 It's studying the absolute crap out of it. And the first time, like I studied every word. I could basically recite it and I got like a 98 on that one. And everyone was like freaking out cause there was so much information and I was like, huh, peasants. And then sure enough, like I let off after that. Cause like you can't, that's not sustainable. You can't study that much for every test. It's just not possible. Obviously besides the fact of like physical exam where you have to be hands on for the most part, everything for me has just been, okay, I'll read it and just try to memorize it there on the spot. And that's been working for me. Helping others is a calling. It's not a job. Elijah. Hello. Hey, Boris. It has been a long time. Been a couple of months. Been hiding away in didactic gear. Yeah. In your cave. In my, uh, in my didactic health. Yeah. Your didactic health. Your study, study cave. Yup. Just nine to five classroom and then come home and study some more. Risen repeat seven days a week. If you had to guess on average, like how many more hours after the nine to five do you have to study? Um, if I don't have any exams within that week, I'll study like an hour or two a day and then the rest of the day, I'll just spend time with my son or just like watch shows. I've been watching a lot of shows. Yeah. What are you into right now? Oh, well, I watched a lot of like, like Japanese cartoons, like anime. That's the stuff I'm into. So nice. And your sons into that too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I watched it with my son. He loves it. Like, uh, like Dragon Ball Z. Yeah. Dragon Ball Z Demon Slayer. Like some of the newer ones. Yeah. I think I saw a story about Dragon Ball Z. Like the guy who created it just died or something. Yeah. Yeah. He died recently. I forgot his name, but yeah, he passed away like a couple of weeks ago. He was like a legend, right? Cause he, he created Dragon Ball Z, which is huge. And then like a bunch of other super popular ones. Oh yeah. Yeah. He's, he's well known. That's awesome. But yeah, that's been, uh, it's hard to explain the semester. So I'm in my first year, uh, second semester of my first year. And it's been going well. I, um, pretty much got straight A's the first semester. Oh, a couple like A minuses. But I'm going to count that. I'm going to count that. Cause I was like less than a percent away from that flat A, but I found it. But, um, yeah. So this second semester has definitely been challenging in a different way. So my first semester was a lot of like just head into books kind of stuff. And it's kind of the same thing now, but a little bit more clinically related. We've had like some pretty cool classes like EKG. I liked that one a lot. I'm doing real well in that one. Sonography, that one just ended. Uh, that one was really fun. Uh, we have a class called clinical lab where we're learning about like, like lab values and stuff like that. And like a different management and like what labs to order. Um, so like more hands-on, uh, classes with regards to the, that I did get here. So it's been, I'd say more fun, but I definitely feel like I'm still not getting a lot of sleep. Uh, you're not going to get sleep until school's over. Yeah. I kind of, I kind of got that from, uh, experiencing this, this easier semester because a lot of our second year's kind of prefaced it with, uh, Oh yeah. The second year's a second semester is a lot easier. It's like, you know, funner classes and I'm like, they're fun, but I'm still like, I'm still studying a lot for it. Well, it's easier because you're used to the pace and it's just like not new to you anymore. And it's easier because it's, yeah, like you said, it's more fun stuff. It's not like biochemistry and this and that. It's like, it's actual stuff that's clinical, you know, and if you like medicine, it's kind of cool. I think my, one of my favorite classes is, uh, it's called fog or skills of patient assessment. So we're kind of doing like physical exams and like just really applying like what we learned last semester, it's a like different, uh, you know, how you perform a physical exam. Yep. There you go. But is that Bates? It's Bates. It's, uh, yep, I read every single page and it's, uh, it's pretty killer. Yep. Bates guide to physical exam and all the quizlets that come with it. This is, uh, this definitely got me through physical diagnosis. It, um, that's a great book. Yeah. There's a lot of videos online too, where they perform the actual exam. So that's been pretty helpful. It's actually, it's amazing how well that one's written because I feel like a lot of times you read the book and it's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, like one, I don't understand a lot of this stuff or I don't like the way it's presented or it's just not clear. Bates, like literally every topic I feel like is presented very, very well and it gives you exactly what you need without anything more. So I actually really appreciate Bates. There's a, there's a couple like parts where I'm just kind of confused because they'll like try to over explain the maneuver. Like, for example, uh, just like, just like flexing the arm, like they'll explain it and like the most like, like specific way, whether they're like, can you