OJ the PA

Back when I heard my university (and many others) weren't planning on having students come back after spring break, I put together a post about my tips for learning online . Now having heard that new students are going to have to start their programs from home over the summer, I want to share a few more tips that have helped me be successful. 1. Study with other students. No, it's not the same as all hunkering down in a study room at the library together, but being able to talk things through with other people and quiz each other is invaluable. Figure out who your people are, and get on a video chat regularly. This will help you stay accountable to getting your work done, too! Before COVID (BC), I would get together with a couple of friends the weekend before big exams, grab coffees, and study together. Now, we get together on a Facebook Messenger video chat and talk for anywhere from 2-4 hours about the topic at hand. And it has still been amazingly helpful, even if it wa

Life during COVID-19 feels like it changes by the day. So, I've decided to document my experiences as a PA student, a hospital dietitian, and just with life in general. Here goes! Student Life: Honestly, not much has changed for me, minus the fact that I was supposed to go to campus this coming week for some clinical skills. Because my program involves two years of didactic learning, I'll be able to catch up on these skills at a later time. However, I was really looking forward to seeing my friends. Also, social distancing has meant that I can't study with my friends at a coffee shop before big exams like I had been. We've made it work by having Facebook video calls, which allows us to still collaborate and test each other, but it's just not the same. Hospital Life: Since there's no scheduled/elective surgeries, the dietitian workload is actually a little lighter than usual, which means more people have been able to take PTO or get projects done. As things