r/PAstudent

Hello all! I start PA school in two weeks and I would like to know any tips you have for studying and approaching certain classes. Here are my core classes for first semester:

• Human Anatomy & Physiology
• Medical Microbiology & Infectious Disease
• History & Physical Examination
• Pathophysiology of Disease
• Pharmacology & Pharmacotherapeutics
• Clinical Skills
• Clinical Medicine

From my experience in undergrad, each class required a different study approach. Which study methods worked best for you in each didactic course? Looking for class-specific tips and general didactic advice. Thank you!

I have been academically dismissed 2 weeks before graduation. I appealed and it was denied. I don’t want to post details, at least not yet.

I am devastated and heartbroken.

My appeal letter was lengthy, due to wanting to include all details possibly necessary for future hearings since the policy stated only things mentioned in the initial appeal could be discussed. I felt hopeful as it pointed out similar prior situations within my cohort that did not result in dismissal, policy action inconsistencies during the process, policy inconsistencies in a relevant course manual, extenuating circumstances (with proof) that significantly impacted EOC performance, and probably more that I’m forgetting. I don’t even feel like my appeal was reviewed, honestly. I feel like I received an answer too quickly for it to have been reviewed and considered.

I have no clue what to do. Pursue another career, reapply to my program, apply to a different one. I know my odds are much lower if applying to another program.
I want to be a PA so bad but am not sure I can or want to go through this process again.

Any perspective or experience from someone and their dismissal experience, what they did after, how they coped- would be so appreciated.
I thought I read something here about filing something for loans too but I can’t find it?

Does anyone with experience with this think I may have any chance at legal action/negotiation if I feel a case can be made against how certain policies were addressed/performed?

I am embarrassed, sad, lost and desperate. All guidance welcome and accepted but please don’t be hateful for no reason. I have had enough reality checks and don’t need more in the form of unhelpful/condescending comments🫠😭

I'm taking the EM EOR next Saturday (my 7th EOR out of 8). I feel like ROSH Qbank is significantly harder for this blueprint than others I have taken like women's health, psych, peds, surgery, etc. I'm about halfway through the blueprint doing targeted questions for the topics I have reviewed and am scoring 62% average on all the questions I have done so far (completed 144 out of the 250 total). It's making me nervous because I usually score 70%+ on ROSH qbanks. Does anyone else feel that ROSH for EM was insanely more challenging for EM than others? What was the EOR like in general?

I feel like I’m all over the place with my grades, I always start off doing well in the beginning of the semester like high Bs and As, then I start sabotaging myself near the end. I always end up being at a solid B cut off. Right now I’m sitting at 2 80% and one 89% in big classes. How do people maintain their grades?? My same study method have gotten me As and Cs, this makes me feel like I’m not going to make it. How have I not figured it out by now in quarter 3?

I’m so done with PA, it feels like this is not for me only been here for 8 mos and im not progressing.

How many paps did you do? Supervised? Do you get to do any procedures under supervision like colposcopies? Seems like we only assist in paps and procedures (like an MA) and maybe towards the end of the six weeks we can do a few paps. I want to see if anyone was able to participate in procedures to see if it’s worth asking to give it shot (after seeing it of course). But honestly in this setting its mostly MA stuff and lots of admin work so I’m trying to see how I can make the most of it. Thanks!

Hey guys, I don’t know if this is just a result of school, or maybe my own personal reasons, but throughout school, I’ve noticed that a lot of things annoy me, the things that people do, the way that people act, I’m just very hyper aware of my surroundings because school is my whole life right now. Being one of the younger people in my class, I feel as if I’m looked at as immature, or like I’m stupid. I know in reality once school is done, no one’s gonna care about your GPA, but I can’t help it and I compare myself to other people. I know that comparison is the thief of joy, but I just feel so much lesser than my classmates because I’m not scoring as high as they are. Or, when someone asks me a question and I want to explain it, and my other classmate pitches in and doesn’t let me talk, it really puts me down. We have a class of a lot of strong personalities, and I feel like these people are naturally born to lead, I just don’t feel like I have that right now. Has anyone else experienced this? Thank you.

Hello, I am 25m and am considering starting down the path to become a PA, would love some guidance from those who’s been there done that.

I will be graduating this December with a bachelors in history (3.4 gpa) and will be starting a radiology technologist program in July (2 years A.S. Degree) . I am a veteran and will be using my Education benefits for this, which will cover all of it and plus I’ll be receiving a stipend while I attend class. I will have enough remaining to cover the PA program as well.

I am doing this to ensure a good career if I decide later on PA isn’t for me. The program will cover 2 prerequisites, and I am planning on taking on on an extra class every semester towards prerequisites. I have already completed two prerequisites with As in both.

