As I was brainstorming post ideas, I thought that tips for clinical year could be very helpful. I wish that someone had told me these tips before I started my clinical rotations!
Showing posts with label pa-s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pa-s. Show all posts
Update + My Top 3 Tips for Clinical Year!
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Long time, no post! Since my last post, I have graduated from my PA program and passed the PANCE! I am now a PA-C! It still doesn't feel real! I am currently taking a much needed break at home with my family while looking for a position in dermatology.
As I was brainstorming post ideas, I thought that tips for clinical year could be very helpful. I wish that someone had told me these tips before I started my clinical rotations!
As I was brainstorming post ideas, I thought that tips for clinical year could be very helpful. I wish that someone had told me these tips before I started my clinical rotations!
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Didactic Year of PA School | 5 Tips
Thursday, September 1, 2016
I can't believe I'm done with my first year (aka didactic year) of PA school! It went by so fast! I'm starting my clinical rotations in less than 1 week (exciting, but also nerve-wracking...eek!). I did very well in my didactic year, so I thought I would share some of the tips that helped me!
1.) Find your own groove. // Some of my classmates didn't study on the weekends (unless there was an exam on Monday). Others took one day off a week from studying. Don't try to do what everyone else is doing. Do what is best for you! Personally, I studied a little everyday for the most part. There were a couple rare weeks where we didn't have an exam, so I would take a break from studying then. This tip also applies to how you study. Some students like to make study guides. Others just study from their notes and PowerPoint slides. I started out trying to make study guides, but it ended up being too time-consuming for me. I ended up just studying the PowerPoint slides and my notes. Sometimes I used the Quizlet app as well.
2.) Share notes/study guides! // If you do make study guides, make sure to share them with your classmates! My class created a private Facebook group in the very beginning, so that we could share notes, study guides, etc. This is not a competition, so make sure to help out your fellow classmates!
1.) Find your own groove. // Some of my classmates didn't study on the weekends (unless there was an exam on Monday). Others took one day off a week from studying. Don't try to do what everyone else is doing. Do what is best for you! Personally, I studied a little everyday for the most part. There were a couple rare weeks where we didn't have an exam, so I would take a break from studying then. This tip also applies to how you study. Some students like to make study guides. Others just study from their notes and PowerPoint slides. I started out trying to make study guides, but it ended up being too time-consuming for me. I ended up just studying the PowerPoint slides and my notes. Sometimes I used the Quizlet app as well.
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| This is literally what PA school feels like most of the time. Source: Pinterest |
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Update | Year 1, Semester 3
Monday, May 23, 2016
I'm still alive guys! PA school hasn't killed me...yet. Haha! I cannot believe I'm already in the 3rd semester of my first year. For those of you who don't know, the first year is the didactic year and the second year is the clinical year. The didactic year consists of all the bookwork (not that we actually read the textbooks...just the PowerPoints...some of which are basically textbooks). The clinical year consists of our clinical rotations (emergency medicine, OB/GYN, internal medicine, etc.). In the program I'm in, we get to choose 2 elective rotations (cardiology, neurology, plastic surgery, dermatology, etc.). My top choices are dermatology and plastic surgery. I'm crossing my fingers that I will get them!
My second semester was probably a little harder than the first semester because we had cardiology, pulmonology, endocrinology, women's health, and G.I. And that was only for one course. We also had a lot of group projects, which took up some of our time as well. I ended up doing really well, and I was so excited that I reached my goal of a 4.0 GPA for the semester! I'm glad that all the studying I did paid off!
As always, please leave any questions or blog post requests below!
-C
My second semester was probably a little harder than the first semester because we had cardiology, pulmonology, endocrinology, women's health, and G.I. And that was only for one course. We also had a lot of group projects, which took up some of our time as well. I ended up doing really well, and I was so excited that I reached my goal of a 4.0 GPA for the semester! I'm glad that all the studying I did paid off!
As always, please leave any questions or blog post requests below!
-C
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Long Overdue Update!
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Hi everyone! I'm still alive! PA school hasn't killed me...yet. Haha! I'm sorry I haven't updated in quite some time. I have been super busy with school and school comes first! We are more than halfway through our first semester, and I cannot wait until our break in December!
The most difficult class for me has been Gross Anatomy. I mean...I'm doing okay in the class I guess, but I just hate getting anything below an A. I did really well in my anatomy class in undergraduate, so it just really bothers me. I think it is a combination of the professor and the amount of material in such a short period of time (...but mostly the professor...since there is a lot of material in the other classes and I'm doing well in them). I definitely recommend reviewing anatomy before starting PA school, especially if it has been awhile since you took the class in undergrad! If I had done that, maybe I wouldn't be having such a hard time in the class. I'm just glad that we will be done with Gross Anatomy after this semester!
We had our second Physical Diagnosis lab practical earlier today. It was on the Lungs/Thorax, Heart/Peripheral Vascular, and Abdomen. We had 30 minutes to do it. I did pretty well on it, but I made a couple stupid mistakes because I was so nervous. I literally felt like I was going to pass out or throw up. I'm always a nervous wreck, but I try my hardest not to show it. I was even more nervous because the professor who was grading me (and who is also my advisor) said I had such good grades beforehand and was expecting me to do really well. That just made me more nervous because I didn't want to let him down! I'm such a perfectionist that I am never satisfied, even if my grade is a 90-something. I will only be satisfied with a 100, which is obviously really hard to get. Anyone else have this problem? It is a really horrible mindset to have, and I'm trying not to beat myself up over grades that are still good. I'm definitely happy that I did a lot better on this practical than on my last one! I ended up running out of time on the last one because I talked/explained too much.
I have to go study for my Pathophysiology exam now, but I'm going to leave you with this picture of Ryan Gosling that I found online with the heart auscultation locations! Haha!
Who doesn't love Ryan Gosling??
-C
The most difficult class for me has been Gross Anatomy. I mean...I'm doing okay in the class I guess, but I just hate getting anything below an A. I did really well in my anatomy class in undergraduate, so it just really bothers me. I think it is a combination of the professor and the amount of material in such a short period of time (...but mostly the professor...since there is a lot of material in the other classes and I'm doing well in them). I definitely recommend reviewing anatomy before starting PA school, especially if it has been awhile since you took the class in undergrad! If I had done that, maybe I wouldn't be having such a hard time in the class. I'm just glad that we will be done with Gross Anatomy after this semester!
We had our second Physical Diagnosis lab practical earlier today. It was on the Lungs/Thorax, Heart/Peripheral Vascular, and Abdomen. We had 30 minutes to do it. I did pretty well on it, but I made a couple stupid mistakes because I was so nervous. I literally felt like I was going to pass out or throw up. I'm always a nervous wreck, but I try my hardest not to show it. I was even more nervous because the professor who was grading me (and who is also my advisor) said I had such good grades beforehand and was expecting me to do really well. That just made me more nervous because I didn't want to let him down! I'm such a perfectionist that I am never satisfied, even if my grade is a 90-something. I will only be satisfied with a 100, which is obviously really hard to get. Anyone else have this problem? It is a really horrible mindset to have, and I'm trying not to beat myself up over grades that are still good. I'm definitely happy that I did a lot better on this practical than on my last one! I ended up running out of time on the last one because I talked/explained too much.
I have to go study for my Pathophysiology exam now, but I'm going to leave you with this picture of Ryan Gosling that I found online with the heart auscultation locations! Haha!
 |
| Image: Pinterest.com |
Who doesn't love Ryan Gosling??
-C
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