get a hold like, like five inches from here and two centimeters from here and, uh, palms have to be like supine, uh, and then you got to ask the patient like, and like things like that. And I'm just like, oh God, it's so specific. And they just want me to do that. It's true. I mean, I don't know. You don't want it to mess it up because people will mess everything up. Yeah, I mean, it's, it's, it's awesome because there's anatomy review and then they tell you what you're looking for and how to do the exam and those are like the main, the main things. And you know, actually it's all tying into what I learned in anatomy last year. And like, so some of the things like we're learning in pathophysiology, like the pathology of things like why we palpate or why we all sculpted like things like that. Actually, you brought up a really good point that I think I can't remember who made it. I think this was a medical student I interviewed whose interview I haven't edited or posted yet because it's going to be a lot of editing, but I will. It's coming soon. But I think she said she became an EMT and for the first time ever in EMT school is when she actually enjoyed school because she felt like it was something that's actually applicable to what she's going to do, not just like learning for the sake of learning. Right. So second year of PA school or for you like second semester, I guess is a lot like that you actually learn stuff you're actually going to do. So it's actually, it's cool. It's kind of like the silver lining on all the work and all the sleepless nights. Right. Oh, yeah, especially like tying in things to my old job like EKG and clinical lab. Like I'm I understand like why we ordered like certain labs and like now I know how to read EKG. So I'm like, oh, no, like that's what that doctor was talking about. Like, yeah, yeah, like things like that. And I'm just like, oh, this is so interesting. Like granted, I'm tired. I'm still not getting enough sleep, but it's more fun than, you know, redoing anatomy and in micro and all that again. Yeah, it's cool stuff to know. It's really cool. Like you don't appreciate the process of it going into your brain, but it's cool to like know this stuff that you heard like a doctor say and you heard like, hey, what the heck even is that? I don't know. And I'm too tired to look it up. Now you're learning it and you're like, oh, sweet. Now I know this stuff. Like I remember perfect example. So you know, like AFib, right? Yeah. Irregularly irregular. Atria is just doing whatever it wants to do. And it's just like not getting through the ventricle consistently and blah, blah, blah. I remember when I was a scribe back in the day, one of the doctors said atrial flutter. And it was the first time I heard that. And I was like, I think he means AFib, but I'll write it down. Maybe there's like different ways of saying it. And then sure enough, in EKG class, we like learn like, no, a flutter is a totally different rhythm. Yeah, so when I learned that, yeah. Yeah, exactly. The sawtooth pattern. And I remember learning that and like it was just so gratifying because it's like, wait a minute. No, he that was a different thing. And this thing that I thought was so wrong. And now I know better. It's just it's so gratifying to learn medicine. It's just it's really cool. It's cool to know it. It's cool to learn it. Or like when I when I was an ED tech, I had to say almost like a similar experience. I would like look at EKGs and when they don't look like, you know, like your normal, like nice P wave, QRS and T wave. Or like it would like. Like someone would be like throwing PVCs, right? But sometimes that's like normal, depending on, you know, the patient. But I would see that as a tech. I'm like, I would show it to the doctor and he'd be like, oh, yeah, it's fine. What is that big thing? You, you just wait. You just wait until you have to be the one making that call and like freaking out and then finding out it's fine. And then the next time it happens, you're like, no, it's fine. And people are like, are you sure? And I'm like, yeah, I'm sure. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's cool. Like the more you learn and sometimes just from experience, it's just it's cool to know more. You know, we also had a very, very interesting class related to our EKG class. It was called EKG SIM or short for simulation. So we kind of got to be in this like SIM lab where there's like a mechanical doll. We've had one of our professors behind like a one sided mirror or window. And she was kind of speaking to us through the doll and we were asking a question history, like why they came in, you know, alleviating things that alleviate the symptoms, things that make it worse and wait a minute. The doll was talking. Yeah, the doll. Well, it was the doll was talking through a professor was speaking into a mic in like the control room. And it was speaking through the doll. They were speaking through the through the doll. I don't like that. It was it was freaky. I thought it was all like automated responses by the robot until I realized like, wow, like these responses are quite complicated. I don't think this is like AI or anything. Like it was like someone in the room over speaking into a microphone that it