Didactic year is the part nobody can fully prepare you for. So let's hear it from two people who just did it.

Kate and Huston went through the PA program at Mount St. Joseph, and they're refreshingly specific about what worked. Studying together was the big one. They both figured out fast that the volume is too high to white-knuckle alone, and that the study method that carried you through undergrad probably won't carry you through this.

Huston did it with kids at home, which is its own separate skill set. If you're worried about doing PA school as a parent, listen to how he structured his time.

They also talk about being in a newer program, where the faculty were actively adjusting the curriculum based on student feedback. That's a real perk people don't think about when they're chasing name recognition.

What we cover:

• What didactic year actually feels like
• Study methods that survive the volume
• Why studying with classmates beat studying alone for them
• Doing PA school with a family and kids
• The upside of attending a newer program
• What they'd tell someone about to start

Resources:

PA Program Map: https://www.thepaplatform.com/pa-platform-map

Free Application Timeline: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-application-timeline

Pre-PA Counseling: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/pre-pa-counseling

Pre-PA Academy: https://prepaclub.thepaplatform.com/landing/academy

Mentioned in this episode:

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A couple of weeks ago you got to hear from the admissions chairperson of the Mount St. Joseph PA program.

Well, today I have two recent graduates, Katie and Houston, who are sharing their experience with the program and some really great info on how to study in didactic year.

Welcome to the Pre PA Club Podcast.

If you want to learn how to become a physician assistant, you're in the right place.

I'm your host, Savannah Perry.

Let's get to it.

Welcome to the podcast the Pre PA Club.

Thank you for being a member of the club.

I hope you're also a member on Facebook where we have almost 15,000 pre pa students in the Facebook group, which is wild.

And I just am so excited that so many people want to be PAs and are interested in the profession.

And that's really cool because when I was in college I didn't feel like Nobody knew what PAs were.

So still educating the public.

But thank you for being here.

Thank you for listening and today's interview with two students should be a good one.

This is especially a great episode for anyone who is about to start PA school because Katie and Houston, who recently graduated from the Mount St. Joseph, Pennsylvania program, share about their program, about their paths and about their personal lives.

So they both were married in PA school.

You'll hear from Houston, but he started PA school with one child and now has three and so he is able to share about balancing family time, which balance is not a true thing, but we get into that a little bit.

But they share so much about their study techniques, what they found worked for them, how long it took to figure that out and just give a very realistic view of what to expect in PA school.

So we will get into that in just a second.

Before we do, I want to make sure you know about all of the free resources available on the PA platform.com if you go to the paplatform.com downloads you will find so many things to help you.

And these are just things that I am constantly getting questions about and seeing questions about in the Facebook group.

So there's a resume template, there is a patient care healthcare shadowing log, there's that you can download personal statement templates, mock interview practice guides, interview preparation worksheets, an application timeline checklist.

Just lots of helpful things.

And so that's a good place to start if you're feeling overwhelmed or frustrated.

And another good way to find information is just to google exactly what you're looking for.

So if you have questions about supplementals, Google the PA platform supplementals and I can guarantee you stuff will pop up when you ask me questions, that is how I find it to send you the answer.

So that's a good technique to use as well, just to make this whole thing easier.

All right, I won't take too much of your time, but let's jump into hearing from Katie in Houston, and I hope you enjoy today's episode.

I'm going to be working in psychiatry starting in the next couple months.

And in undergrad, I studied biology, gerontology, and psychology, and I worked as a nurse aide and as a pharmacy technician for my patient care hours.

My name is Houston Dockery.

I graduated right along with Katie, and right now I'm still looking for a job.

I've got my second interview for pulmonary care and critical care medicine physician on Thursday, actually, so pretty excited about that.

And my undergrad was in exercise science, and I actually spent about four years as a medical device sales rep up in Cleveland right before PA school.

Nice.

Y' all have nice variety of backgrounds and experience.

Can you tell me what brought you to the PA profession.

Or Houston?

You want to go first?

Yeah, I can go first.

So I've always kind of been interested in medicine.

I was a personal trainer back when I was 17.

I was wanting to be a combat medic going into the military, but I met my wife, so that didn't end up happening happening.

So I ended up going to become a sales rep for a medical sales company for four years, like I said.

And I thought that was about as close to medicine as I needed to be, but it was a lot more salesy than I anticipated, which is kind of odd for a sales gig.

