Just Accepted to PA School...suggestions

[mmadchild]

Hello all..

I am in the military (US ARMY) working as an Intelligence Analyst with absolutely no Medical background. I took night courses and did undergrad work in psychology, and took many pre med classes, thinking I would go to medical school. Well, life happened and I am still in the army, but recently got accepted in the Army's IPAP (Interservice Physician Assistant Program) and I start in December of this year. Since I don't have any medical experience, I was wondering what reading I should get into to help prepare me for school.

I have re read my A&P book about a million times. I know that will "help", but I guess the anticipation is killing me.

Any suggestions on good reading material in order to help prepare me?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[core0]

Hello all..

I am in the military (US ARMY) working as an Intelligence Analyst with absolutely no Medical background. I took night courses and did undergrad work in psychology, and took many pre med classes, thinking I would go to medical school. Well, life happened and I am still in the army, but recently got accepted in the Army's IPAP (Interservice Physician Assistant Program) and I start in December of this year. Since I don't have any military experience, I was wondering what reading I should get into to help prepare me for school.

I have re read my A&P book about a million times. I know that will "help", but I guess the anticipation is killing me.

Any suggestions on good reading material in order to help prepare me?

You might consider seeing if you can shadow a PA on post. On the other hand considering that your life as you know it will essentially end in December you should consider taking some leave. I would also look at the suggested reading here:
http://www.usarec.army.mil/armypa/
See selected student resources on the left side.

Good luck

David Carpenter, PA-C

 

[mmadchild]

thank you so much for the resources..

 

[core0]

thank you so much for the resources..

Also take a look at the PA forum:
http://www.physicianassistantforum.com/forums/

There is an IPAP thread. Not busy right now but its also a good place to ask questions (after using the search function to find out if its been asked before).

David Carpenter, PA-C

 

[Febrifuge]

Congratulations! I have some ex-military friends, and I know that IPAP is not necessarily easy to get into. Keep going on the books, but don't stress out too much. I agree that shadowing would be valuable, because the "real learning" is all about the stuff that isn't in the books. Nonetheless, having a decent grip on the physiology (and the anatomy, and the biochemistry, etc) can only help later on. There's a lot to make sense of, and not a lot of time to do it in.

Bottom line, just remember there's a difference between "information" and "knowledge," and in medicine this difference is key. Coming from Intelligence, you likely have a sense of this already. Best of luck to ya.