In PA school, the “Clinical Medicine” courses contain the bulk of the clinical knowledge that is taught. The program I attend splits it into 3 separate courses: Clin Med I, Clin Med II and Clin Med III. Clin Med I is taught in the first half of semester 2 and Clin Med II is taught in the second half. Then, Clin Med III wraps up this series of courses in semester 3. We go through each category listed on the NCCPA Blueprint and break down the diseases/disorders emphasized. The NCCPA Blueprint lays out everything we need to know to take the Physician Assistance National Certifying Exam, aka the PANCE.
Studying for Clinical Medicine is a lot. The format of learning clinical medicine is usually in blocks based on organ system. There are 14 total categories: cardiovascular system, dermatologic system, endocrine system, eyes/ears/nose/throat (EENT), gastrointestinal system/nutrition, genitourinary system (male and female), hematologic system, infectious diseases, musculoskeletal system, neurologic system, psychiatry/behavioral science, pulmonary system, renal system, and reproductive system (male and female). For each disease we learn the definition, etiology, pathology, signs/symptoms, risk factors, diagnosis (labs, imaging studies, diagnostic procedures, etc.), treatment (pharmacologic, therapeutic procedures, etc.), complications, prevention, health maintenance, etc. We are also given differential diagnoses, which are helpful to differentiate between multiple diseases that present similarly. THERE IS SO MUCH INFO!
Personally, I make charts! I love studying from charts and have found the most success using this method. I color coat when I can, bold the most “important” or “stand-out” info, and always highlight any specific medications. The columns in my charts are: Disease, Patient Presentation, Testing and Lab Findings, Treatment and Prevention, and Other important info. These columns are not all inclusive with the info presented, so I just put info wherever I see fit. If we have access to the PowerPoints ahead of time, I like to fill them out the night before so that I am not rushing to type out every single thing while the professor is lecturing (they go fast!). Also, my roommates and I often rotate days that we are responsible for taking notes on the charts. So, some days I am not actively the one taking notes on the charts but am still listening to the lecture. I believe working with your classmates as a team can help prevent the feeling of becoming burnt-out in PA school.
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Another study technique that I have been trying to incorporate more is recording myself explaining the notes out loud. I am both a visual and auditory learner, so listening to myself speaking the notes out loud is extremely helpful. Staring at the charts and reading them over and over only gets me so far. I better retain the info when I am speaking out loud, coming up with ways to correlate things, pointing out main differentiating features of diseases, etc. Once these are recorded, I listen to them repeatedly. I will listen when cooking dinner, while taking a shower, relaxing by the pool, anywhere! I like to do groups of disorders at a time, so I’ll label one recording “Disorders of the Esophagus” and the next “Disorders of the Stomach.” This can help me focus more on the specific sections I may be struggling to understand. I use the app “Voice Recorder.”
Other study techniques I use are looking up already existing quizlets related to the material (there is minimal time to create your own), watching YouTube videos if I don’t understand something, and always googling words if I am not sure what they mean. Material is easier to understand and retain if you know what the words you are studying actually mean! We have learned a lot of strange and big words, so in my charts I will put a shortened definition next to these words until I finally know exactly what they mean and no longer need the definition.
Clinical medicine exams are mostly case-based and require incorporating all the information you have learned to answer the question correctly. Questions may ask about other symptoms a patient with the presenting disease may have, the first step you would take to diagnose the patient, the best treatment, patient education, etc. The possibilities are endless! My clinical medicine exams are taken every Monday and are cumulative. For example, if we learn musculoskeletal week 1, we have an exam that following Monday on musculoskeletal. Then if week 2 we go over dermatology, the following Monday we have an exam consisting mostly of dermatology, but also with questions from the musculoskeletal block. At the end of the semester, we take a cumulative exam incorporating each block we went over that consists of 100 questions.