I know, but I met a lot of really good PAs there through that and kind of found out what the profession was.

And that's kind of what got me started on researching the profession and what made me want to do it.

Cool.

What about you, Katie?

My mom, when I was growing up, she worked as a dietitian at our local hospital, and I always loved going to the hospital with her.

And she worked with a really great interdisciplinary team with physicians and nurses and apps.

I found out about the PA profession through her in high school, and so that's when I realized that that's something I wanted to pursue.

At that time, I was volunteering in the hospital on a nursing floor, and I also was able to shadow a bunch of physicians in high school, which was really great opportunity as well.

And I realized I didn't really want to do either.

And that's when I learned that around the same time was when I learned about being a pa and so that seemed like the best option for me.

Interesting that you knew so early and were exposed so early, but that's awesome.

Did you guys take gap years or did you go.

Well, I know you did, Houston, but.

Katie, did you take gap years or did you go straight in?

I did.

I actually did.

I. I wasn't going to.

I actually filled out CASPA and last minute decided not to submit my application because I was.

I was actually getting married that year.

And I am so, so glad that I did.

It was the best last minute decision I've ever made to take a gap year.

Nice.

Yeah, most people.

I rarely hear that people regretted their.

Gap year for sure.

Yeah, it's.

It was awesome.

It was very great.

Especially good time to recharge before starting didactic.

Yeah.

PA schools a lot.

When you all were looking for PA programs, what was on your list of things that you were looking for?

So for me specifically, I just wanted somebody to accept me.

I know that kind of sounds like minimal, but that was really my only criteria coming from that, you know, a previous career, I had been, you know, been married.

I had a kid and my wife was pregnant, so.

And we were moving back from Cleveland, back down home, which in Cincinnati, where we're at now.

And so at that point, it was just kind of moving in with the in laws.

And my only criteria was just, please somebody take me.

Oh, my gosh, that's a lot.

I have a lot more questions on that.

But what about you, Katie?

Yeah, it was similarly.

I was married, I don't have any kids yet, but I was looking for proximity to Cincinnati.

So Mount St. Joe is the only program in Cincinnati.

I was looking at other schools in other areas, like in Lexington and Danes, but I was mostly looking for the location.

I also really liked that Thomas or that Mount St. Joe was a small college because I had gone to a small liberal arts school for undergrad, Thomas Moore University.

And so it was very, very similar to that.

And so that was one of the things that made me really like Mount St. Joe.

Gotcha.

Okay.

Location was my biggest thing too, just.

And getting accepted, but wanting to try to stay close to home.

Houston, for you, what did your application process look like?

How many schools did you apply to?

How many did you interview at?

How many acceptances?

What was that like?

Yeah, so I feel very fortunate because, you know, I applied to one.

Okay.

And I got an interview to one at one.

And I got accepted first go around, which I know is not generally the consensus for when I was looking.

To be honest, I didn't even look into that kind of thing whenever I was applying because I only had one option at the time.

And I knew that if I didn't get in and it was going to be a whole nother year of building up my patient care hours and volunteer and all that kind of stuff, and then I was going to try to apply to a few more.

But I got really lucky and Mount St. Joe saw something in me, and like I said, I got accepted.

Yeah, it only takes one.

What about you, Katie?

I also kind of have a similar story, but not nearly as lucky as Houston.

So the first year I didn't.

I've only.

I only applied one cycle.

Like I said, the first cycle I ended up not even submitting caspa.

But the second year, when I redid Casper and actually submitted at that time, I applied to a really large school in the area and I didn't get accepted.

And the reason that I only applied to this one school at first was because they had different requirements, like the different prereqs.

And so when I was in college, Mount St. Joe announced that they were opening the PA program when I was, like, a sophomore or junior.

And so it was almost too late for me to, like, add these extra classes that they were asking for that they have now, of course, taken away as prereqs.

And so it was just.

The only reason I didn't originally apply to the Mount was because I didn't have all the prereqs that they needed.

And so I ended up putting all my eggs in one basket in this other school.

And then I didn't get accepted there.

And I was like, I allowed myself to be upset for one day, and I was really, really heartbroken.

And then I was like, okay, where can I take biochem?

And I, like, drove 45 minutes twice a week to go take this extra class.

And it was.

