JazmineK_PA using Picmonic for PA school
Hi Everyone! I hope you are all doing well. I’m here to give you more insight into how I studied for certain classes in PA school! FYI, this blog post is made possible by the wonderful people at Picmonic, woo! With each course in PA school, there were different methods and different resources I utilized. You’ll be bombarded with so many resources to choose from, trust me. Before we get into it, are you an auditory learner? Visual? Read/write? Kinesthetic or Multimodal? You can take the quick questionnaire here http://vark-learn.com/the-vark-questionnaire/ to find out for yourself.
It turns out that I’m a Multimodal learner with visual and kinesthetic qualities! My study habits have more or less stayed the same in comparison to undergrad however, the number of resources I used quadrupled in PA school. I am still a visual and kinesthetic learner and I find myself using all types of tools to help me comprehend better.
Let’s get started. Below is a screenshot of my Adult Medicine course pulled up in the Notability Notetaking app. My classmates and I created this chart to better understand different disease processes. It looks super boring and wordy, doesn’t it? As we sit in the classroom, listening to lectures, I try my best to scribble notes on these charts. Writing notes like “D-dimer ^” will help me remember that in Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation, the D-dimer test result is usually increased. As you can see in the Etiology column, I found it difficult to memorize the probable causes of DIC. I used a pneumonic from Picmonic to help me remember (play video down below).
.:Enter PICMONIC
So after I find the specific topic or disease process on Picmonic, I play the educational video and complete the brief quiz to solidify what I just watched. I go back to my notes and write down/ draw pictures to help me memorize. It’s been 2+ years since I first learned this, I STILL REMEMBER the causes of Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation thanks to Picmonic! And if these videos and quizzes weren’t enough, I have access to videos like OnlineMedEd and Osmosis 😭I loved watching all these videos together for classes like Adult Medicine and Pharmacology.
Here’s a list of additional resources included in your Picmonic, the Physician Assistant subscription:
First Aid for the USMLE Step 1 2019
Pance Prep Pearls 1st and 2nd edition
PANCE Exam Blueprint
PANRE (Recertifying Exam) Blueprint
OnlineMedEd Integrated Topic Videos
Osmosis YouTube Videos
Lecturio Videos
Videos on videos, topics on topics and the ability to create your own playlists! I found myself memorizing these topics quicker than my classmates and shared what I learned with them. I even made screenshots of these Picmonics and embedded them into my notes!
Trust me, this is a great memory tool to take advantage of especially in the accelerated nature that is PA school. Feel free to try this out for free or take 20% off your subscription through this link JazmineK_PAxPicmonic. And to be completely transparent, I earn $5 when someone signs up for a subscription! Happy studying!
