The first semester:

The students who I started PA school with came from a wide variety of backgrounds: some started right after 4 years of college, some came back recently after graduation, and others came back to school after longer careers in the workforce. We have had a wide variety of clinical experience: nursing, medical tech, EMTs, mental health, cardiology, sports medicine, and neurology just to name a few. Though we have all these different histories, the first semester of school is a challenge to everyone. During orientation our first day, PA school was described as opening your mouth in front of a fire hose. Over the last few months, I’ve found that to be a pretty appropriate description. Thinking back to the first semester, there are a few things I wish I had known before school started. These are specific to Quinnipiac, but I imagine the same is true at other schools too. I talked to some of my classmates and tried to come up with a more all-inclusive list.

Get ahead – The semester might start off slowly with more time for orientation and review classes, but it speeds up quickly. I recommend getting organized, keeping up with classes, and carving out specific time for studying. Falling behind can be a downward cycle that affects the whole semester.

Pay attention to all your classes – Quinnipiac is one of the schools that is fortunate enough to have a cadaver lab and we start off with anatomy in the summer. Because it is new and interesting, it’s easy to spend all of your time studying anatomy. While it is a hard class and deserves a lot of work, don’t forget about the other classes too. Along with that, I recommend paying attention to how many credits each class is worth and make sure that each class is getting the attention it deserves.

Prepare your significant others – PA school can become all-consuming at times. There have been multiple occasions where I’ve felt like I was not being a good wife, or friend, or daughter. Most of the people close to me understand this and have been wonderfully supportive, but it’s still good to prepare for that shift in relationships. And it’s important to be able to tell people “no,” whether it is going home the weekend before a test or attending a class reunion in another state.

It’s only 2 years – PA school might be overwhelming and you might feel like you’re standing in front of a fire hose, but as one of my friends said, “oh well, it’s only two years.” It has been helpful to me to think about the big picture and to know that the end-goal is not that far away. I feel like people can do almost anything for 2 years, and at the end of it all, we’ll be in a wonderful place for finding jobs and starting our careers.

PA school not as bad as people make it out to be – One of the things I have heard is that PA school will be the hardest thing you ever do in your life. While it’s stressful and at times overwhelming, it is very do-able. If you got into PA school, it’s because you’re smart and competent enough to do it and do it well. I had to remind myself of that from time to time, but I think it’s true. With hard work and determination, PA school can even become fun and something you’ll enjoy doing.

-Katrina Hull Physician Assistant 2013