I mean, it was no big deal because Houston had to take extra or like, other classes for years, and so many did.

So many other people in our class did as well.

And so, like, taking one class is nothing.

But at the time I was like, this sucks.

Oh, my God.

But thankfully that the Mount's application timeline was like six months behind the other schools.

So then I was able to apply, and then I got accepted at the Mount So it all worked out great.

And I'm really, really grateful as well to been able to stay in Cincinnati.

So it all worked out for the best, for sure.

That's awesome.

Yeah.

I love hearing different stories because I think pretty much everyone who goes through this process has to sacrifice something, whether it's time or even time with your family or friends or money or whatever.

There's so much sacrifice to become a pa.

Okay, so y' all were accepted.

How many people were in your class?

32.

Yeah, 32.

32.

Okay.

So fairly small.

Did y' all feel like you knew everybody?

Was it kind of a close knit?

What was the environment like in your program?

So, I mean, I feel like I know pretty much everybody relatively well.

You know, it took a few months to kind of get to know everybody, but they did a really good job, the program did, of kind of stirring us up.

And every so often, they would have our quote unquote, assigned seats, like, mixed so that you would be around different people.

And I think that that helped a lot with getting to know your classmates.

And there's a lot of group work and things like that, too.

So by the end of it, I feel like I know everybody relatively well.

Especially when you spend day in, day out with these people, you get to know them just as well as your family.

I agree.

I think that the assigned seat thing really helped me branch out and meet new people.

Because you really don't have time in didactic to be social, so your only social activity is sitting next to each other and being looking at each other with confusing faces and like, okay, what's going on?

I have no idea what's going on right now.

And so going through that with other people is, you know, a great bonding experience.

And I will say that in the beginning, like, when they started switching up our seats, I'm like, okay, I know these two people.

Like, I do not need to move.

But then I was.

I was glad that I got to meet other people and stuff, but at first I was like, seriously, like, I've worked so hard to meet and become friends with these two other people that I'm sitting with, and now I have to meet all these new people, but ended up being way, way better because, you know, meeting all the people in your class, like, you learn different things from all of them.

And so we had people that were athletic trainers and we had a nurse, and we had, like, you know, all kinds of different backgrounds.

So it's always really valuable to hear the different perspectives from all the different people in your class that studied different things and that did different things before for their career.

Yeah, the switching seats is interesting.

We just Walked in and picked a seat.

That was like, the seat you picked.

Day one, was it for the whole time.

Even when we came back during clinicals, everybody just went to their seat, which was really funny.

Now my aquarium is super fancy and has standing desks, options or something.

Wow, that's so hip.

I know.

I went to lecture and I was like, this is weird.

Y' all are standing.

Okay, that's fine.

And so, yeah, it's very interesting.

Okay.

Was there anything that was unique about Mount Mount St. Joseph that maybe you didn't know ahead of time?

I just feel like when you're looking at programs online and reading about them, all this stuff starts to run together, and they all look very similar from that perspective.

But was there anything that you're like, I just love this about this program and think people would also love this.

So I still.

I feel like, oh, sorry.

Houston, you want to go first, Katie?

Okay.

I feel like one of the things I didn't really anticipate was that it being a new program, like, it really wasn't concerning to me that it was a newer program, just because I was like, I don't care where I become a pa.

I just want to be a pa. Like, it didn't really matter to me where I went to school.

So I never really considered the fact that it was a new program as part of my decision making.

But it was actually really a big benefit, I feel like, because the faculty was very receptive of us being like, okay, well, this.

You know, the way this lecture worked, but this kind of didn't.

And they were just very receptive to feedback about different projects that we did or just, you know, pretty much anything about the curriculum.

We.

If they were like, so how did this.

You know, they were.

They really wanted to hear, like, what we had to say about it.

And so that was helpful because then as the year went on, you know, our feedback was used to, you know, change things that, you know, worked better for the students.

So I thought that that was really, really helpful, because I know that that's not really the case everywhere, because some things are just really set in stone, you know, like, this is the way we've done this for 25 years, and we're not going to change it.

So I really appreciate that about the faculty, for sure.

Yeah.

I mean, like I said, I didn't really look into.

I looked into a few other ones, but they weren't a serious thing for me until if I didn't get accepted into this school.

But one of the things that really stood out to me about Mount St. Joe was the fact that I actually had reached out to them a year prior to even applying for it.