was being conveyed through the doll. I that creeps me the crap out. It was it was super fun. I I really enjoyed it. We even got to simulate like a code and that was really fun. Like the person was in like. Was going was going into torsades and then all of a sudden VTAC wait, did the did the doll look like this? Oh, no, I mean, it looks like a mannequin, like almost like like the normal mannequins, but it was so cool. Like it's like it had pulse. It had crowded pulses. It had people pulses. It had I bet you this doll has no pulses whatsoever. That doll does have a pulse when it's haunted. No, this doll definitely doesn't have pulses and it's freaking me the F out. Like you tell me talking doll. I'm out like I'll choose a different program. How about mannequins talking mannequin? Thank you. Don't. Yeah, don't don't use the word talking doll because then like I think this yeah, that's what I think when I think talking doll. That's so creepy. Did I say doll? I said doll. OK, I've been mannequin. How dare you? Wait, why am I back in this enchanted forest thing? Oh, that's right, because now I'm trying to go back to to this. OK, anyway, speaking of which, and also minds, it's a bit of a lag. So sorry. That's OK. OK, so thank you for crawling out of your study cave. Elijah and for joining the land of the living away from the land of Annabelle and joining me in this enchanted forest that you see on the screen and telling me about your first year PA school experience. So basically what you said is you're still very tired or not sleeping much, but it's more fun. Yeah, no, no sleep, but it's bearable because it's fun. Good. You're OK. Well, what's the truth? I like to tell my classmates just like getting used to the abuse. Kind of kind of. It's necessary abuse. Yeah, necessary abuse, fun abuse. It doesn't make it any less abusive, but it's it's necessary abuse. Just plug my laptop in. OK, so I mean, you're still surviving. You're still there, right? You haven't failed out. Have you failed a single exam? No, I'm not one. I got was probably a T, but I still got in that class. But no, my lowest grade in an exam was a C. Um, I don't I don't know. I haven't failed yet. I feel like it's because every time I study, I think like this is the only time I'm going to have to study for this one test. I want to do the best I can for this test and then move on with my life. Yeah. And I get what I get. I mean, I can't I can't always get A's. I mean, I'm getting like some test. I'll get like A pluses. Some I'll get like B minuses, you know, just kind of depends on how much I actually like the subject. Yeah, it's like, yeah, as long as you're not constantly hanging around like on the edge, like constantly getting B minuses, then you're pretty stress-free or just like, all right, I know I'll probably do well enough on the next one. You know, you're like, you're not freaking out the whole time. You're just like, okay, I can do this, right? But just like some words of reassurance for like those going into P school or like even those in P school. Like once you get to like the clinically applicable stuff, like, like I said earlier, like EKG and lab, like I noticed like the class average like shot way up. It was probably like a mirror. Yeah, mid B for all the classes last semester during like the really like didactic heavy courses. And now that we're doing more hands-on things, like everyone's grades is like, like, I think we all average like a low to mid A most of our classes. And it's not easy. Yeah, these aren't easy classes. Like they're still hard. That's awesome. Nobody's like on the verge of a failing or nothing. Like everyone's pretty strong. Not that I know of, I have seen a couple of low grades because you can see the whole like grade scale and see who's got the highest average and the lowest, but no one consistently like failing, you know, exams. Like we've all been pretty much been having high averages. That's so, I remember that like as soon as the test is done and everyone submitted, you're like constantly hitting refresh. Like, all right, let me see the high, the average and the low and then see what I got. And then like as long as it's not the low, then you're like happy. As long as it's like above average, even by one point you're stoked. And then like the one time a year that you get to be the high grade, you're like, whoo, yes. That was me during finals. I absolutely crushed last semester's finals. And I think one test, and it was the hardest class we had. I got the highest, I think I got like a 96% or 97%. And it was a hard exam. I think that was the highest. I was like at the top of the bar. And I was like, ooh, I did it. I'm that guy. Right? You never thought you'd be that guy, right? Yeah. I always hit the people up there. I'm like, oh God, look at nerds. Right? And it like, it doesn't happen all the time I'm assuming, but like you get like, you set the curve one time and that's memorable. Oh yeah. Yeah. I remember that. That was the coolest feeling ever. I only did it once. I only did it once. Same so far, same. Yeah. I tell the story a billion times. So I'm not gonna tell it, but like basically there was like very TLDR version. Our anatomy class was taught by just the sweetest human being ever. I forgot her name, Dr. Sterns, I