Physician Assistant (PA) School 1st Day Essentials!
Author: Matt Delph, PA-C
The first week of PA school is exciting and frightening at the same time. Whether you’re coming right out undergrad or you took a few years off, getting thrown back into a classroom is always an adjustment. To diminish most of that anxiety, a good solution I’ve found is to be prepared the best you can. In order to do this, you have to think of the following:
How long is the drive to school?
Being punctual is always a great habit to get into. People will usually never remember if you were early or on time, but will CERTAINLY remember if you are late. Getting into this good habit will pay dividends when it comes to clinical rotations and clinical practice because there is a 0% chance an attending will wait for you to arrive before they go into surgery and/or start a procedure. I know life happens and at times being tardy can happen but getting into a good routine is always helpful. Another thing to think about is PARKING. Do you have to find a parking spot on the street? Does your school have a parking lot? Does your school require a parking pass that you have to pay for? Once school starts, your only focus should be medicine. If you can take care of your parking situation prior to the beginning of school, you will be in better shape.
“Being early is being on time, being on time is being late, and being late is unacceptable.” -Unknown
Where should you sit?
For me there were days where class was two hours and other days there would be a day full of lectures and I would be stuck in class for 12 hours, and it would be essential where you sat. Depending on the type of chairs your school has, having a seat cushion is not a bad idea (Click here for seat cushion). Because we live in a technologically-based world, being close to an outlet is also ESSENTIAL. My advice is, for the first couple of days, try to map out the room and find the best place to be comfortable, see the whiteboards, and have enough juice for your tablet/laptop to last all day long!
Who should you sit next to?
Surrounding yourself with people with a similiar mindset and personality as you is always a positive thing in school. My nickname in PA school was “the gunner” because I was always either reading PowerPoints, watching videos, or listening to lectures or podcasts. The people I sat around, luckily for me, ended up becoming my study group. My deskmate would always keep me focused, but was also, hands down, the funniest kid in class who would provide some comic relief when things got crazy stressful.
Did you best prepare yourself for class?
PA school is not like undergrad where the first week of class is strictly collecting a syllabus, talking about the goals of the class, knowing when the exams are, and then class is dismissed. PA school starts with each professor posting the syllabus and lectures online and you are responsible for printing / downloading them. 30 minutes into your first lecture you will already be learning about medicine, GUARANTEED. No warm-up. PA school involves diving right in because you have an exam in two weeks and that material must be covered.
Another thing that is always on our mind is FOOD. Does your school have a cafeteria where you can purchase food or does it simply have a refrigerator and microwave? Meal prep if necessary. You will thank yourself later on. Learning medicine when you are hungry is the worst case scenario. A good idea is to always be prepared with power bars or Uncrustables (if no allergy of course).
Did you complete the necessary pre-PA school courses/requirements (if there were any)?
You DO NOT want to be the person who is already behind the eightball the first day of class. Try to get everything and anything done before the start of the semester. Like I said earlier, your only focus when school starts should be medicine. You don’t want to be playing catch up.
Do you have all the recommended materials to start the school year?
Usually, each school sends out a recommended equipment and book list prior to the school year starting. Purchase TWO student sized white coats. Student white coats are shorter than a clinicians white coat, this way patients and other medical personal can identify the difference. Purchasing TWO white coats is a must because, think about this scenario: You are on your pediatric rotation and an infant, without a care in the world, vomits all over your pristine, freshly cleaned white coat. Are you going to show up the following day with vomit residue? This is where a back up white coat is a necessity.
The school’s book list is usually ENORMOUS and, honestly, you will probably not have enough time to read the books listed. Check out the resources page and see the best books/resources I recommend and are MUST HAVES for you to crush didactic and clinical year!
My first day of PA school experience?
So, my first day of PA school included an introduction by the director, getting our Microsoft Surface tablets, having a nice catered lunch and then attending two lectures to finish the day. During lunch, as I was waiting in line, I started chatting with another student. Turns out this guy was a doctor in another country. Yup, a DOCTOR. I got a huge shot to my confidence because I was just a PT Aide who finished EMT school prior to the beginning of PA school, however, we ended up having some common interests.
As the day went on, the class continued to mingle. As we were finishing lectures, another professor walks in and sits down. As soon as the lecture finished, that professor walks straight across the classroom and asks me, “Are you Matt Delph?” In my head I think, “It’s only the first day, did I mess up already? It was a good run.” After talking to him, turns out he was a new professor and I won a few high school soccer state championships with his nephew. It ended up being a blessing in disguise because he took me under his wing and taught me a good amount about medicine. So I recommend taking the time to chat with other students and your professors because you will be spending a lot of time with them in the next few years.