And they were very open to talk to me and kind of give me the steps of what do you need to do in order to get into our program?

Because I was kind of clueless and I needed some help.

And they were more than willing to just talk to me and say, hey, you need to get these things done and then you can apply.

And I was able to follow up with them every so often and just make sure I was on the right track and things like that, which is really helpful.

One of the things that I, you know, like I said, I didn't look into other programs, but I think that is unique to Mount St. Joe is that they have 11 five week rotations over 15 months.

And I know that kind of varies school to school.

We had several clinical experiences and I know now actually starting this year, instead of at least we had two electives.

Covid kind of changed that.

But we're supposed to have two electives of our choice.

And this year they're actually having three electives in special populations.

So I think that that's kind of unique as well.

That is unique.

I've actually never heard of a program having three electives and most rotation years are not 15 months.

So it's a little bit extra time,.

Which is, I will also say, as a new grad, I feel like having more electives is super helpful and just more rotations in general because then you meet more people and can make more connections.

And I know that quite a few of the people that are in our class that have gotten jobs already were from either rotations that they had or electives, you know, that they specifically chose that they were passionate about.

And so I think that that's a huge benefit as well.

Yeah, for sure.

So how long is the program total?

27 Months.

27 Months.

Okay, so that's interesting.

So y' all had 12 months didactic and then 15 months rotations?

Yeah.

Correct.

I like that to mine was the opposite.

We had 15 months didactic and 12 months rotations.

Yeah.

I definitely, at the end of the day tactic was like hope wishing that we had three more months because I was terrified and thought I knew nothing, but found out really quick on my first rotation that I could have studied for an entire year and still not been ready for rotation.

So I think that the extra experience in the field was more beneficial.

That's so true.

And it's so funny because I feel like I talked to so many pre PA students because a lot of who listens to this podcast and even PA students who are in didactically.

It's different talking to somebody who's been through it all because they ask all the time, will you feel ready for a rotation?

Will you feel ready to start your job?

And the answers, no.

But you do it and you figure it out and you keep learning.

And that's just how it goes.

Yes, absolutely.

Yeah.

And yeah, there are definitely days I remember being like, why are they letting me do this?

Why do they think I'm qualified to talk to these patients?

But that's the fun part.

Rotations are really fun.

Did you have a favorite rotation?

I'm interested to hear Yalls favorite since you're kind of doing different paths with your job search.

Sure.

So I got into PA school to be an ortho.

That was just.

Because that's what I did as a sales rep. That's kind of was my comfort zone.

So I just assumed that's what I was going to do.

That's not.

That is one of my interests, but it's not what I'm hoping to do at this point.

If we're being honest.

I really like the surgery aspect of it, but I think more than anything, I just like procedures.

And one, one of my favorite, actually my favorite rotation was interventional radiology.

And I just thought that was one of the coolest things.

I love looking at imaging.

I love doing procedures.

And the rotation that I had was just very conducive to learning those types of things.

And because it was one of my electives, I didn't have an interrogation exam to worry about.

So I was really able to kind of just enjoy the rotation and learn as much as I can without having a test hanging over my head.

That was really nice.

Nice.

What about you, Katie?

I think.

I think my favorite were Psych and Women's Health.

Those were really fun.

And I think most of it just had to do with the fact of, like, you know, spending so much time with patients and getting to know them.

And I think that that was part of my favorite.

My favorite part as well.

But I also, I did the same interventional radiology.

One is Houston.

I also like procedures a lot.

I loved emergency.

I love suturing.

I don't know what I'm going to do in psych when I can't suture.

I guess I'm just going to, like, have to, like, get some pig skin and just, like, do it at home just to get it out of my system.

But I am going to miss that.

Do a physical exam.

I mean, you'll be like me and not using your stethoscope, because in derm, I don't even know where mine is.

Yeah, right.

One of the other things, too, that I.

That I noticed about clinical rotations, so I never thought that the medicine aspect of it was going to be one of the things I like, which is, you know, I like I said I really like procedures and I like doing that kind of stuff.

So hands on, getting your hands dirty, that kind of thing.

So internal medicine was one of the ones that I was, like, really scared to do because it's all medicine.

It's all clinical decision making.

It's all of that kind of stuff.

And that was actually probably tied with my favorite.

