I can officially say I survived my first round of tests in the PA program and actually, we just started the second round (the excitement never ends here) today with histology and another lab practical tomorrow. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect going in to each of these tests, but isn't that the same with any new program, class, or professor? While I did have some guidance for test expectations from the second year students, you never really understand what it will be like until you take the test yourself. So the tests went a little like this:
Histology was 50 multiple choice questions and were pretty straight forward for the most part. We even had a 30 minute review session prior to the test since it is an online class and that was quite helpful because a majority of the questions came from what was discussed. Overall, this was hands down the "easiest" test we took.
The first lab practical we took was very extensive. The first area of the body we studied in the cadaver lab was the back and upper limb. We had to know all the muscles, bones, nerves, arteries, etc. You name it, we more than likely had to know it. In addition to having to know it, we also had to know how to correctly spell every single word and denote laterality. For every single thing you got wrong in relation to spelling and laterality, you lost 1/2 a point. In other words, you better be on your "A" game. When we walked into the lab on the day of the test, our four bodies were set up with pins all over them. There were 100 parts for us to label. It was extensive, but it makes sure you know your stuff.
We then went on to take our Anatomy lecture exam. It also covered the back and upper limb, so a lot of the labeling things we did in the lab practical carried over to this test. This test was a mix of multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, labeling, and short answer. There are blue boxes in our anatomy book that take more of a clinical approach to each of the body parts and the disease processes that can be associated with them. This is where a majority of our short answer questions came from. Overall, in my opinion, I didn't think this test was too terrible. There were only a couple of tricky questions here and there, but as long as you knew your stuff, you were good to go.
Finally, the last two tests we took were Anatomical Techniques and Disease Mechanisms...and they were both on the same day. That fact alone took me over the edge and really tested my mental and emotional health, but hey, I wouldn't expect anything less. We started out the morning taking AT. Needless to say, you better know your stuff to a "T," because it was tricky in some parts and the professor is a very strict grader. Strict grading for this class is good and bad. It's bad because it messes up your grade, but it's good because now is the time to make these mistakes instead of when we are working in the field and have a pathologist down our throat for making stupid mistakes. This test was a mix of multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and short answer. The short answer questions were primarily used to for us to create our own dictations based off the information and/or pictures given to us. As for Disease Mechanisms, there were 55 multiple choice questions, and considering how much information and detail was in the first three chapters we covered, I thought the questions were pretty general and not too picky. I'm not complaining because it definitely made it easier on my brain after the long day, but it helps me to know what I need to focus on for tests to come.
Overall, I can say that I was pretty ecstatic with how I did on my first round of tests. I went in expecting the worst and hoping for the best. My grades weren't perfect, but I wasn't expecting anything extraordinary when taking my first round of tests in this program. Things can only go up from here now that I personally know what to expect.