think. It was like literally like a living encyclopedia. Like she can zoom in in her mind to like the nano, whatever, like scale of something, like a cell and she can go all the way back out to the whole body. She's like brilliant. So she's awesome, but not super communicative. So basically it took me a half a semester to figure out that most of the study material was in this like Microsoft Word document that she just like didn't even tell us about. But that happens to be like in the folder on the Blackboard or something. So once I discovered this document, I was like, wait a minute, this is where all this stuff is? Like that I'm supposed to be studying? Like what? And so I started studying the absolute crap out of it and the first time, like I studied every word. I could basically recite it. And I got like a 98 on that one. And everyone was like freaking out because there was so much information. And I was like, huh, peasants. And then sure enough, like I let off after that because like you can't, that's not sustainable. You can't study that much for every test. It's just not possible. Oh yeah. The one time, the one time I actually had all the information and took all the time possible to study it and like had it was like, dude. Yeah. That feels good, huh? And never again, like you don't have that much time to study for every test. It's a high that you only experience like the first like hour after you get that those exam results. And then by the time the next exam comes up, you're like, oh God, now I got a study hard again. Yeah, exactly. It's like, all right, this was nice, but yeah. It's not repeatable. I even remember someone saying like, who the hell got a 98? And I just like turned my laptop around. That was nice. So with regards to like, I guess just moving forward a little bit with the first, my second semester of didactic. I think just some things that I've said with me since the first semester is I kind of have kept the same almost kind of similar, even though it's like more hands on kind of similar study habits. And that's just going directly by like what slides of professors are giving me. Cause that's exactly the material you're getting tested on. So I like last semester, I just kept reading, reading, reading the slides and that's worked for me. That's worked for like a couple of the people that I talked to about when we study for exams and so far it's been going, well, I mean, obviously besides the fact of like physical exam where you have to be hands on, for the most part, everything for me has just been, okay, I'll read it and just try to memorize it there on the spot and that's been working for me. And now my like memory palace is like, so it's so big now like compared to what it was before. Did you say memory palace? Yeah, I think that's like a concept where it's like almost like a mind map. Like it's hard to explain it, but in my mind, like if I read a certain slide or if I remember something from anatomy before, like it's like certain like visual things. Like have you watched The Good Doctor? Where it kind of like, it's almost like that, but not as vivid, obviously. I don't have imagination like that, but it's kind of like that where I'm just like, sometimes you'll see like my hands like because I'm trying to connect the dots in my mind. It was weird, super weird. I didn't know I had this. Do you know Dr. Jubbal? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Med School, Med School Insiders. Med School Insiders, yeah. Yeah, he's nuts. He's like, he got into like plastic surgery residency which is like the craziest residency to get into. And then he decided he didn't wanna be a doctor anymore because he like founded some company. He's nuts, super brilliant. But I think he talks about that. He like, I don't know if he calls it the memory palace but he says he like goes into like a certain room and then like imagines details in that room and then like puts whatever he's learning in there. Somehow, I don't know how it works for him, but I'm after the concept. Something like that. I think you're a very visual person if that's how you memorize. Yeah, yeah, like I can memorize like, like we had an exam today, like there's a certain slide with a question and an answer on it. And I couldn't tell you like where on that slide that answer was like things like that. Yeah, I don't think. But then like it's gone. I would like, I won't know years from now unless it's like an important concept, like I'm not going to retain it. But this is just for like little details, like for like what's called level one questions. So basically just route memorization, just like, okay, it's on the slide, just know it. That's what I mainly use that for. That's I feel like a majority of the test sometimes. Oh, okay. Anyway, yeah, that's cool. I'm just trying to think, should we stay on the study skills topic or do we want to get to everything else we want to talk about? I think we could probably... We could move on. Yeah. We could probably move on. If you guys want, we can make a separate like study skills dedicated video. I've got plenty of them on the channel, but if you guys want me in Elijah to make one, put that in the comments, we'll be happy to try to make some actual like step-by-step type study stuff.