 just the fact that your son sees you grinding I think is more valuable than talking to him you know as much as you'd like to he like he's awesome because he understands he understands what i'm doing and I whenever he tells people like what i'm doing that he's like oh my daddy's studying to become a PA in the ass and we go what's a PA oh like a doctor or like he would like when he would see me like so stressed there was one thing I told him to tell me but like it's like it's like adorable when he says it I'm studying I'm always studying you start really appreciating just the little tiny bit of like exercise or the little tiny bit of things that you used to like take for granted throughout this uh this little interview we were doing I heard Elijah sniffling a little bit and that was my next topic which is wellness in PA school well these are like my chronic allergies it's it's the garden state oh yeah there's like pollens everywhere so i'm going to be sniffling I took my my anti-stimines like I'm I'm okay I'm just trying to let it kick in yeah but definitely sniffling a lot they're in class today and I sounded pretty annoying well the age of COVID you like cough one time and everyone thinks that you have to play that's the thing too I even have a classmate who had COVID and she had to like like call off a couple days and yeah I don't know how she's gonna do it because we were having exams like up the wazoo but so wellness oh man wellness how do you stay physically mentally emotionally well during PA school oh man I had a completely different I have the same outlook but different results now that I'm gonna think of it I think just this is gonna be like a kind of like a real one here so in the beginning I was like such a supporter of like yeah like you know take like take the time you need to yourself you know it's gonna be okay you need this time to relax but man I'm getting like two exams a week like barely barely any time alone to like study outside of class like I'm I'm going to the gym like once or twice a week when I used to go like almost every day mm-hmm um I'm still making time for church which I think is important to me I'll never like that's like a non-negotiable for me um but sleep is definitely getting sacrificed here yep yeah yeah right I think it's funny that Elijah said you know now that I'm in the thick of it when I started PA school back in the day uh you know I was thinking like I would focus on health and this and that and now that I'm in the thick of it things are different he's been in the thick of it for a week guys okay so just put it into perspective yeah yeah I still look so much better I'm gonna look at the end of the semester it was literally like a week in PA school feels like a whole semester because you just learn so much crap and you have like three exams and projects it's just it's so much it's not even I don't think it's hard personally I just think it's too much to memorize at once yeah it is like I'm I was really striving for that a which I I'm still kind of like on that route but I'm getting to the point where the the tests are getting so close in between that I can't even study completely everything to the extent that I want to because I like to go over things at least three times I like to hear it in class I like to review my notes after and I'll do like Quizlet Flashcards on key and if I'm lucky and I have like an extra like four times to look it over then I'll do like practice questions and just look at the slides again but that's I don't have time video oh you don't you really don't but somehow I don't know I remember like reading something and posting something on Instagram while I was in PA school because like I made time for the gym I refused to not have time for the gym even when things were kind of crazy finals week you're sleeping two hours a night whatever okay I'll skip the gym but like during the semester I I made the gym a priority and I think it was something like some kind of chemical process that happens while you're you know exercising makes learning retention and everything better so I don't know I just thought it was important and somehow I got through you know even though I went to the gym and a lot of people didn't so that's really fun like I I was studying at the gym last night yeah right I had my I had my Anki cards on the treadmill I'm doing like uh-huh don't fall off go ahead go through slide no I was I was walking walking speed so yeah I'm not I read it yeah try to figure out how to incorporate it in between sets of lifting or like on the bike or whatever maybe skip the treadmill or the elliptical and just get on one of those bikes and just like look at your phone and do your Anki or Quizlet like figure it out but definitely try to make it a priority you'll just you'll just feel better you'll learn better you'll feel better yeah yeah so but wellness I think even though like I'm dying right now I still think it's important there's a there's a couple things I won't like negotiate like yeah like church like that has to it's a thing me and my friend I do an hour a week Sundays I have I have to have that no matter if I have a test next day like I need that because it's my like mental one of my only mental breaks during the week other than that like I'm studying or I'm incorporating studying into like when I'm cooking or when I'm like eating like dinner and granted my wife doesn't like electronics at the table but I know she's okay with it for now or like like like I said or like even at the at the gym just studying at the gym or like walking the class like you got to find ways to fit studying in to your like your everyday tasks because there's no way like you're going to have time to like separate and not multitask because if you if you can't do that then