My plan has never been to use this platform to comment on the news, current events, etc. My stated goal is to help you pass PA school and the PANCE.
My not-so-stated (but very obvious) goal is help you (and me) become a better person and a better thinker. Writing on this platform helps me solidify my own thoughts and teach you some of the things I’ve learned about the human condition and reality over time.
We’ll get back to medicine soon, but we are in a time like I’ve never seen before. Maybe I’ve missed them, who knows. Right now, we’re living in a time when it becomes a lot easier to question everything we’ve been doing, from the ground up. Maybe we’ve been getting it right, but this an opportunity to look at it with fresh eyes.
After being home for this long, will you ever be able to drive an hour each way in traffic to work again?
Is going to school in the way we’ve always done it actually necessary?
Does your business need an office? Or can it rent a conference room once a month and have everyone work from home?
Is the news looking out for our best interests, or only looking to fan the flames? The only numbers I’ve used to gauge the pandemic are the admitted patients who have tested positive for COVID-19.
Why is health insurance tied to your job or your school?
Does the government have your best interests in mind? (I just watched 13 on Netflix and they make a compelling argument that it doesn’t have the best interest in mind for at least one section of the population.)
Why don’t we spend more family time at home?
Normally I use this platform to question norms in education, in learning. Norms of how you study and take tests. (Man, I ‘ve got some good stuff coming that I can’t wait to share)
But with the current state of affairs, I can’t help but think through the norms of current U.S. society. Why we do the things we do in the way we do them. What would we change if we built it from the ground up, instead of adding new pieces to a system that’s already in place?
I look at education and I wonder why we learn in lists. Our brains don’t work in lists. Our brains work in stories and images. Lists are the worst way to retain information, but every day you go into a class and you’re handed a list of things to memorize.
There’s a scene in the Captain Underpants movie (yes, I have 11- and 8-year-old boys), where the history teacher stands in front of the class and in the most monotone voice, says,
“Memorize these dates: 1776, 1812, 1823, 1862, 1921, 1945…”
It’s hysterical. Every kid is drooling face down on their desk.
But this is how we do it and how we learn, even on our own, because it’s all we know.
Now’s a great time to rethink so many things going on around us, but for you, right now, how about rethinking how you learn, how you study, and how you take tests?
That’s what we do inside Physician Assistant Exam Scholars. Take a look.
Brian Wallace
