During your clinical year of PA school, having a study schedule is the key to success. Not only does it keep you on track, it also makes you more efficient. If you make a plan, you’ll never waste time before a review session wondering, “Where do I start?” or “What should I do?”
To help you set up a study schedule, we’re going to give you an example of what a good one looks like. We’ll begin, though, by giving you the tools to build your own!
Here’s how to create a good study schedule that’ll maximize your efficiency and help you excel during your clinical year.
How to Create a Study Schedule for PA School Rotations
1. Follow the blueprints.
The most important thing when it comes to studying is to know your content. For clinical year students, the PAEA and NCCPA provide blueprints to help guide your studying, and these should be utilized! The PAEA provides blueprints for your end-of-rotation exams. Be sure to check them out before creating your schedule!
For the PANCE, the NCCPA blueprint is broken down by percentages, to ensure that you have an understanding of the “highest yield” topics. This gives you a good idea of where to focus more of your energy.
Studying for your end-of-rotation exams and the PANCE is all about commitment, time management, and planning. Knowing what to focus on is the key to success, so be sure to follow the blueprints!
2. Be flexible.
You need to be flexible when creating a study schedule, especially during rotations. Each will have you working different schedules and each end-of-rotation exam will have a different blueprint. Therefore, a great time to prepare a study schedule is right before the start of each rotation. This will allow you to adapt your schedule to the timeline your rotation allows.
Additionally, make sure you set aside at least half a day each week for any adjustments you need to make. Whether you stay at clinical late, attend a pharmaceutical dinner at the last minute, or just take an unexpected phone call from a friend, you’ll inevitably fall behind. You need to anticipate this and prepare for it, so life itself doesn’t become a source of stress!
3. Organize it on a weekly basis.
I recommend breaking down your tasks by generalized weekly categories. Organizing it on a weekly basis breaks things up into manageable blocks, while allowing you to then focus on what you’ll do each day. This lets you tackle content efficiently without sacrificing focus on specific topics.
4. Include practice questions!
You’ll need to do a lot of EOR practice questions during your rotations. These are crucial to test your knowledge and preparedness!
Test-taking in itself is a skill that requires practice. Therefore, I highly recommend building in time for not only large practice exams, but also to do a few questions a couple times per week during your review.
5. Take time off.
Finally, give yourself at least one or two nights off per week from studying. This allows you to maintain something of a balance while working full time and studying rigorously. Breaks are crucial for reaching your full potential!
If you need extra help planning out your study schedule, let us make it easy for you!
Introducing Blueprint’s FREE PA Study Planner, a “smart” scheduling tool that automatically schedules your study tasks with just a few clicks.
The best part? It automatically readjusts when you fall behind, so you can spend less time arranging (and rearranging) your schedule and more time actually studying. 🤓
Sample 4-Week Study Schedule: PA Internal Medicine Rotation
Here’s an example study schedule I created for a student balancing their internal medicine end-of-rotation exam review with their clinical schedule. For the below example, assume the student is on an IM rotation with standard hours, such as 9-to-5.
I want to point out that this example is covering every topic on the internal medicine EOR blueprint provided by the PAEA. The topics are spread out based on relative difficulty and estimated time for review!
Keep in mind, this is just an example. Your specific study schedule should be tailored to you. This not only includes taking into account your rotation schedule, but also prioritizing your strengths and weaknesses. Not all students will need to review every topic, and each student will have their own difficult topics that need more review time.
Week 1: Cardiology & Orthopedics
Monday
- AM: Clinical Rotation
- PM: Cardiology topics include angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, coronary vascular disease, cardiac arrest, cardiac failure, and shock.
- 20 generalized practice questions before bed
Tuesday
- AM: Clinical Rotation
- PM: Cardiology topics include cardiac arrhythmias/ conduction disorders, pericardial effusion, cardiac tamponade, cardiomyopathy, and congestive heart failure.
- 20 generalized practice questions before bed
Wednesday
- AM: Clinical Rotation
- PM: Cardiology topics include endocarditis, heart murmurs/ valvular heart disease, myocarditis, and pericarditis.
- 20 generalized practice questions before bed
Thursday
- AM: Clinical Rotation
- PM: Cardiology topics include hyperlipidemia, hypertension, hypertensive crisis, rheumatic fever/ rheumatic heart disease, and peripheral vascular disease.
- 20 generalized practice questions before bed
Friday
- AM: Clinical Rotation
- PM: Take the night off.
