You have issues. You say “What me?”
Of course
There’s no way you got here if you don’t. And most of us have the same issues. They’re easy to spot in other people, but almost in possible to spot in ourselves.
Back when it was a little warmer I was out playing tennis with my family. (Don’t make this sound nicer than it is. Our development has a tennis court, and the four of us played one sunny Saturday).
My little guy becomes more and more frustrated and at one point broke down in tears. Between the sobs, he said, “How am I supposed to do this. I’ve never played before. I need a coach and tennis lessons.”
He suffers painfully from a common issue we all have — the idea that we need to be good at things, and good at them right from the start. Fortunately for PA students, there are constant opportunities to be shown how little you know, but in general we get worse and worse at the frustration of not knowing, of not being good.
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks because the old dog doesn’t want to go through the pain of looking foolish and floundering for a while. Whenever we are floundering, we’re learning. It’s ok to struggle, and it’s Ok to be bad at things.
Your preceptors are good at what they do because they’ve been doing it for years. And they hold all the cards. I can look smart too when I ask students questions I already know the answers to. It’s not even that hard. Understand that most of these people are masters in one teeny tiny area of their lives. The best surgeons had shaky hands and fogged glasses when they first learned how to sew.
It isn’t easy, but the beginning hard part is what separates the wheat from the chaff. You have to struggle through. You have to suck for a while before you can be good. There’s no way to avoid it.
Now if you’ve spent a long time sucking at test taking it might be time to come look over my shoulder. The January issue of Physician Assistant Exam Scholars Newsletter is going to be teaching next level test-taking skills.
Brian