This should be taught by your program. What program is expecting students to come in and know how to take an H&P? It's not something you can self teach honestly. Bates guide to physical exam and history is a great resource but is probably available through your campus library. https://www.amazon.com/Bates-Physical-Examination-History-Taking/dp/146989341X
WikiEM is a great app to have as a resource. I also liked this book as a quick reference for differentials for common complaints seen in the ER https://www.amazon.com/Basics-Emergency-Medicine-3rd-Ed/dp/1929854471/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=emra&qid=1618706560&sr=8-6
Id piggy back off the user above me and suggest the pomodoro technique to help you stay productive while also giving you eyes the necessary break from focusing hard on a computer screen.
also take a look at this program I found recently called flux. Basically it changes your screen brightness and hue automatically throughout the day to make it easier on the eyes later in the day, you never really realize how bright and harsh a screen actually is until you try this program. sometimes at night ill turn the program off and my screen will go back to default brightness/hue and ill legit feel like im getting blinded lol. link below
hang in there !
Printer paper and https://www.amazon.com/The-Clipboard-Shop-7024-ISO/dp/B00H7HJDFC/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=folding+clipboard&qid=1619796816&sr=8-3
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"OLDCHAAARTS" For every patient ( Onset, Location, Duration, Characteristics, Alleviating factors , Aggravating factors, Associated Symptoms, Radiating, Timing, Severity)
And you'll be golden for ER
Thank you so much! :) I personally like being able to see "the whole picture" in one spot so this format works best for me hehe. However, I do plan on getting flashcards or other sources that separates them into drug classes. Do you have any recommendations? I searched on Amazon for a while and every single one of them have reviews from med students stating that there are a lot of crucial info missing so I'm having a hard time choosing one. So far I've ordered this one since it is cheap but I would like to know of other sources as well (especially free ones haha)
A flow chart is a great idea! I also used these big post-it note easel things when working at home. I liked that I could just stick them to the wall and see everything at once- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001H9TKOK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_CZhsF
Good for you. School is rough but I think its fun too. Definitely need to get some relaxation before hand. As far as resources I cannot imagine doing this without anki. I use premade med school decks specifically zanki step decks and zanki pharm. Sketchy pharm + Zanki pharm deck makes learning pharm very manageable in my opinion. There are really only 2 textbooks that I use almost daily and that is Lippincott pharm text and Costanzo physiology. I find if you really learn physiology it makes learning everything else 100x easier. Also zanki anki decks that follow costanzo. Other books are Pance Prep Pearls for high yield clin med review. Video resources that are decent are Osmosis which costs and Online Med Ed which is free.
I used Dubins. It seems to be a very standard read for people. I really enjoyed it and was a very easy read and helped explain everything simply I think.
Lemme know if you have any questions
Hey! I’d be happy to look over your doc and give some feedback (no charge haha). I completed an EM residency program and have since become an assistant program director at one. I take part in all of the applications and admissions. I even wrote a book on the topic that goes over personal statement basics as well as interview and other things to improve applications - check it out if you’re interested :).
https://www.amazon.com/Physician-Assistant-Practitioner-Residency-Fellowship-ebook/dp/B0BGJTK18C
Feel free to PM me your docs whenever you’re done!
Here's a great app for learning medical Spanish which is free. It has all the medical terms as well as a Dialogue section that covers a full H&P.
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1574202729?pt=123220161&ct=email&mt=8
Here's a great app for learning medical Spanish. It has all the medical terms as well as a Dialogue section that covers a full H&P. And it's free:
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1574202729?pt=123220161&ct=email&mt=8
Here's a good app for learning medical Spanish. It has all the medical terms as well as a Dialogue section that covers a full H&P. And it's free:
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1574202729?pt=123220161&ct=email&mt=8
A nice little bag to take to work is what I would vote for. My sis bought me one for Christmas and I use it everyday. Perfect size to still look professional/stylish, holds my laptop, stethoscope and notebook. Been using it heavily for almost a year now and it's holding up great! Bonus... it is under 50 bucks. This may not have been the exact design but very similar.
- Instant Pot for Meal Prep + Good portable food container
- Stethoscope accessory that is an animal or something else cool for Peds rotation.
- Pocket Medicine from Mass General. I went with spiral bound but don't think it matters much.
https://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Medicine-Massachusetts-Hospital-Handbook/dp/1975173449/
- Something to spoil yourself a little bit with those student loan checks
If you don't want to buy a whole chair, you can just get a memory foam chair pad for much cheaper.
I bought this one for myself and use it on top of a very uncomfortable hardwood chair and it's worked great for me!
Granted these would be more helpful for your rotations and EOR, and not over an hour.
