#mspas

Didactic year is the first year of hell PA school, and generally it varies 12 to 16 months in duration. It’s mostly classroom, and it can be rough. In the moment (my program was mandatory attendance MTWRF 8-8 plus weekend anatomy lab), it feels like it’s crawling. Looking back, however, it almost seemed to fly by.

Almost.

I wrote The Giant Ass Summary Post of Didactic Year at the conclusion of my first year of PA school. In it I discuss some of the non-clinical lessons I learned, from discovering my weaknesses to getting along with classmates.

Speaking of getting along with classmates, that is crucial for didactic year. Because you spend over 60h/wk with them, and- as a PA, you’re a teammate, and you have to be able to work with people of different personalities and backgrounds. You’re all in this together. Sometimes it can be tough, other times you laugh and cry together. 

I also have a few miscellaneous posts from nights when I was procrastinating on studying for an exam: Random Semester 2 Thoughts More Random Semester 2 Thoughts Random Semester 3 Thoughts My #PAblr posts when I first joined tumblr are much more starry-eyed, and that’s partly because my program gave us a unique opportunity: a clinical rotation that we attended once a week during didactic year to get a feel for clinical year. As if exams weren’t already humbling enough, this intro-to-rotations setup really showed me that I still had a lot to learn.

In preparation for clinical year, we also met our standardized patients during didactic year. Standardized patients- aka the people who are paid by our school (my tuition) to be poked, prodded, and questioned for hours on end. They provide interesting feedback. Some of the feedback feels like it comes out of nowhere, but even the weird information is useful. You’re going to have some oddball patients when you’re on rotations and in practice, so working with standardized patients is a great way to learn how to interact with patients in all kinds of situations.

One interesting phenomenon during my didactic year- Despite my non-licensed, bright-eyed student status, family and friends took my word on anything healthcare related as gold. With great power comes great responsibility.

I’ll be real here- no one in my class breezed through PA school. Even the one classmate with a 4.0 didactic year came close to failing a clinical rotation. So if you meet some self-proclaimed hotshot who acts as though PA school is the easiest thing he/she has ever done, don’t buy it, and don’t be discouraged. They’re struggling just as much as you are but overcompensating.

Now as a PA-C, looking back at didactic, Here are the biggest lessons that I learned: - Study early, and study by quizzing. - Don’t get caught up in class drama. - Sleep. No, you’re never going to study enough. So fuck it, and sleep. - Get a counselor. I have no mental health diagnoses, did this, and it saved my sanity in PA school. I kept a biweekly appointment with the school’s counseling services (included in my tuition) just to vent. Best decision I ever made. - Stay in touch with family and non-PA school friends. They’ll keep you in touch with reality when PA school takes over your world. - YOU GOT THIS!  - The #PAblr community is always here to help. @populationpensive and @simplysupergirl / @emedpa created a wonderful community of people who are rooting for you.

Clinical year is the second installment of PA school (the first being didactic year). It usually is 12 to 15 months in duration with 8 to 12ish rotations during that time frame. While I sat on my ass a lot during didactic year, I barely sat at all during clinical. 

 As someone whose biggest weakness is the inability to sit still (per Mrs. Schmidt, my kindergarten teacher), I liked clinical year a lot better than didactic year. I got to see my own patients, work with all kinds of healthcare providers, and practice my skills and knowledge- I got to pretend to be a PA! 

At the conclusion of my clinical year, I wrote The Giant Ass Summary Post of Clinical Year, in which I detailed tidbits specific to each rotation. If anyone is looking for a quick read, I also summarized each rotation in brief.

While I liked clinical year better, it still had its challenges. During didactic year, your only responsibility is studying- your grades are mostly from exams and OSCEs. Clinical year still has exams, but grades also include your preceptor evaluation (I fucking hated those things), capstone project, and other miscellaneous items. This means working a full clinical schedule (and then some), doing (almost) whatever it takes to please your preceptor, scheduling meetings with your capstone project group members, and studying for your EORs simultaneously. Clinical year was a big lesson in time management. 

Another lesson I had to learn was that you can't please everyone. My preceptor for one rotation was never happy. I was working 14h days MTWRF, seeing 30 patients a day, writing/rewriting all of her notes, calling patients with their lab results, performing all the procedures, saving her ass when she overlooked things- and she still failed me on my evaluation. I very seriously considered quitting PA school.

Yep, I got seriously burnt out during clinical year and even drafted a withdrawal email to my program after a hellish surgical rotation. I also got a serious reprimand for a tense interaction with a senior clinician (I still have no regrets). However, encouragement from my mentor, family, and friends as well as meeting some amazing providers who went above and beyond...that kept me going.

Looking back, there were a lot of positive moments during clinical year. For one thing, I (hilariously) learned that I can’t do night shift. I also met some pediatrics patients who I will never forget, got to talk with a patient whom I never thought I’d meet, played with puppies, almost had my own MI, laughed out loud with patients and staff, and witnessed some wonky stuff as well as the most touching moments.

In addition to working with patients, clinical year also was a great opportunity to work with healthcare providers and network. Sure, sometimes they couldn’t keep track of my name, but most of them had my back when it really counted. During my rotations, I became known for my voracious appetite, ability to find information on almost anything (both intentionally and unintentionally), willingness to help out where needed, typing speed, and running everywhere. I had a lot of fun moments with preceptors and staff as well as the occasional awkward ones. Overall, I met some pretty awesome people during clinical year. And we still stay in touch. They get more pictures of Hangry Doggo sleeping than they ever wanted (not that anyone asked for any :P ). 

The most useful thing I learned during clinical year: community resources. Yes, our current healthcare system could use a lot of improvement. But with proper knowledge and resources, we can help our patients a whole hell of a lot more. 

So, looking back at clinical year,  Here are the biggest lessons that I learned: - Treat rotations like an interview. - Know your H&P inside and out. - Be familiar with community resources. - Stay in touch with preceptors. - Don’t forget to study. - YOU'RE GOING TO DO GREAT! - Always feel free to check in with the #PAblr community. We gotcha.