head while I patiently wait for June to roll around.
Hi TW, thank you for the distraction :)
Delete1) Throughout school I changed my study plan. I went into the didactic year thinking I would do flashcards like I had in undergrad to study...I learned fast there is too much information to do a notecard for everything. There was a couple times that I didn't finish my notecards before the night before the exam! After that I started just doing study guides and charts (which people shared throughout the class as well since it is a collaborative effort in PA school) and highlighting the charts and visually learning the material. So study guides that are very thorough helped majorly and then charts for pharmacology.
2) Must have study supplies:
-highlighters (i think i went through about 50+ highlighters in the first year alone!)
-dropbox iPad application - allows for easy access and organization of notes. you can search for what you are looking for instead of flipping though binders of notes.
-a good study plan/time management = your best study skill!
3) I would definitely get medicine recall and surgery recall for your rotations. This was something that a lot of my preceptors used during rotations to quickly learn about a topic (esp before surgeries). Also, by the AAPA PANCE/PANRE review book early on, don't wait until your last year. It is full of great review topics and includes all of the PANCE blueprint topics that will be covered in didactic year. The book Teaching to the Test is also AMAZING! My class had a PANCE review session with the author in December and she has some great study tips!
4) I would never say that the material is not difficult, if it wasn't everyone would be a PA. There will be certain topics that you are great at and others that you will struggle with because it is either difficult for you to absorb or you have no interest in it and are bored lol. Then, on top of that, you have so much information being thrown at you at once. So it is definitely a lot of info and it is not easy. The hardest class for me was pharmacology. I struggled to remember all the drug names because there are only so many acronyms you can make up to memorize them all, plus, I went to a school that specializes in pharmacy so the professors were all pharmacists who are hard core and expected a lot of us. It was intense to say the least.
5) umm....i suppose I wish I had not worries as much as i did and realized how fun PA school is. Make sure you still enjoy it. yes, you could spend 14-16 hours a day, 7 days a week studying if you wanted it since there is that much info to learn. Don't do that. Study a little every night but be sure to sleep, take 1 day off each week to spend with friends and family and study a couple hours that night instead. I promise, it will make your life better to take some time to enjoy life too.
Congrats on starting PA school in June!!! That is great, you will not regret it :) What did you do before PA school? What are you most nervous/excited about?
Thank you for your answers! They are very helpful!
DeleteI'm a non-traditional student, so I did a few things before PA school, but most recently I have been working as an office assistant for the past 7 years at the university I'm attending. I am also working part time as a CNA at a nursing home in the rehab housing helping people recover from injuries, illness or surgery.
I think I'm just nervous and excited about PA school in general! I know it will be so unlike anything else I've ever experienced and I am looking foward to it. There is a small fear of not doing well once I'm in, but I try not to let those types of thoughts enter my head much. I just tell myself "I got this." :o)