 Hey guys, my name is Boris. I'm a board-certified physician assistant and this is going to be a pre-PA Q&A I actually have a question here from a Facebook group called PA students and pre-PAs I think it's called something like that. It's a great group lots of support people respond very quickly And it's a great resource for people who are trying to get into PA school and those of us or those of you Who are new PA students just kind of trying to figure out their way. I'm not a PA students I'm on practicing physician assistant, but you know I only got out of PA school about a year ago So I'm still pretty new and I think I'm in a good position to answer some of these questions So without further ado, let's go ahead and answer this question from the group. Obviously, it's from an anonymous User because this is kind of a personal thing so I could see why they wanted to shield their identity But this one got a lot of responses a lot of a lot of reactions because Basically, it's people just showing support to this person who's having a really tough time in PA school So let me see if I have any comments that might be able to help this person and anybody watching this video So the person said I'm in my third week of PA school and keep crying every day I've never been this emotional before I'm usually a tough confident happy person Yesterday, I sobbed in my car after class because I felt so lost and confused last week as well. Is this normal? I'm scared. I'm not going to make it through PA school if this continues Okay first off If this person happens to be watching this video I doubt that you are but anybody else that feels this way and I promise you you're not alone I promise you at least half the people in your class Even if they're not showing it feel exactly like this probably a bunch more than half honestly so This person's in their third week of PA school. They're saying that they're crying every single day They're usually confident tough happy and PA school is just breaking them down They are so confused so lost and they're just you know crying non-stop because it's so hard and They're saying is this normal. I don't know if I'm going to make it through school if this continues my my response is yeah Yeah, it's normal. It's totally normal Most people in PA school go through some kind of a breakdown And I don't mean like they just get a little bit of anxiety a little bit of stress You know a little bit of like overeating or drinking a little bit more or whatever like no Everybody I know that's gone through PA school everybody. I know personally myself included Okay, my self included and just by the way here. I am on the other side. I got a job. I'm happy I'm taking care of myself. I'm taking care of my patients. You know, I'm enjoying my job making good money I'm on the other side of PA school only about two to three years away from where you are right now And I'm telling you I felt exactly like this. I don't want to speak for really anybody else But for me personally yeah, I felt exactly like this and just like you and me and like and I don't know How young this person is or how old this person is most PA students are pretty much fresh out of college or close to college You know 23 25 26 years old. I was already 29 when I started PA school. I had been through the military I had been through all kinds of crazy stuff. I had been through a post back at an Ivy League school Like I had been through a lot and PA school Did break me down just like this wasn't necessarily like crying and sobbing all the time Maybe once I can't remember. I'm not a crier like I've cried probably five times in my entire life one when my dog died one when my you know marriage ended and one when I Don't remember but basically it's I can hand I can count all five on one hand. I'm not a big crier But that being said yeah, like I definitely did go through this I did feel totally lost totally confused totally terrified that you know I've dedicated a decade of my life trying to get here to PA school and like I'm just not gonna make it There's no way there's too much information. They're going too fast. Everybody here is way smarter than I am I don't feel prepared. There's just no way like I'm not gonna make it. What the hell do I do now? Where do I go? What's my plan B? Because I'm not gonna make it, you know I felt that way and by the way here I am on the other side of it having passed the pants on my first try having made it through PA school You know having gotten my first job and doing well in my first job. So My point is Yeah, I felt exactly like this exactly where you are three weeks into PA school and it does eventually get better It does eventually feel like you can kind of keep up Even though you always feel like you're kind of playing catch up and you never feel like you know enough because you never know enough You just never do know enough in medicine. You never really know enough. That's why we have people that we refer to That's why we work as a team. That's why we have a collaborating physician That's why we have other PAs that we can talk to Medicine is a beast. It is an insane amount of knowledge and what they're trying to force into your brains as quickly as possible Is just enough to not be dangerous Just enough to know where your limits are Just enough to take a to take care of patients at a basic level and know when you just don't know enough and you need to Ask somebody that's it. Okay. You don't need to know everything. Nobody knows everything Physicians with 50 years of experience, you know Since they were 25 until now, they're 75. They don't know everything Okay, so PA school is just trying to force as much of that knowledge into you as possible to see what sticks for you to not be dangerous To you for you to know what you don't know. That's it. Okay, so looking at it from that perspective I hope puts a little bit less pressure on you to like know everything all the time at the same time No, just learn what you need to know for the next exam and move the hell on That is it and eventually after doing that over and over and over and over and over again I promise you eventually you'll realize. Oh crap. I know some stuff You feel like you know nothing until you take a big test and you're like, oh wow I know some stuff, you know, and then you don't think oh, I know some more stuff And then you get