As you may know, I have a stupendous PA student who has been helping me for quite some time now. She’s amazing, and like many of you (or you will be), she just graduated, started looking for a job, moved to a new place and, oh yeah, she’s pregnant with her first kid. All super exciting stuff!!!!!!
But it’s a lot. Especially coming all at once. There’s no way around it. It happens to almost everyone who’s fortunate enough to graduate PA school. And it’s all good; she can handle it. You can handle it. Just be aware enough to know what’s going on. 8 of 10 of the most stressful things you will ever experience in your lifetime are happening this month!
LOL. Amazing and fun!
Okay, the point here isn’t to stress you out. The point here is to help you to see why maybe your shoulders are stuck up around your ears. Why you can’t stand up straight. Why you might be just a little bit snippy with your loved ones (between COVID, working from home, baseball, and everything else, I know my house has been a little tense lately, and by a little, I mean completely insane. The worst part is that I didn’t even notice until my wife sat me down the other day to hash it out. She’s amazing, by the way)
But that isn’t even the point of this here email. The point is that this marvelous editor of the Physician Assistant Exam Scholars always sends me feedback when she finishes an issue. The September issue was no different. And I’d love to share her thoughts with you:
+++
This was a good reminder issue for me. As I started my “hard-core PANCE studying” this weekend (now that I’m all moved into the new apartment!), it was hard for me to know how to approach such a massive topic list. Your newsletter was a great reminder to me on how to tackle reviewing everything by [secret stuff in the September issue] rather than just glazing over my Pance Prep Pearls book & doing a few practice questions. I was a little on the fence on time consuming/effective ways of studying everything vs just reading through stuff so I could get through things as quickly as possible. Time management has always been a bit of an issue for me (though I’ve DEFINITELY improved throughout PA school), but I was reminded by your newsletter that [secret stuff in the September issue]. That extra hour it takes to put in the actual work is MORE than worth it for the amount of information that actually sticks in my brain.
+++
Love it. She also made me see once again how a technique or philosophy can be applied to many different places along the PA Journey. When I wrote this particular issue, I was thinking of first-year students. Never entered my mind to think about the final push into the PANCE.
But good techniques are transferable and adaptable.
Love it.
Anyway, if you’d like to get your hands on this issue and see what all the hubbub is about, today is the day.
Physician Assistant Exam Scholars
Brian Wallace
P.S. During the month of September, members will be able to order back-issues. Here’s what the catalog looks like:
1. 2018 April – Hours and Hours of Studying Down the drain – a scientifically proven way to end the depressing & demoralizing spaghetti strainer brain
2. 2018 May – Work smarter, not harder – cognitive psychologists want to show you how
3. 2018 June – Rock your Rotations – how to graduate with a job!
4. 2018 July – Land your dream job – with no more work than ordering a pizza
5. 2018 August – Reel that fish in and start getting a paycheck
6. 2018 September – What to expect when you’re expecting – the Big Day
7. 2018 October – Study Hacks – part One
8. 2018 November – Study Hacks – part Two
9. 2018 December – Test Questions
10. 2019 January – Answer questions like a PRO
11. 2019 February – Lessons from the Big Day – Everything I learned at Pearson Vue and how you can boost your score by 50 points without studying a lick more than you already have
12. 2019 March – Master Your Finances – No More Sleepless nights or Anxiety-ridden dreams about student loans or monthly bills
13. 2019 April – Change Your Future – stop the paycheck to paycheck cycle this weekend
14. 2019 May – This is how you do it – get your brain in the game and cut your study time in HALF
15. 2019 June – Your first day as a PA – wow, your first patient
16. 2019 July – Surviving and profiting from B-O-R-I-N-G LECTURES – How to retain more whenever you study
17. 2019 August – Putting the squeeze on the hardest topics in cardiology – how to learn anything and remember it forever
18. 2019 September – WARNING! WARNING! OVERLOAD Eminent! – the most overlooked way to easily boost your scores, your memory, and your performance
19. 2019 October – Surviving Surgery – with a few simple techniques you can use to help you retain the steps of any case or recall medical content you need for test day
20. 2019 November – The science of Slaying Anxiety – how to avoid the downward spiral of doom with a little taste of Thanksgiving Dinner
21. 2019 December – the Number One Exercise to Boost Your Scores Explained
22. 2020 January – The Best Advice I’ve got on… – studying, philosophy, test-taking, practice exams, anxiety, rotations, and creating everlasting wealth
23. 2020 February –The “Magic” Key to Boosting Your Test Scores Without Any More Studying – From Now On All of Your Tests Might as Well be Open Book
24. 2020 March – How to Get Out of the Weeds (and stay out) – Get the important stuff, ditch the nonsense that’s sucking up all your time and driving you mad
25. 2020 April – You’re in Charge – More Than Ever You’re an Employee of YouINC. Let’s Make You The Best Damn Employee You INC. Has Ever Seen
26. 2020 May – Test Taking Secrets Revealed – Why Your Scores Are Lower Than They Should Be No Matter How Much Work You Put In
27. 2020 June – Answering Test Questions: How to Pass Without Knowing the Answers
28. 2020 July – Mastering Rotations – Have Them Eating Right Out of Your Hand
29. 2020 August – Finals Week Every Week – A Guide to Surviving and Staying Motivated
30. 2020 September – Introducing You to Your Memory – After All These Years, You Might as Well Get to Know Each Other and Start Working Together