And it had everything to do with my attitude going into it and my preceptor.

And I think that I haven't heard of anybody in the program who has had, like, a bad experience with a preceptor.

And just, you know, having that attitude of, I'm going to go in and learn was really beneficial and just learn, you know, soak up as much as I can.

And it actually turned something that I thought I was going to hate into something that I'm potentially applying to jobs for.

So that was really helpful as well.

That's really cool.

I think that's neat when that happens.

That happened to me, too.

Mine was endocrinology.

I signed up for the rotation because I hated it.

It was my least favorite subject and didactic.

So I clearly, I, like, didn't pay attention and felt like I needed to do rotation to solidify it.

And I got there and I loved it so much.

And I.

If I didn't do Durham, I've always said that's what I would do would be endocrinology, which is very random because.

Yeah.

And like you said you'd, like, thought you'd do ortho.

I feel like everyone comes in with this.

Well, probably end up doing this, and then half the people completely change their mind once they start doing other stuff.

So in.

I'm interested about how y' all did in didactic.

Do you feel like you did well or did you have to adjust your study methods?

How did didactic go for you as far as the academic portion?

I'll take this one, Houston.

So I feel like in Didactic, everybody is just treading water and, like, trying to survive.

And I feel like that's kind of where Houston and I were.

And then at the end of the year, we Kind of both.

I think it was psych.

We started studying together, like one morning.

We ended up carpooling eventually because we both lived close by.

And we just started going over PowerPoints together.

And this was in November, so this was like one month away from being done with Didactic.

And we were like, wow, this is a much more time effective study method to study with each other.

And it would also really worked out well because I'm a chatter and Houston is not a chatter.

And so I couldn't like sit there and be like, hey, guess what?

He'd be like, shut up, Katie.

When you start again.

So that was like, really helpful for me to keep.

For someone to keep me on track.

And then eventually we just started studying like all the time together.

So we did like, there was a month off that we had in between didactic and starting rotations.

And so we studied together then.

And we would just like watch online med ed videos and do rash review questions.

And then if I was ever misbehaving, he would take my phone so I wouldn't watch YouTube while we were supposed to be studying.

And so it was really good to have an accountability partner.

What we did, like, I think, like, we did.

I did fine in Didactic.

So did Houston.

We both, you know, passed everything.

And I think we got A's and B's.

We both only failed one test, and it was actually the same test in the summer.

But we both say that it was an unfair test.

But we'll.

And we're not even gonna talk about that.

And that was.

I think that was also endocrinology, I think was endocrinology and like heme and stuff too.

So whatever part of it as well.

What do you say, Houston?

Infectious disease was a part of it as well?

Yeah, it was hard.

It was like antibiotics and heme and it was just.

Yeah, it was hard.

Anyways, we're.

We were PAs now.

We made it.

We learned it all.

But what we did during COVID So Covid happened, of course, last year, and our rotations got paused.

And so we actually did like a couple online rotations.

And during that time, Houston and I got a copy of the online Meded Quick tables book, which are not.

We.

We got them too.

It's.

No, it's the whiteboards book.

It's all of the, like, it's a.

It's a copy of all of the whiteboards, the images of all the videos that Dustin Williams or Dr. Williams does on online Meded.

And then we would sit and watch like every single online method Video.

And we have done that.

Like, I think we've.

And we will, like, say phrases that he says in the videos.

And we're, like, such huge nerds, and we love him.

So if you're listening to us, we love you, Dr. Williams.

We're obsessed with you.

So that was a huge help, I think, learning.

We just did that while we were off for Covid.

And then I think that was a huge benefit when we were studying for the pants, because we had that basis.

And then not only did we have the foundation of knowledge, but we also had this book that had all of our notes on top of the notes from these videos.

And they just are a really, really great way to condense, like, a bunch of diseases into one coherent topic that makes sense in your brain.

And he uses these things called advanced organizers.

So it's like a way of thinking, like, a pattern.

Like, you can recognize patterns in the ways that he draws, and then, like, that helps me think.

Like, to this day, like, I cannot think of murmurs without watching his.

Or without thinking of his murmur video.

And so valvular.

Valvular diseases.

Excuse me if you need to Google it.

So it's.

I thought that that was probably one of the most beneficial things.

Other than that.

I think rash review was probably the most beneficial.

But I think didactic.

We did fine.

