Emails come in all the time asking me about resources. Which books are the best? Which online courses should I get? The truth is there is a ton of good material out there. There are so many things you could buy. Lots of places to spend your money.
The key, though, is understanding what you’re using the resource for, and then actually using them once you get them. If you are buying another paperweight because it will help you sleep better at night, you might as well spend your money on magic crystals. They will work better.
I’m not covering the types of resources here today. For now, I just want you to spend some time considering why you might purchase one thing or another, and please, please don’t buy bunch of stuff just to buy it. That will only increase your anxiety because you can’t get through everything.
What stimulated this thought was a posting on the PA forum I came across a while back:
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Hi Everyone!
I’m selling materials that I have purchased:
Andrew Reid Pance/Panre Review Book (e-Book)
Kaplan USMLE Step 2CK Internal Medicine Lecture Notes eBook — 500 page PDF
Kaplan USMLE Step 2CK Pediatrics Lecture Notes eBook — 300 page PDF
Kaplan USMLE Step 2CK Ob/Gyn Lecture Notes eBook — 300 page PDF
Kaplan USMLE Step 2CK Psychiatry Lecture Notes eBook — 200 page PDF
Kaplan USMLE Step 2CK Surgery Lecture Notes eBook — 300 page PDF
USMLE Board Review from Medscape Internal Medicine Exams — 600 page PDF of Case-Based Internal Medicine Self-Assessment Questions
UMDNJ/Rutger’s Course Video Lectures, PDFs, MP3s
Help PANCE Full Set of PDFs
HIPPO PA Full Set of Videos, PDFs, and Review Questions (Q Bank)
Jeff Corwin Pance Outlines and Notes
Packrats 8-16
ER Packrat
Surgery Packrat
Pass Program Clues PPT
Kaplan USMLE Flashcards 200 — 400 page PDF
The 450 (450 clinical definitions in alphabetical order)
Pharmacology Charts
Brian Wallace’s The Final Step e-Book and Audiobook
Kaplan Van Rhee Physician Assistant Board Review PDF (From online course — almost 500 pages of high-yield powerpoints that follow the NCCPA blueprint)
John Bielinski PA Board Facts PDF — From CME4Life — 750 high-yield facts
And the following videos/lectures: Most all Kaplan by Dr. Conrad Fischer
Doctor’s in Training Step 1 2014
Kaplan Classroom Anywhere Step 1
Kaplan Internal Medicine MTB (Master The Boards)
Kaplan Step 1 Books 2013
Kaplan Step 2CK CenterPrep Videos
Kaplan Step 2CK Comprehensive Cases
Kaplan USMLE Step 1 Pharmacology
Kaplan USMLE Step 2CK High Yield Lecture Videos
Med Quest Step 1 Integrated Cases
Med Quest Step 3 High Yield Videos
Pass Program — Dr. Francis Ihejirika
Pass Program Notes
Please IM/PM me if interested. I can do package deals and/or sell individually. All payments through PayPal. Thanks!
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HOLY SMOKES. Was this guy trying to barricade himself in his home, so he didn’t have to face the exam? You could build a wall around your bedroom with all of this and just hide out in there.
You couldn’t possibly use all of this. I would feel so overwhelmed looking around at these stacks and stacks of things. Things I wasn’t working on. Things I thought I might be missing out on if I didn’t get to them.
I’m glad The Final Step made the cut, but wow!
Choose your resources wisely.
Better to have one or two good resources than 100 things you’re not using. If you’re not going to use them, they just sit around making you feel bad. That sucks.
I will say one thing as far as choosing resources goes. Choose one for each category. One review book. One PANCE question resource. One short question book like the Final Step.
When you study medicine, your school recommends Cecil’s or Harrison’s. What they don’t do is recommend both. That would be stupid. We all see that. Ok?
Now, do you have a resource on test taking? No? You don’t have a resource for how to get better at the one skill that would change your entire career as a student?
Allow me to recommend the October Issue of the Physician Assistant Exam Scholars Newsletter, where I cover test taking in great detail and give you the ultimate key to getting better grades.
Join me today. You’ll get the print version delivered to your door and the audio version beamed to your phone.
Click here:
Physician Assistant Exam Scholars
Brian Wallace