Once I graduate the Program I will have roughly one more year left of prereqs which I will do part time as I work as a x ray Tec, if working full time will be too much I am willing to do part time work. And in a year working as a x ray Tec I should get over 1k PCE.

There are 5 PA programs near me (Tampa bay) and I have checked all of their admissions requirements.

Please let me know what I am missing or if something may not go as smoothly as I think.

I’m wondering if anyone else has experienced something like this after PA school, because I don’t understand what happened and it’s been really upsetting me.

During didactic year, I thought I had a group of friends in my cohort. We studied together, sat next to each other, texted, etc. I personally never really liked studying in groups, so I didn’t participate in group study sessions as much as some of them did, but we still talked regularly and hung out occasionally outside of school. Obviously during clinical year we weren’t together every day anymore because everyone was at different rotation sites, but we still kept in contact. 2 of my "closest" friends would text me almost every day asking questions about rotations, EORs, PACKRAT, studying, or just random school related things. Sometimes we would have pretty long conversations, and I would genuinely go out of my way to give detailed answers and help them however I could. What has confused and hurt me the most is what happened when we were finally all back together in person for our last week of school. We all were together doing capstones, final exams, graduation practice and suddenly it felt like these people could not have cared less that I existed. That when it was clear to me they all had gotten closer with each other and basically I was not in the friend circle any longer. They would all hang out and do things together without ever inviting me. There was clearly a separate GC and nobody cared if i was included. I dont understand why these people I use to call my friends treat me like a stranger when we were finally together in person. Graduation made it 10x worse. Everyone had their exclusive group of friends to take pics with, sit with, talk to, comment on each other's posts saying how much they love each other, how grateful they are that PA school gave them their best friend, how proud they are of each other without even acknowledging my posts.

It hurts because it feels like confirmation of what I experienced in person during that last week and graduation. It's not really about wanting an Instagram or Facebook comment. It's seeing someone who was texting me constantly a few weeks ago enthusiastically supporting and celebrating everyone else while seemingly pretending I don't exist. I don't even want to post about it because I'm scared I'll get little to no engagement from my classmates while everyone else gets tons of comments from each other. I feel like it will just publicly confirm that I'm the person from the cohort who didn't really have anyone. I keep wondering why I somehow got left behind, what's wrong with me to make them not want to include me or care about me. I honestly just feel incredibly lonely and like there's something wrong with me that I'm not seeing. It has made me so depressed and want to unfollow everyone in my cohort because I have this deep sinking feeling every time i see it now. I literally came out of PA school with zero friends meanwhile i see the bonds all my other classmates have made and it makes me extremely sad.

Has anyone had a similar experience in PA school—feeling lonely, like you never really had friends in your cohort, and then feeling even worse anytime there was a group gathering because it only shed light on how little people talked to you or made an effort to include you.

Hey, Has anyone received any updates on August?

It’s pretty quite

PA classes start in 2 weeks. It will be nice if I can hear something
:(

For those who are using Blueprint for EOR studying, have you found that the projected score posted under the 'Analytics' tab is comparable to how you did on the actual EOR? Taking my first EOR this week, and the projected score seems higher than I expected given the scores I've been getting on practice sets.

Hi everyone! I start didactic next week and have been looking around for some study recources that got people through their first year, but see generally mixed notes. I am for sure starting with anki for active recall and I am looking between blueprint and osmosis for their Qbanks - which do yall prefer? Any other advice to be as efficient studying as possible?

The panic is here and I’m unsure if I should move my exam.

Average EOR score was 410 with my final EOR being IM and scoring 439.

EOC: 1518
PACKRAT1: 121
PACKRAT2: 146

I’ve mainly been doing UWorld questions. With a 68% average when I mix all the content.

How to best use UWorld at this timeline? I'm 66% with 32% completed on UWorld.

I keep missing obvious stuff. Timing at this point is not an issue for me, I can finish 60 Q sets with 20 minutes to spare, I might be going too fast if anything.

I also will feel a vibe about an answer that I feel like could be right, but reason something else as a stronger answer, but my vibes were right the first time. So if I get it wrong, I make a flashcard on it to memorize to target the specific knowledge gap.

At this point, should I continue to work through system through system by just doing Qs and reading the explanations? Or randomized systems? Is there a better way to do this so I stop missing those obvious questions where I know the diagnosis but not the second-order detail?

No hate to the existing PANCE advice columns, but here are some things that I think are important but were not emphasized in columns I read:

Main points: (1) passive UWORLD questions get you nowhere, (2) etiology and physical exam were the most tested concepts, (3) the NCCPA practice exams (A, B, C) are the closest style of practice questions out there, (4) you have to practice staying calm when you have zero f-in clue what they’re getting at in a question, or that test will eat you alive. (5) I think three weeks of studying is the sweet spot; 4 feels exhausting and 5+ truly has significantly diminishing returns.