But I think we really started to be like, oh, okay, I understand what cardiology is now.

Like, this doesn't make me want to cry anymore.

After we watched all the online medit videos.

Yeah, Yeah, that's.

I'm going to make a note of that, because that was not around when I was in PA school for when I have to take my PNRE in two years and DERM is 4%, so that's.

Oh, man, I'm not looking forward to that at all.

And maybe it'll change.

They'll have the pilot by the time.

We all have to do it, but, yeah.

Okay, cool.

So I know most.

Both of y' all mentioned that you were married.

I think, Houston, you said you had a couple kids.

How did y' all balance being a student and regular home life?

What.

What was that approach like?

Yeah, so I've actually had a kid going into school, and my wife was pregnant, and since being in school, I have had another one.

So we have three kids now.

My.

My youngest is almost four months old now.

So, you know, as far as balancing to your question, you kind of can't to be honest, I kind of just when people, you know, you just.

I have to, I have Katie to vent to, I have our friend Barb and Megan to vent to.

So those kind of things, like people that are in, in it with you, like that can kind of empathize with you and, and just say how much things suck and, and then just kind of move on.

But I always tell people, like, do the things that you like as often as you can.

And you also just really need a strong support team, whether it be people inside your, your program or, you know, your, your, your significant other.

And to be able to just not take it personal whenever you're not available or you're constantly studying or whatever.

One of the things that I did just to kind of stay sane was I made a point to make time for my family every Friday night and Saturday.

So I didn't study at all on Friday night after class and I didn't study at all on Saturdays in any, in any capacity.

And Sunday morning I woke up and was just ready to study for 12 hours straight.

And during the week kind of was just like, hey, I'll see you Friday night.

So that was kind of my quote, unquote balance, I guess.

Yeah, that's, I mean, that's a good system.

I've heard people treating like a job, like treating schools like my job, my full time job, and then kind of having those weekend breaks.

So that works.

I don't know that I balanced nearly as well as Houston did.

I think he kind of had to because he had a kid.

I think my husband is an angel and he, he just did like everything and he was so patient and kind.

And now like, thinking back to it, I'm like, wow, how, how did that ever work out?

Like he would, you know, do the, make the food and pack my lunch and like do our laundry.

Like, I honestly, I would not have made it without him.

So I'm, you know, so grateful that, that he supported me and allowed me to do.

Not allowed me to do this.

But really without him I would not have been able to do it just because he was such a rock and so supportive for me.

So I don't think I did a good enough job balancing school and marriage because it's just, it was, I think it, I think didactic at least is more than a full time job.

I think clinical is more similar to having a job just because it is, you know, similar hours.

I just think didactic.

I, I did not find a balance ever, like, really and truly.

But it's over now it's only one year, but.

But yeah, you're thrown to the wolves the first.

You know, they tell you a thousand times during orientation that it's going to be.

All the information is going to be thrown at you.

It's like drinking from a fire hose.

It's this, it's that.

And, you know, you got in, so you're kind of thinking, well, I got in so I can do this.

And then, you know, that first week or two or month, you know, you're like trying to figure out which way is up.

And it takes you several months to really, you know, kind of get a groove on, even how to study for things especially.

And then once you.

Once you find your groove, you start a new body system, and then you have to completely change it.

That's what I was just about to say is, like, once you get comfortable, then they.

Then it switches up.

So, yeah, that whole first year, there's.

There is no balance at all.

I think Katie's right on the.

Right on the head with that one.

More like survival.

Yeah.

Okay, if y' all could go back to your pre PA cells, like, not prepay you've been accepted, but, like, about to start school in a week, what would you tell yourself?

I would tell myself to immediately find the person that you're going to study with and just, you know, make friends with whoever and try to find the person that you're going to mesh with.

Because, you know, Katie kind of spoke to it earlier, but, you know, you can't do this by yourself.

And that was one of the things that they tell you.

And I'm kind of a loner when it comes to learning and things.

And I think that.

I think I can do everything and PA school is just not conducive to that.

You have to have somebody else.

And then on top of that, you know, I think that I am very.

I'm very much a perfectionist.

I like to know things, and I don't like when I don't know things.

And it really bothers me.

But this stuff doesn't come easy.

At least it didn't for me.

And I had to work really, really, really hard to understand it.

And it takes three, four, five, seven times going over something before you really actually get it.

