Emails come in from time to time mentioning something very important that they get from PAER: community. They get the feeling that there are other people struggling out there. It isn’t just them.
Well, my friend, everyone is struggling. Despite what they put on Instagram, sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes everyone around you is down in the dumps too.
An old genetics teacher of mine used to say that the belief is that about 5% of people are not biologically related to the person they’ve been calling “dad” their whole lives. “There are about two hundred people in this lecture hall… you can do the math.”
The percentage of PA students who are struggling right now? Probably close to 80% if I had to put money on it. Don’t believe the smiles. You aren’t alone. Not that you should stay struggling. It’s just to say that you aren’t the only one.
If you’d like to be a little more “on the inside,” then Physician Assistant Exam Scholars is where it’s at. Here are a few words from members who’ve gone on to do okay:
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Good morning!
I would like to cancel my subscription – I PASSED my PANCE (!!!!) a few weeks ago (after failing it twice) and just have to tell you I have absolutely loved your Final Step material. My score was 121 points higher than my last test. I listened to the recordings non-stop in my car for the past year! I learn best through quizzing myself and you made it so easy to go through and see how well I knew the information I had been studying. This is the most brilliant thing (especially for people with ADD) and I’m shocked there’s not more recordings out there like it.
I also loved the June 2020 issue, I think it was if I’m remembering right. How you broke down thinking through…. [that part’s only for people who have the June 2020 issue]. It was like a lightbulb for me. I used that technique on the PANCE on every question I wasn’t sure about!
Thank you so much for sharing everything you’ve learned with all of us! It does make a difference!!
[Name withheld]
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Let me just say that I am so glad that I signed up for PAES. I got in so that July was my first issue, and it was perfect. I was thinking that I’m already on my 8th rotation, do I really need to know how to master rotations? And the answer was a resounding yes. I am halfway through my general surgery rotation, and up until yesterday, I thought that my surgeon wasn’t that fond of me, and was not going to let me do anything but watch from a safe distance. I read the issue earlier this week, and today was our first OR day since. [this is the part where she explains exactly what she did from the July issue]
Since that procedure, he has given me positive feedback, complimented my clinical skills, let me close, and do an I&D in the office today. Thing after thing I am now able to do simply because I … [what I recommended in the July 2020 issue]. Not to say that I would go into surgery, but before today it was a hard no, and now I feel like it’s more of a “keep talking and change my mind.” Surgery, and then Peds and Women’s (which are my next two) are the rotations that I have been dreading the most, but now after mastering this one, I’m confident that the last two will be just as good!
Thank you for all your time and effort! You are really changing lives here.
Julia
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I feel like when I say that certain issues of PAES can change your life, that maybe I’m being a little dramatic. Maybe I’m having delusions of grandeur. But when other people say it….
The August issue is no different. For those of you interested in learning and growing, the August issue very well might change your life. Inside its pages is the story of something that happened to me this summer, something I saw, a lesson I learned that is changing my life and the lives of my kids. PA school and the PANCE are obvious places to apply this new philosophy. I can’t wait to show you. This one will make you unstoppable.
Physician Assistant Exam Scholars
Brian Wallace