something's going to have to give right and yeah you end up sacrificing it's funny I remember while I was getting my pce hours for pa school I was working at a gastroenterology practice and we checked in this like I was a medical assistant so we like check the person in get their vitals and this girl was there as a patient and she had her laptop on like just typing away furiously and I asked her yeah she goes I'm a pa student at la moine which is the school I ended up going to so of course I was like full of questions and I was like oh man how is it how'd you get in uh what are you doing on your laptop and she's like I'm studying I'm always studying and so like everybody in the waiting room was just like bored reading a magazine playing on their phone she is studying her butt off and I thought that was a little extra until I got to pa school and realized oh shit now you need to bring your laptop and your phone and your books everywhere because when you play 30 seconds you better be like learning one thing yeah yeah that's how you incorporate into your life I ended up like I used to have these like little phone games for as part of my wellness yeah it started making me procrastinate I didn't have to go I feel like what it sounds like so I'm not a parent you're a parent maybe you can enlighten me here but uh like I heard like when you have kids you start really appreciating just the little tiny bit of like exercise or the little tiny bit of things that you used to like take for granted yeah like even even like simple dinners right uninterrupted dinners because that was our thing before uninterrupted dinners but now I'm like sitting at the table yep and we're all together but like just to have that conversation with my son and like ask him how his day went I'm just so I feel horrible because I'm like I'm so like stressed with mine that I feel like I didn't ask him enough about his day and you know went a new state you know it's a new environment for him I should be doing these things but I think it's I'm just trying to find my group for now because I'm still like in the beginning so I'm still trying to find that flow and once I do that hopefully like things will start to you know get better one thing I really want to say about that which has nothing to do with wellness but just the fact that your son sees you grinding I think is more valuable than talking to him you know as much as you'd like to he like he's awesome because he understands he understands what I'm doing and I whenever he tells people like what I'm doing that he's like oh my daddy's studying to become a PA and they ask him what's a PA oh like a doctor okay that's cool or like he would like when he would see me like so stressed there was one thing I told him to tell me but like it's like it's like adorable when he says it it's not almost he gets sick I tell him like if I get stressed just tell me I'm gonna make it and that I'll be a PA so that whatever like I get look stressed like I'm at the dinner table or I'm sitting late like sometimes I'll wake up like you come downstairs and be like that are you okay don't worry I think it'll be a PA still oh my god wait how old is your son he's seven oh my god that's freaking awesome yeah so like that gets me through it it's like a family affair I really love that yeah I just want you to like not feel guilty about spending less time with him that you'd like to because just the fact that he sees you like like struggling and going through something hard makes him know that he can do it too you know which like a lot of period like kids with ambitious parents who like work a lot like yeah some of them get pretty screwed up because the parents don't spend any time with them but at the same time kids with really lazy parents who are always around but aren't really doing jack shit you know kids get screwed up too whereas like I feel like parents like you who like really want to talk to them and do like make a connection but also like are grinding their butts off like I feel like your son's going to be just this like well rounded really successful dude who's like all right yes there's time for you know being around people but like you do have to work and this is what it looks like and this is how it feels and my dad was doing it so I can totally go and kick butt too just like setting a good example literally literally all that word salad to say you're setting a good example thanks for that uh affirmation I think I needed that well the thing is I think I needed it as a kid and I didn't get it so I'm like man I wish my parents were like grinding while I was a kid because I would have seen it right and known what to do yeah because they were always like get good grades you know you really need good grades but then they were just like not doing a whole lot they were just kind of lazy well mom was working a lot dad was kind of lazy we'll go with that uh but he was the one always telling me to get good grades but then I see him like watching tv all the time and it's like all right bro something's not congruent whereas your kiddo sees you like grinding it out and like working and then he's gonna be like okay yeah dad puts his money where his mouth is and now look at this like sick house we get to live in one day and like oh yeah you know what I mean I mean it helps it also depends on the type of kid you have these very understanding so yeah I'm like I'm blessed hey that's a good outlook too that's a good one but in the last two minutes of the zoom recording just going back to wellness npa school it's like anything else man it's like sleep and eating you're gonna take it for granted but try to make it part of your life try to eat a little healthier less carbs you'll feel less sluggish during school you know uh try to stay hydrated