Sangria and paella with family, swimming with the kids, and bad reality TV: summer is ecstasy. We were given 17 days between quarters and today is day 10, but I’m feeling the pressure to get my game face back on and resume my PA training. Two of my 14 assigned textbooks have arrived (Pharmacology and Cecil’s Medicine, 4400+ pages in total), and more are on the way. It’s lucky that both books cover treatment options for abdominal hernias, because I’m sure to develop a nasty one just carrying them to the car. Most ominous, however is the arrival of this quarter’s objectives.
To explain, at UCD, our learning is organized by objectives. These are written goals for our learning, and they come in two forms.
- Clinical objectives-the things we need to be able to perform, to do. An example: be able to properly examine the fundus of the eye (inside it) with an opthalmoscope.
And
- Cognitive objectives-the concepts we need to understand (often, but not always related to #1 above). Example: compare and contrast the etiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, diagnostic testing, treatment, patient education and follow-up/referral for the following endogenous infections of the eye: toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus, TB, secondary syphilis.
Not all programs use objectives, but I’m glad ours does. The objective system helps you to clearly understand what you need to know. But don’t make the mistake of thinking this that objectives make the task easy. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are hundreds of them, and most are only properly answered with a lengthy essay. When you get your objectives, they begin to eat away at the lining of your stomach. They make you chew your nails. It’s a mountain of material, and there is only a relative thimbleful of time. So breaks like this one always end earlier than the return date (this is my first break, mind you, but I hear it won’t change much over the next two years). The lesson here for anyone considering taking on PA school is simple: it’s an endurance test, not a sprint. So for now, excuse me while I settle in with a good big book. I just need another coat of that bitter nail polish first.
P
Haha… Oh breaks in PA school. Definitely a bitter sweet moment. I disagree somewhat with what you said about PA school not being a sprint. IMO it’s both! It goes by so fast, but not so fast that you can just put your head down and get through it in a few months. Trust me, you will understand what I mean soon enough. Now that I have graduated (woo hoo) I can honestly say it was totally worth it. Doesn’t help make it suck any less. But just figured I would give you guys a little encouragement! Hang in there. Try to enjoy the last few days of your break. As hard as that is, it is necessary.
Hello,
I am currently applying for PA programs for 2017. I know that most programs are 2 years long all year, and I understand the necessity of not having breaks during this time. However, I recently got engaged and I am wondering if it will be possible to get married during my program. Your post says that you got 17 days off between quarters-would you say it is common in other schools to get breaks like this? Even though that is a short break, it would be enough time for me to get married and go on a nice honeymoon with my husband, so I am holding out hope! Ideally we would get married before my program starts, but some of the programs start in May while others start in September, and I might not know what program I am in until this winter, so there’s not a lot of time left for planning!
Thank you!
PA programs — even the most rigorous ones — are not without breaks. Usually the breaks are shorter than you would like. Summer is usually the longest, and can be anywhere from 2-4 weeks. Just about every PA program has someone in it who gets married during the program. Not sure about the honeymoon — I might recommend you to wait until school is over, but again, it’s possible. Just know that your life is going to CRAZY during that period. You WILL need valium!