Ranked resources (for me): UWORLD ready decks (by far), UWORLD medical library, UWORLD question explanations, Cram the PANCE videos/podcasts, PANCE Prep Pearls, Katy Blair Conner videos, Blueprint outline, ROSH, SmartyPance (not a recommendation)

There is no perfect resource for this exam...but, I do believe there is a near-perfect strategy, as well as a perfect way to waste time:

(the time waster) passive UWORLD questions absolutely do not prepare you. UWORLD explanations, DO! (Aka, just doing the questions and quickly reading the explanation) Personally, I think it’s bad advice to just read the explanations of the questions you got wrong. It will surprise you how many questions you get right without really understanding (or having forgotten) the nuances of the physiology. Ultimately, this is the device of each question on the PANCE. They indirectly test your APPLICATION of knowledge of NUANCES of the physiologies. A simplified (!!) example: why are women more nauseous in the first trimester? The increasing hCG. How does this apply to hyperemesis gravidarum? Their hCG continues to climb even after the first trimester at an astronomical level, without the plateau or a normal pregnancy. Why are sickle cell trait patients less susceptible to malaria? Etc.

(the near perfect way) You need to know the nuance and reason behind every single symptom. When you are studying, you need to focus on why every patient experiences the symptoms that they do, not just ‘x’ diagnosis presents with ‘x’ symptoms. It’s hard at first, but as you start to understand them, you can apply them to other diagnoses. This is the way the PANCE tests you. You need to be able to explain and comprehend every physical exam sign AND etiology. You will surely have less than 10% of all your questions just asking for the diagnosis. About 70% of my questions required either (1) knowledge of minor physical exam signs (AKA SEEMINGLY UNIMPORTANT) or (2) second and third line etiologies (especially related co-morbidities). Cram the PANCE is a perfect podcast to get your feet wet of the level in which you need to understand the physiology. I also think he explains them very well and in an entertaining-enough way. PANCE Prep Pearls is a great resource, however, I found this more helpful after I had already done my initial review through all the diagnosis, because it does leave a good bit out. It also does not explain much, it just lists. Why is this important? Relevance, relevance, relevance. You need to know why every single aspect of a diagnosis is related to that diagnosis. If it feels like you’re reading someone else’s notes, it’s because you are. This is good for quick familiarization, but ultimately this will not assist you in understanding the physiology. I still think it is a great tool for comparing diagnoses and familiarization with medications, I just would make sure you don’t regard it as all-exhaustive. Katy Blair Conner videos: loved her videos, but be careful with the treatments as her stuff is a little older at this point. I found a lot of her references for treatments or first line approaches were not the same as listed in UWORLD or PPP. However, her videos are still a GREAT resource and excellent example of patient presentation, just be cognizant of the changes in nuances of treatments and the changes in the PANCE outline since she’s produced those videos. She’s got some stellar stuff. Her first videos are also free which is a very kind way to allow you to test her method of teaching and see if it vibes with your learning style without the full commit right away.

At the end of the day, some of the best advice I got about picking resources from the overwhelming pile is to just pick whatever keeps you focused. If you can’t stay focused for anything when you’re just reading a book, then that’s not the resource for you. You need to find a video or a worksheet. Personally, I focused so much better when I have a worksheet to go along with what I’m reading. I ultimately made a couple hundred copies of a shell that included diagnosis, signs and symptoms, etiologies (do NOT sleep on this one), and treatments and would pick the top five most similar presenting conditions and have them on the same sheet for comparisons.

Best practice test for assessment of knowledge in space and time: Katy Blair Conner’s mini-PANCE. I wouldn’t necessarily relate your PANCE score as it seems more recently myself and my friends got about ~50+ points lower than her predicted; but I would relate it to a true analysis of your best and worst subjects, as well as overall preparedness. If you fail her mini exam, I would strongly reconsider moving your test date to allow for more study time. I would also reevaluate your approach. Best (BEST) test to replicate the emotional trigger on your “shock factor” and anger during the PANCE— NCCPA’s practice exams. The results are all over the place for people so please PLEASE don’t use it to discourage OR encourage you as “ready.” However, this is a perfect way to test your ability to remain calm when you feel that you get a nonsense question.

One of the most under-discussed pieces of advice for the exam is how to stay calm. You are going to read these questions and feel exasperated and annoyed or angry as to why they are asking you that question when you feel that it’s not really testing your knowledge. Looking back on some of the specific questions, they were kind of ingenious. You have to trust the process. They are INDIRECTLY testing your deductive reasoning, your knowledge, your inductive reasoning, your familiarization of common etiologies relating to a specific race, gender or community, as well as your ability to remain calm and see past nonsensical details. It is far too easy to remember and memorize an association between a diagnosis and a treatment, without really understanding the pathophysiology.