Surgery 101
Interns at Work
Core IM
Core EM
PedsCases
And then of course a little more in depth is Curbsiders and Behind the Knife
And you should know medgeeks and Brian Wallace. https://player.fm/podcasts/Physician%2520Assistant a decent list geared for PA students.
But I bought it from a student in the class above me who was graduating so I paid significantly less than Amazon is selling it for.
PANCE and PANRE Question Book: A Comprehensive Question and Answer Study Review Book for the Physician Assistant National Certification and Recertification Exam https://www.amazon.com/dp/1508682178/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_PF309TW0TSQV3XAQP9T5
Heres the link
Sorry to bother you again, is it this one
PANCE Prep 2021-2022: Complete Review + 600 Test Questions and Detailed Answer Explanations for Physician Assistants (Includes 2 Full-Length Practice Exams) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1989726739/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_KQY73RV5ZGP1ER1GZXWV?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
A good reflex hammer if you're planning on doing anything in neuro. Nothing more embarrassing than struggling to get a reflex in front of a patient with your shitty plastic hammer.
I still use mine working in family medicine. Really helps with the more complex nerve complaints patient's present with.
Anki does something called "adaptive learning", so you make flash cards and every day it has you review a certain amount of cards and you can mark the card down as "easy" or "medium" or "hard", which will result in you reviewing the card more/less. You can also customize cram sessions this way. You should look at it - they have a windows app which I love, but they also have a desktop app
This is the link. I found it to be pretty good. If it ripes then you know that your suturing way too tight.
I love having compression socks on for long days, especially on my surgery and ER rotations. I asked for some for Christmas last year haha!
I have these ones: https://www.amazon.com/Graduated-Medical-Compression-20-30mmhg-Multicoloured/dp/B07YYWBMC6/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=compression+socks&qid=1619662311&sr=8-5
I think they do an adequate job. You don't need to spend a ton of money, but definitely make sure you have more than 1 pair so you don't have to do laundry too often!
I highly highly recommend the Pocket Medicine book, the internal medicine version. I got it for my first hospital medicine rotation but it would've been helpful for my gen/trauma surg rotation, ED, all primary care, etc. There are other versions too, like one specifically for primary care. I can't vouch for any of the others, but I know some of my classmates really liked the primary care version. If you're into hospital medicine too, all of my preceptors on those rotations recommended it or commented positively when they saw I had it. It's really helpful for coming up with differentials and interpreting harder labs that we didn't learn in didactic.
Also, not a book, but I have the quickEM app on my phone for quick and dirty differentials in EM and urgent care. I also have the uptodate and epocrates apps on my phone for whenever I need to look something up on the go.
Lastly, this will depend on how you took notes during didactic, but for my didactic year I copy/pasted all of the words/photos from powerpoints and organized them into different pages on onenote. So for clinical year I downloaded the onenote app to my phone and if I was learning about something but felt it was organized better in my notes or I wanted to double check something I had learned, I could pull up that app.
I wouldn’t take an ipad into patient rooms. Ok for studying during downtime, but usually just a notebook is fine.
I used this: DOCAZON H&P Notebook (Paperback): The Ultimate Medical History & Physical Exam Notebook (DOCAZON Notebooks) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1983660973/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_E1JGTE9H8GVPNTTSYAD6
Helped me really just get the ROS down after maybe 20-30 H&P’s during internal med. i’d tear off a sheet for each patient and follow the template.
I am a huge fan of
“Ferri’s best test, A practical guide to clinical laboratory medicine and diagnostic imaging”
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Ferris-Best-Test-Laboratory-Diagnostic/dp/0323511406
Pocket medicine was an awesome reference for me. Easy to carry around and have out while rounding.
Pocket Medicine: The Massachusetts General Hospital Handbook of Internal Medicine https://www.amazon.com/dp/1975142373/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_3Qs9FbP1AVD25
Space repetition all the way. I just took my last final and finished up didactic about an hour ago. My intelligence level is average but I spent my gap year learning how to study quickly and effectively. The past 15 months I spent probably 20-30% less time studying than a lot of my classmates. I hit the average in all of my classes, average PACKRAT score, and had an enjoyable life during school. If you have time over break, this is a good book.
https://www.amazon.com/Make-Stick-Science-Successful-Learning/dp/0674729013
They talk about putting the idea of “learning styles” to the test (there’s not much research backing up the idea that some people are visual learners, others are not, etc), and how there are a few universal truths about learning and memory.
Spaced repetition and keeping facts in context are the most important things in my opinion. Take a deep dive into Youtube to learn how to use Anki (probably will take a few hours to get all the add-ons you like and stuff, the only thing you have to pay for is the mobile app if you’d want that). Make as many notecards as you can as early as you can. As you go through them, make sure you understand how they fit into the broader context of the anatomy/body system/etc.
