Sunday, June 2, 2013

Summer Class: Week 1


Week 1 of summer class is done!

Our first week looked like this:
Monday: Memorial Day – no class (yay one last day of summer)
Tuesday: Class at 2pm to review Chapter 1
Wednesday: Class at 2pm to review Chapter 2
Thursday: Class at 2pm to review Chapter 3
Friday: Test at 9am

Class time is not your typical scenario with a professor lecturing from a podium with an accompanying PowerPoint. Instead the instructor goes down the row and asks each student a question pertaining to the reading.  This goes on until he doesn't have any more questions (usually around an hour). This aspect of the class was nerve-wracking at first, but I think I’m getting used to it. I’m sure my face still turns bright red every time it’s my turn to answer a question though.

Essentially the summer class is a self-taught class. At home it is your responsibility to do whatever you have to do in order to come prepared to class with the chapter’s material. We have a variety of resources to help teach us:
§  Recorded lectures and PowerPoints from when the medical students took the class
§  Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease (my new best friend)
§  Baby Robbins (condensed version of the textbook-great for reading by the pool)
§  The questions asked during class time

Overall, I thought the first week of summer class was rough. I spent so much time trying to figure out my strategy.  Should I listen to each ~50 minute lecture, should I only read big Robbins, should I do some variation of the two? The main reason I felt so overwhelmed this week was because I felt like I had used all my time reading and gathering the material, but I didn’t feel like I had enough time to study it all. The sheer volume of information on each test doesn’t allow me to study the way that I studied last semester (I'll write a post about that next).  This just left me feeling out of my element and very frustrated.

On a positive note, now that the first week is over, I feel a lot better about the class. I think I’ve figured out a plan that will work and will be an effective use of my time.  For the remaining weeks we will have class off on Thursday, which will be great to use as a full day to study. The class will still be challenging, but I definitely think it is manageable.

22 comments:

  1. Hi Nikki. I am interested in PA, but had a question for you...what kind of jobs can you get, and is the market good for jobs for PA..and what range of salary? Thnksu

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    1. Hi Mai! As a pathologists' assistant you can work in a hospital in the surgical pathology gross room or in the morgue (doing autopsies), you can also work in a medical examiner's office (doing autopsies), you can work in tissue banks, and also any private labs. There's probably other options too that I'm not aware of.
      My understanding is that the job market is good for PAs, especially on the East coast. I believe the salary ranges from around $50,000 - $100,000 (depending on where you work and duties such as teaching, etc.) Hope that helped!

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  2. Wow, interesting that the class style changes so drastically from the typical lecture style! Looking forward to reading more on this later, but in the mean time, hope the studies have gone well! I just submitted my apps for WVU. :)

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    1. Hello again Char! I'm so glad to hear that you've submitted your apps for WVU! Let me know if you have any questions on the interview process!

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    2. Nikki-

      Have you heard when they will start scheduling interviews? I've been on pins and needles waiting for a call!

      Michaela

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    3. Hi Michaela!
      I know that they start to schedule interviews after they've reviewed your application. People who turned in their application early have already started interviewing. When I applied I submitted my application toward the middle/end of May (very close to the deadline) and received an email to interview around mid June. Hope that helps!

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  3. Hi Nikki,
    I have a question, Im getting interviewed in a week but can not find a PA to shadow. Did you have to shadow to get accepted? and if so how do I go about finding a PA?
    thanks.
    Great blog btw ;)

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    1. Hi co1458!
      I shadowed before I applied to WVU. I think that even if it is just for a few hours it's a great way to see what a typical day is like for a PA. Where do you live? I can ask our program director if she knows any PAs in your area that you could shadow.

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    2. Hey!
      Thats rad! Im in Allenpark, Michigan. Its awesome that you would do that for me. Thanks a million and keep me posted :)

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    3. Hi co1458,
      You should give our program director, Cheryl Germain, a call (304-293-0734) and she can try to help you.

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    4. Done. Thanks so much for your help. Cherry was very helpful and easy to talk to.

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    5. Great! Good luck with your interview!

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    6. I'm definitely prepared :) But one thing the PA I shadowed mentioned was to have a good answer to what I plan to do if I don't get in. Honestly I can't seem to come up with a good answer to that one. I do know that I like the program and would just try again the next academic year. What do you think is a good answer?

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    7. That seems like a good answer to me! In fact, I'm pretty sure that is the answer I gave during my interview!

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  4. Hey Nikki,
    The interview went pretty well. The shadowing helped for sure. I got asked a bunch of questions that were purely job specific/related. I do have a question though; how long did it take for the department to give you their answer and was it through email or phone call.

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    1. I'm glad it went well co1458! Hopefully I'll get to meet you come January! I believe I got my acceptance offer sometime in early August (it was a phone call).

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    2. Sweet. I'll keep you posted.

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    3. co1458- How did you get an interview without doing your job shadowing before your application? I thought that was a requirement to even apply...

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  5. I did get to shadow a day before my interview actually. Its not required to get the interview. The school doesn't know if you shadowed or not. However the interviewer will most likely find that out from the first few questions.
    Best

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    1. In the application it says to list your shadowing references and to talk about your shadowing experience in your essay. I thought that's why it was required.

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  6. Not at my school it didn't.
    Best

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