STOP TRYING TO LOOK FOR A COMPARISON ON HERE. I would post my scores but I feel like I'm feeding a toxic idea that you aren't good enough on your own. How ANYONE else did in didactic canNOT be used as a reliable source for yourself. You are either (a) trying to beat yourself up for doing so poorly that you need external validation that someone else who did poorly succeeded, so therefore you can or (b) you are stuck in a menty-b spiral and need (again) external validation to return to baseline. Either way -- you need to revisit your affirmations, girly pop. You are enough on your own! Be careful with comparison. Everyone’s results are all over the place with these practice exams… at the end of the day if you HAVE TO, hold KBC’s results as the highest regard. I make sure to get at least a 400 on this before attempting the PANCE.

I graduated in the bottom 5% of my class and was a firefighter prior to PA school. I say that because I was always comparing myself and trying to gauge my preparedness against others' because I felt like it was written in the cards that I wouldn't be a first time go. Truthfully, SO MUCH of that test is luck....luck that you just so happened to look at that question one week ago, luck that you got that one question early on in the exam when you were fresh, luck that you happened to review that topic right before you came in the door.... so recalibrate and stop the low-key aggressive searching for some sort of validation that you will pass. (That person was me and I wasted so much time doing that and I wish I didn’t.)

You will pass. If it takes 2 or 3 tries, whatever, you WILL pass. It will suck and feel terrible, but you eventually WILL PASS.

If you fail, I promise no one in your class will think less of you. There are so many factors that go into test day, likely everyone you know will simply feel brokenhearted that your weekend to relax is postponed by another couple months… be a kind homie.

CLOSING: Test day… show up 30 mins early. Have a playlist with some hype songs and go for a walk. I recommend doing 10-15 warm up questions to get you ready so you can just jump on in when it’s go time. I did the first two sections back to back and then took breaks for the other three. Once you submit, give it up, dude. There’s nothing you can do so don’t waste anxiety about your score. Future you has handled everything well so far and future you will handle that, too. Trust them and just relax. No need to suffer twice if that’s what it comes to. There has never been a situation in my life where I was eventually disappointed by my result, but still grateful that I spent the week prior anxious and mentally bullying myself about the outcome. It never made the shitty outcome less shitty.

Hi friends! my PANCE is a week & a day away. I just graduated a week ago, so I will have spent ~2 wks specifically studying for PANCE. Some days I feel confident & prepared, others not so much. I've mostly been doing uworld & some blueprint questions. I also did the NCCPA practice exam A which was fully in the green, & B, which was mostly yellow with a hint of red.

The more practice questions I get wrong, the more worried I get. Although, I'm definitely getting exhausted so that could partially be why I'm missing some things as opposed to a lack of knowledge. I've seen many people say that Katy Connor's half PANCE has been a pretty good predictor of their PANCE score, so I'm thinking about taking it to either boost my confidence or at least get an idea of what specific things I need to review prior to the PANCE. I've seen she has a version A & version B which is slightly more difficult, & I was wondering if anyone had advice for which version would be better to take? I was partially thinking version A for the sake of confidence building (which I def need right now), but also thought maybe version B would be better bc if I can do well on that, it could build my confidence that much more, but it could also deplete it even more if I do poorly, so I'm kind of split lol. I haven't seen many opinions on version A vs B, so if anyone has any insight, please lmk! & if anyone has any further advice, etc. please share! Thanks! :)

Scores for Reference: Packrat 1: 145; Packrat 2: 168; WH EOR 413; Peds EOR: 415; Psych EOR: 402; FM EOR: 435; IM EOR: 411; Surgery EOR: 403; EM EOR: 439; EOC: 1548

Does anyone have advice for balancing multiple classes and splitting up study time? I just finished my first semester of PA school and did okay, but I still don’t feel like I found a consistent study routine. I studied differently for almost every exam and usually ended up cramming the 3 days before.

My main method was reviewing lectures/notes 2–3 times, doing a ton of practice questions, and teaching/talking through the material out loud. I also used Anki for some classes, but wasn’t very consistent with it. I definitely want to use it more next semester. I tried making a study schedule to divide my time between classes, but it didn’t really work for me. For anyone who found a good routine, how did you organize your time and stay ahead without cramming? Did you use any specific apps, planners, or scheduling methods that helped?
I’d really appreciate any tips or examples of what worked for you! :)

Wrapped up my first semester this week and not very happy with the outcome. Does it really get better?