OJ the PA

I'm knee deep in my Neuro Module this weekend (Big 3 exam coming up Tuesday night!), but I wanted to post something a little fun. Here's a "This or That" for your Instagram story. Enjoy! Follow me on Instagram @OJthePA . Have a great weekend!

I took my first "Big 3" exam yesterday for our psych module and it went great! (We call it the "Big 3" because it's a combined exam for Clinical Medicine, Diagnostic Methods and Pharmacology). It feels so good to have one down, have a better idea of what to expect, and to see that my study tactics were effective. However, I had one problem when I was studying: I had too many resources and not enough time to use them all.  I think when we're fresh and wide-eyed students, we're scared of what's ahead and grab onto any and all guidance that is thrown our way. Understandably so! But at least for me, I now have all these resources and am feeling a little bit overwhelmed. Here's the rundown of the resources I ended up using to prepare for my psych exam and the resources I have yet to evaluate (honestly, just because of lack of time. What I used: PANCE Prep Pearls I mean, this is like THE resource for PA students. Universally recommended to...

I think its great when what you're learning inspires you to make healthy adjustments in your own life. Right now, we're in the middle of our Psychology Module, and one of the guest speakers this week talked about Sleep Disorders, including sleep apnea, movement disorders, circadian rhythm disorders, insomnia and narcolepsy. In addition to having a primary sleep condition, things like medication, psychiatric conditions, medical conditions, and poor sleep behaviors can be causes of sleep problems for people. Personally, I have intermittent sleep issues related to stress and anxiety (hello, PA school!). What I mean is, sometimes I just can't seem to get my brain to shut off so I can fall asleep. If you want to get better sleep, here are some tips:  Expose yourself to bright lights at certain times of the day, depending on when you're having troubles. Can't fall asleep at night? Bright lights in the morning. Falling asleep too early? Turn on some bright lights a...

I am a medicine junkie. Medical shows (House, Grey's Anatomy), documentaries (Diagnosis), and books … I love it all! Even though summer is coming to an end (and we're about to kiss our free time good-bye!), I wanted to share a list of my favorite books about medicine. Side note: Even though we don't have a lot of free time, I have found that reading a little bit for fun before bed helps me wind down to go to sleep. Way better than staring at my phone like I used to do! Anyway, these books are in no particular order (because ranking them was just too dang hard!). Also, I'm pretty sure that all of these books are $15 or less, so it won't break the bank for us poor college kids to read a few. Every Patient Tells a Story This book was actually recommended to me by PA students when I was interviewing at the school I am currently attending! Apparently it was strongly encouraged to read by one of the professors, and it sounded amazing. Written by Dr. Lisa Sand...