drink alcohol and water freaking if you're not a gym person at least take a walk take a walk in between classes you have 15 minutes in between class instead of freaking out and reviewing your no cards one last time go take like a five minute one like it'll just make a difference you know these little things that are I think eating healthy walking I agree with everything Boris is saying because I'm doing that and if I wasn't doing that I think I'd be more dead looking literally absolutely and I think I would actually put exercise above sleep yeah I agree yeah I agree with that I know it's not popular but I would actually put exercise above sleep and uh I'll say that because my second year of PA school I uh I made gym like a huge priority I got into like ridiculous shape because I was I don't know those of you who know me you know why I was really motivated and like since then motivations decreased a little bit for obvious reasons uh but like I was extremely motivated and like I would get off a rotation at like 11 o'clock at night I had a 24 hour gym I would go lift and if I had to sleep four hours I'd sleep four hours and like somehow I still made it but like I think exercise especially when you're in that like fight-or-flight state which you're in constantly in PA school um I think exercise and like pushing weights around or running or doing something with your body makes it more okay than just being stressed and sitting and being stressed and sitting you know if you're moving your body kind of knows what to do give that make sense that makes sense I mean I think it's important even before starting starting school if you guys haven't started yet yeah find a rhythm now because you gotta find a rhythm while you're in school because just getting into the habit of going to the gym is another struggle in in of itself like we we're telling you now like wellness involves exercise but like you have to find that rhythm where you're not gonna feel burned out from working out and burn out from your school like the only reason I'm able to do it now is because I already had like a hectic schedule before school and I was still able to fit in gym time so that's kind of what I'm doing now so I'm used to it I'm used to feeling even more tired at the end of the day I completely agree uh let me do a new zoom recording just so we could finish this topic out before we oh we were still talking about wellness uh yeah Elijah made a really good point like one thing you should probably start doing before PA school even starts is try to get into some of these healthy habits like walking right before bed walking right when you get up in the morning going to the gym those things because they'll be they'll be harder to carry through during PA school but they will kind of keep you going yeah like you'll do it for the first week when there's like not really anything to do and then second week third week hits all those exams hit and you're like oh well I'm gonna sacrifice gym time or exercise over time you just feel worse and worse so yeah this might be a bit of a spicy topic uh some people may not like it but I did notice that a lot of people got very much out of shape in PA school like people had started having skin problems and people got you know started carrying a lot more body weight than they than they did when they came in um and then pretty quickly after graduating they lost it you know people started looking better and feeling better um but I noticed like when the semester would start the gym would be full and I would see all these classmates in there I'd be like oh hey what are you doing here I haven't seen you here before and then like as the semester wore on I felt like I was like one of the only people there and there was like two other people maybe that were consistently at the gym and then like I guess my point is like it will make you feel better it will help you learn believe it or not and it'll kind of like make you less stressed one because exercise makes you less stressed two it'll help you learn because it'll take your mind away from things so you're just it's just better man like just take my word for it try to stay in shape throughout PA school don't go crazy but do something every day to move your body it's just it's better for you I mean you got two people here who've like gone through the pre-PA and the PA yeah and like doing like fitness and gym and we made it so you know it doesn't take much to like to put 30 minutes aside just for yourself yeah yeah I think that's totally valid and also okay this was so I gained some weight in PA school my first year and then I lost it all the second year but my first year this is what killed me they had this freaking special that was fries and they were good ass fries and a drink like a soda for like two dollars and you're broke and so you're broke and there's these like tasty fries and this tasty soda and it's like two dollars and you just get it every day and then you look down and you're like well where the crap did that come from and oh god the food man be careful with the food our food is not that good in our cafeteria so I'm I'm lucky I don't know it's like college all over again it's like pizza everywhere all the time all the dining halls are kind of far away from me so I'm happy for that and on top of that my like my wife and I like meal crap at the end of the week so you're so lucky yeah I got a I got a partner who helps me I mean I'm not cooking every night she definitely like while she's waiting to get into med school she's like you know taking on the brunt of the household word yeah yeah like while I find my rhythm but like she's helping a lot with that too so that's Elijah's advice is drink water try to get some exercise and have a partner that makes you healthy food