And kind of giving myself a break when I'm looking at something for, you know, three or four hours and it just not clicking.

Giving myself a break is something that I wish I would have been able to do earlier on because I think it would have saved a lot of heartache.

Those are great tips.

Thank you.

I would say just know that, you know, if you, if you've been accepted, then people believe in you and they know that you can do it.

I think everybody has the oh, crap moment when you first start and realize, like, oh my gosh, like, I have no idea what any of this means.

Like, what does a differential even mean?

You know, like all those things that you just, you know, like you said, drinking out of a fire hose.

I would say a good, a good rule of thumb would be to know 80% of this stuff 80% of the time.

I think that when I was learning and trying to digest all the information, I literally was.

I remember our first series of lecture, I was just trying to learn every single fact that they would throw at us.

And we had derm and it was all the strength of permethrin.

And I was like, now I couldn't even tell you what strength permethrin even comes in.

I have no idea.

But it was on the PowerPoint, so I'd be like, that's important, right?

So, like, it was just really hard to know what you even need to know.

And it's easy for the teachers to be like, oh, you don't need to know that.

But like, we didn't know that.

You know, it's really hard to know, like what you need to know.

And so I think that a good way to determine, like, what is a good level of detail is to have some sort of review book.

Whether that's like the NCCPAs or if it's pants prep pearls, something like that.

Just to be like, okay, well, if they ask me about, I don't know, Tinea corporis, they're not going to ask me, like, what strength of this do I need?

They're going to ask me, okay, what drug is it?

You know, so you don't use permethrin for that.

Don't, don't worry, people.

Don't worry if my professors are listening.

I don't believe that you give permethrin for that.

Don't worry.

I think that that, like, that would be, that would be something like Houston just said, like, perfectionism.

Like, there's no room for that.

You cannot know everything.

You just need to know, like the big, you know, the big stuff.

And I also would say, like, buy lots of highlighters.

Buy lots of color coded sticky notes, because I'm all about that.

So that's what I use them.

I think, like, I think I went through like pat, like 10 packs of.

Highlighters or if you're like, me, find somebody who buys highlighters and then ride their coattails.

I feel like everyone uses iPads now, and I'm such a paper person that I'm like, how do y' all do that?

I actually got an iPad a month into school, and I really liked it.

I did have, like, some stuff in paper, but I didn't, like, print out all the PowerPoints.

I would have them on my iPad, and that was super helpful.

I really liked that.

Oh, yeah.

Awesome.

Well, I'm excited for y' all with your new jobs and recently graduating.

Thanks so much for sharing this.

I mean, would y' all recommend.

It sounds like Mount St. Joe as a program.

Absolutely.

I would go there again if they would accept me again.

So I would go again if I didn't have to do didactic again.

But that's.

I would never wanted to do a didactic anywhere, so I might as well do it at Mount Style, right?

As long as.

As long as Houston can do it with me, then I would be fine.

You know, you'll pass.

It sounds like the moral of this talk is everyone needs a Houston.

So y' all go find.

Find your Houston in your program.

Exactly.

10 Out of 10.

There you go.

Awesome.

Well, thanks so much, y'.

All.

Thanks for having us.

Yeah, thank you so much.

And, yeah, good luck to everybody who's listening.

You guys can do it.

Don't, you know, get discouraged?

It's.

It's so much work.

But like you said, Savannah, like, it's.

Everybody has to sacrifice to get here.

But when you sit back and look at all the hard work that you've done, it's really incredible to sit back and think about.

Like, sometimes I.

On the hard days and didactic or in the hard days during clinicals, I would sit and remember getting up at 5am to go be a nurse aide and how terrible that was.

But the only reason I did it was so that I could get some clinical hours and stuff.

And so you're like, wow, I have worked so hard to get here, and it is such an amazing opportunity.

So never doubt yourself if you.

If.

When you get in, like, it is the best feeling ever.

So I think that it's a great career.

You'll help lots of people, and it's such a neat.

A neat thing to do to be able to, like, you know, marry science and getting to care for people.

So I think that it's an awesome career and you guys can all do it.

Yeah, that's my talk.

Everyone needs to pay for their.

To be their cheerleader Find your dream team once you get there.

Guys, no.

You all are awesome.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

I do appreciate your insight so much.

Thank you so much for having us.