into rotations and you're like, I guess I know a little bit And then you start working and stuff starts coming up again and again And then suddenly it's wow, maybe those two years of PA school actually taught me something But you don't really feel like that until school is over, you know The dust has settled you've taken your pants and like just the crazy stress has kind of worn off a little bit And you get to actually focus and think and focus on yourself just for a second Finally after school is over and then you're like, wow Actually know some of this stuff, you know, so I don't know if any of this is helping or making sense But my point is yeah three weeks in that fire hydrant of information is just that full blast There's no mercy at this point. You've made it and there is no turning back You have to just trudge through it, you know going with that metaphor of the fire hydrant It's just firing information at you and you're just walking with your head down like through a rainstorm Just trying to hold on that's what it's going to be like, you know That's what you're in for and that's how it has to be That's what separates you from people that are not going to be providers providers are held to a different standard We are a different breed not because we're special not because we're extra smart But because of what we were forced to go through in our training as providers, you know physician assistants doctors and respectitioners We are different because of our training. We are different. We are respected Because of our training because of our ability because of the things that we know Because we were subjected to what you're being subjected to right now Having that information all that crazy information forced into you and this is just what it feels like and I promise It's going to get easier not because it actually gets easier But because you just kind of get used to feeling like this like you just can never catch up like you don't know anything Because you just realize you don't and you're not going to catch up You're going to learn just enough for the next exam You might forget everything the next day But I promise you some amount of it some level of it sticks and that it's just enough to carry you through the next exam And then it's just enough to get through the next exam and then it's just enough to you know Do okay on the pants and then it's just enough to start clinical practice, you know It's just like that's just how it is Okay, so that's one side of it. So this is normal. The other side of it is Me included I don't know anyone who didn't have some sort of emotional crisis breakdown problem Substance abuse whatever like some sort of personality disorder pop up like out of nowhere I don't know but like some kind of major issue in PA school. You're not alone. It's totally normal So for me personally, I'm not going to throw anybody else under the boss for me personally I developed severe crippling social anxiety during PA school And I mean, I don't know I can geek out and theorize why because I was kind of going through a divorce I was going through the you know Disillusion of a seven-year relationship everything that I ever knew and held dear was going down the two as well I was in PA school. So there was that In addition to all the monumental academic pressure that you know very well about whoever wrote this this message So like there's all of that, but I just remember like So like me personally, I've never been like a super extroverted very social person But at least for the last few years of my life including when I was in PA school and before that I've been fine, you know, I've been able to make friends pretty easily keep them I had good friends most of my life, you know, never like a huge group But I've had at least a few good friends most of my life and like I've never really had just Crippling social anxiety. I've never been the biggest like party guy in the world probably more so now than ever before honestly But like, you know, I've never been I've never had like terrible social anxiety and I remember this one time Walking into our classroom. There's 75 people sitting there. You know 75 seats So, I don't know maybe half the people were there 30 40 people and this one guy that I'm you know Somewhat friends with now just like got like really high energy It was first thing in the morning and he was just like super high energy super bubbly super happy And he was like, hey, what's up? And like he made some funny face or he was dancing or it was like 730 in the morning He had no business doing this But whatever he was just being a friendly guy and I remember I just froze and I literally hit my face Like I was walking to my seat and I literally had to like hide my face. I was like, dude I don't know Like like I was defending myself against an attack or something. It was the first time I had felt crippling social anxiety I just wanted to crawl into a hole. I just didn't want to be there and then like reflecting on that later I was like, what the crap like I've never ever been like this and uh I don't know just the pressure of PA school plus what I was going through personally just finally got me and I experienced some very very severe crippling social anxiety And yeah, I mean PA school broke the crap out of me, you know, just to build me back up later, I guess, but Yeah, my point is yeah, you're going to go through some stuff mostly just because of the severe pressure and Academic stress that's put on you and it's just it's normal to be broken by it And I have faith in you if you were strong enough If you were competitive enough to get into the school Then I and all of your classmates and all of your professors and your director And everybody at your PA school and your future patients and the world that needs you to stay strong and get through this We all have faith in you that you are gonna pull your head up You're gonna get the help that you need if you need help and you're gonna get through this And you're gonna get through school and you're gonna be an amazing provider Okay, so whoever wrote this message to the group. I hope you got the support that you needed I hope you stay strong I hope you don't quit and I hope you get through PA school and I'm gonna see you on the other side Okay, hope this video was helpful. Have a good one. I'll see you guys in the next video