dude with them meal prep with them you don't want to be want to be that person well that's that's gonna be your pre-PA plan is you need to find an exercise routine start going to the gym and marry a partner who cooks and so like if you don't do those things you're not going to make it through PA school it'll help it'll help oh god I don't know I anyway we're off that top account but yeah guys try to stay healthy it's important it'll make you feel better it'll make you learn better the end it sucks because one of my classmates is COVID so we can't get our tests from our last like two exams so I'm like what yeah after like what the heck man like I just want to know how bad I did oh my god you're such a PA student wait why is this off the record oh well I uh because I thought I was going to use a customer in there but I guess I didn't yeah so this is probably going to go in the wellness part okay that's fine yeah this is Elijah being like such a classic PA student like one of his classmates has COVID and so it's delaying the grading of the exams and he's all stressed out because he just wants to know if he passed or not I'm still making sure she's okay though yeah absolutely I'm sure your student is fine but it's like hey how dare you get COVID and now I have to like delay knowing if I pass this exam by another day or two come on I want to know my grade the moment I hit submit and like the scary thing is that she actually has started showing up the class again just because like she's at a point where she may fall behind too much mm-hmm where she'll have to like you know I don't know take a leap of absence or something or like she might fall behind and all the tests will start piling up yeah I just don't realistically see her catching up if she's sick for too long which is kind of concerning I I should probably check on her man it's true like you get sick for a week and if you're not like grinding while you're sick like you're gonna fall so behind I mean she's on zoom and all that but like I know if I get sick I'm sitting in the back of the class just sniffling away literally I don't remember people getting sick in PA school I'm sure people did I probably did too I just like man I guess this just goes back to like walking and exercise and trying to sleep and stay hydrated and not eating food is like you'll be less likely to get sick yeah and if you get sick like you'd fall way behind and it makes this like tough thing even tougher your immune system just boosted if like if if you're really looking after your body yeah 100% like you need to move your lymphatic fluid and the only way to move it because the heart pumps blood so the arteries get a lot of blood you have your valves and you have to move your muscles in order to pump the venous blood and then lymph has no heart and no valves so it's just kind of like free floating so lymphatic fluid needs you to exercise needs you to at least walk if not at least like do some sort of squats or whatever and like upper body exercises to move it and lymphatic fluid is where all of your germs are sitting all your nasty crap that needs to get recycled by your immune system so if you're not moving your lymphatic fluid you're going to get sick so go to the gym move your body feel better be better be a school just a little anatomy anatomy classroom boys actually about that so first off hot tips this is not medical advice but ways to prevent getting sick are alkaline electrolyte infused water that's one two is emergency powder i like the immune plus why do i keep holding it up when the camera's here yeah this stuff with the vitamin those suckers are amazing yeah you can use it prophylactically i think literally it's not just when you get sick it's like have one every single day while you're sitting next to all you know that might be getting sick and whatnot and sneezing on you like drink this stuff wash it down with some alkaline water like don't drink only this water like drink normal water too but like just those things like one of these a day and one of these a day help keep me uh from getting sick i've noticed that in my practice because i get sneezed on 50 times a day you know by everyone coughing and like when i started in primary care and urgent care i was like this is disgusting like how are you how dare you sneeze on me in this office and then i realized oh wait a minute you're sick you're at the doctor's office it's literally my job to get sneezed on and treat you so like first off i got sick a lot and then i just became immune to everything uh but this is extremely helpful so not medical advice at all this is not a medical promise that you will not get sick but this for me personally does work and it's not an advertisement either emergency sponsor us uh but yeah it's not at all i love it but yeah just basically be healthy don't get sick because then you'll fall behind in pa school and that's what you really care about is getting through school right you know another another key to not getting sick is by getting sick so like yeah like because you build your immune response right you build it to those yes exactly yeah so i remember when i was working in the ed i would get sick all the time right and you know what ever since like i stopped working and i've been here i've not done sick once so oh thank goodness thank you ed thank you patient stopped on me literally man like working in medicine if you're just around all these different people with all these different bugs and germs like eventually just get exposed to a lot of stuff and you're just like immune to it mm-hmm which is good so yeah wellness in pa school is important stay well yes don't get sick or is the pa.com or is the pa.com buy it it's good i swear that's gonna get tacked on to the wellness video okay um okay