Anki is also good because it stopped me from overstudying when my brain was in panic/sicko mode before exams. I’m honest each time I go over a card in whether I know it word for word or not, so by the time it’s buried for a while, I trust the algorithm that I actually know it.
That’s a lot of stuff but there’s so much good info out there! If you’re smart and driven enough to make it into PA school, you’re smart and driven enough to make it through. Just have to get the right systems in place. Best of luck
This is the chair I bought when we went to online classes it was a life saver (back saver?).
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B003G4OJK4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Unpopular opinion? Dubin's is trash. He was even more of a trash person so please don't buy his book. https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1987-03-08-0110330073-story,amp.html
Best EKG book out there is Sparkson's. Written and illustrated by a PA! I scored higher and had a better understanding than most my class (who used Dubin's)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0996651314/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_vOA0FbBJVQPAH
I have this gaming chair from Wayfair that I love. I have the red/black/white one, but I also got this chair cover from Amazon. Both to preserve the leather, and because it's in the room with all of my houseplants.
Anything that would help save some time. Gift cards for food / grocery delivery , laundry service.
instant pot / rice cooker / pressure cooker and a book of recipes for pressure cooker or instant pot one pot meals. Then add on a travel or meal prep set.
A nice coffee cup size thermos mug with tight fitting lid.
business casual clothes / shoes.
boards practice question books. There are a million. These two come highly recommended by classmates.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1496368789/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_cMwRFbT71VFKX
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08D79H2TS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_XMwRFbPQ80HNP?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
If you are feeling like spending $$$
2nd monitor for zoom classes (any will do, one more screen makes a huge difference)
nice desk chair
membership to any of the supplemental medical education websites: osmosis , picmonic , sketchy medical . However they might get a school discount or already have one of these so ask first !
nice usb webcam (something that might improve upon what their laptop offers) plus tripod.
Would be stoked about any of the above, especially in year one. Good on ya for your support.
That’s the one you want. The publisher has said that there has been an issue with fake copies on amazon and asks that you buy directly from him. A quick search of the ISBN and you’ll find it. I haven’t purchased it yet but there is going to be an amendment to it for the new blue print.
You may have access to more resources through your school library - contact your school's librarian and they would probably be pumped to help. Mine had AccessMedicine and I remember using the Case Files books through there (Your library may also have ebook or physical versions of these): https://www.amazon.com/Case-Files-Family-Medicine-Fourth/dp/1259587703/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Case+Files&qid=1597184500&s=books&sr=1-2
My undergraduate anatomy class was in the cadaver lab and super hard because it was 1) timed, and 2) the specimens they used for test and quizzes were different than the ones we got to see in lab. So they'd pin part of a pelvic bone but it would be from a juvenile so the proportions were different than the cadavers. Or it would be a coronal cut specimen when all they showed you in lab was transverse.
The book that saved me was Rohen's Anatomy: A Photographic Atlas. It has a color photograph of a cadaver with every structure from every possible angle and the labels are all numbers with the key on the same page making it very easy to make quizzes for yourself.
If you do decide to go the iPad route you can also get a keyboard for it on amazon like this one. Thats what I used all year. It was also light and durable enough to bring on some of my lighter rotations and study with during down time. The plus is if your a moron like me and get coffee on it you can just get a new keyboard instead of a whole new laptop lol
What the kind redditor said below is super helpful too, but if you're anything like me, you had to practice in-class and do check-offs, which you don't want to be doing with a piece of meat.
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Tip one: If you have real interest in surgery, buy more medical grade surgical tools because they're lighter and weirder and don't feel much like the practice kind. Learn in gloves including knot tying. Learn to tie knots.
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Mine: Your Design Medical 3 layer kit All silicone has the problem where the suture will cut through the silicon when you pull on it. This one did less than a lot of the higher star on amazon ones. Check that brand's website for deals/ sales/ etc. Pros: had every cut I needed for all of my check-offs, seemed to work better than a lot of other people's suture boards. Cons: Cut through some, the tools were bad though it's good to have a razor, was a little stiff.
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Other people's: Great Skin-like one Some classmates had this. It was big, has a lot of room for making your kits. A lot of people had a way better time with this. But due to the way the layers are, they had a hard time doing the sutures where you suture only under the skin not over and under. They have sales on their instagram sometimes I guess, around christmas!
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Caution: Don't get any of them that are like poured silicone into a box! Those were the worst.
At Yale, every student gets a $500 otoscope/ophthalmoscope set, paid for by the program.
Dunno yet.