PA Team

The previous post underscored the importance of trusting yourself, but a good PA student also learns how to trust their peers. Teamwork is a major reason that PAs are so successful as a group. They are willing to leave their ego at the door to keep the patient’s best interests in mind. You might forget about this concept when that certain classmate or professor or preceptor starts to get on your nerves. Success depends on a diversity of interpersonal relations. In other words, the more personalities you are exposed to, the more prepared you will be to deal with a variety of personalities in the future. This will help you become more effective at problem solving and less fixated on “that person” that annoys you. As annoying as it might be, try to be open-minded with group projects in the didactic year. Inevitably, someone else will teach you something valuable. Finally, remember that everyone probably wants control of the situation and you’re not the only one in the group anymore that is a type-A personality.

Another group activity that causes added stress in PA school is finding the right study group. I always like to say, find those that are on your “wavelength.” Some people will talk over your head (big waves) or respond so fast (high frequency) that you can’t even process the information. Others will get so caught up on the minutia (lots of peaks and valleys) that the clinical relevance is lost. It may take some trial and error, but you’ll eventually just know when you are studying with people that are on your wavelength. And at the end of the day, there’s nothing wrong with studying by yourself. The group study sessions are just a way to lay it all out on the table and see if you can gather some useful information that you may have overlooked. 

Up next… Ten things I wish I knew before I started PA school.

Popular is Not Always the Answer

A majority of physician assistant programs are organized with one year of didactic (i.e. classroom) training followed by 12-15 months of clinical rotations. As I culminate my didactic phase of PA school, I am inspired to offer some words of wisdom to current and future PA students. The didactic phase is extremely challenging but it is well-designed. 

My first piece of advice is to trust yourself. This sounds commonsense but it is easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing and forget about yourself. You have a unique background that got you accepted to PA school. No one else can even compare to your background, remember that. With that being said, it is important to continue what got you to PA school. There is no reason to dramatically change your study habits or buy into all the anxious chatter that occurs in the lecture halls before class. You will feel compelled to study the same way as your classmates because it is the popular thing to do. Breaking news for you, this is just an illusion. Trust yourself. This means trusting your preparation and your intuition. Physician assistant studies, like most advanced disciplines, is simply a new framework of organizing information. You’ve heard of pancreas, insulin, diabetes, hemoglobin, etc. Now you must re-organize this in your brain, not in someone else’s. Don’t worry about grades, just pass. Everyone in PA school is used to receiving a lot of As. However, often times the difference between an A and a B in PA School is added stress. Is it worth it?

“If you compare yourself to others, you may become vain and bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.”  -excerpt from Max Ehrmann’s Desiderata