Saturday
- AM: Orthopedic topics include fibromyalgia, gout/ pseudogout, polyarteritis nodosa, polymyalgia rheumatica, and polymyositis.
- 50 generalized practice questions
- PM: Take the night off.
Sunday
- AM: Orthopedic topics include reactive arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren syndrome, systemic lupus erythematous, and scleroderma.
- PM: “Catch up” time (explanation below)
- 20 generalized practice questions before bed
Week 2: GI & Pulmonary
Monday
- AM: Clinical Rotation
- PM: GI topics include acute and chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, hepatic cancer, esophageal varices, acute gastrointestinal bleed, and acute abdomen.
- 20 generalized practice questions before bed
Tuesday
- AM: Clinical Rotation
- PM: GI topics include celiac disease, cholangitis, cholecystitis, cholelithiasis, esophageal strictures, esophagitis, and Mallory-Weiss tears.
- 20 generalized practice questions before bed
Wednesday
- AM: Clinical Rotation
- PM: GI topics include acute/ chronic pancreatitis, chronic disease, diverticular disease, anal fissure/ fistula, cancer (rectal, colon, esophageal, stomach), hemorrhoid, and irritable bowel syndrome.
Thursday
- AM: Clinical Rotation
- PM: GI topics include gastritis, gastroenteritis, gastroesophageal reflux disease, esophageal strictures, hiatal hernia, peptic ulcer disease, and ulcerative colitis.
Friday
- AM: Clinical Rotation
- PM: Pulmonology topics include hypoventilation syndrome, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, pneumoconiosis, and sarcoidosis.
- 20 generalized practice questions before bed
Saturday
- AM: Pulmonology topics include acute/chronic bronchitis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cor pulmonale, bronchiectasis, and pulmonary hypertension.
- 50 generalized practice questions
- PM: Take the night off.
Sunday
- AM: Pulmonology topics include pneumonia, pulmonary neoplasm/ solitary pulmonary nodules, pneumothorax, acute respiratory distress/ failure, and pulmonary embolism.
- 50 generalized practice questions
- PM: “Catch up” time.
Week 3: Endocrinology & Neurology
Monday
- AM: Clinical Rotation
- PM: Endocrinology topics include diabetes insipidus, diabetes mellitus, diabetic ketoacidosis, acute hypoglycemia, and hyperthyroidism/ hypothyroidism/ thyroiditis.
Tuesday
- AM: Clinical Rotation
- PM: Endocrinology topics include hypercalcemia/hypocalcemia, hypernatremia/hypernatremia, and hyperparathyroidism/ hypoparathyroidism.
- 20 generalized practice questions before bed
Wednesday
- AM: Clinical Rotation
- PM: Endocrinology topics include acromegaly, Addison’s disease, Cushing’s disease, Paget’s disease of the bone, pheochromocytoma, pituitary adenoma, and thyroid cancer.
Thursday
- AM: Clinical Rotation
- PM: Neurology topics include complex regional pain syndrome, delirium, dementia, essential tremor, and Parkinson’s disease.
- 20 generalized practice questions before bed
Friday
- AM: Clinical Rotation
- PM: Take the night off.
- 20 generalized practice questions before bed
Saturday
- AM: Neurology topics include Bell’s palsy, cerebral aneurysm, cerebral vascular accident, transient ischemic attacks, coma, concussion, and giant cell arteritis.
- PM: Neurology topics include cluster headaches, migraines, tension headaches, encephalitis, meningitis, intracranial tumors, and seizure disorders/ status epilepticus.
Sunday
- AM: Neurology topics include Guillain-Barré syndrome, Huntington disease, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, and syncope.
- 50 generalized practice questions
- PM: Use this for “catch up” time.
Week 4: Urology, Hematology, and Misc. Topics
Monday
- AM: Clinical Rotation
- PM: Urology/renal topics include acid base disturbances, hypervolemia, and hypovolemia.
- 20 generalized practice questions before bed
Tuesday
- AM: Clinical Rotation
- PM: Urology/ renal topics include acute and chronic renal failure, acute interstitial nephritis, and glomerulonephritis/nephritic syndrome.
Wednesday
- AM: Clinical Rotation
- PM: Urology/ renal topics include benign prostatic hyperplasia, bladder cancer, prostate cancer, epididymitis, erectile dysfunction, hydrocele, testicular torsion, and variocele.
Thursday
- AM: Clinical Rotation
- PM: Urology/ renal topics include hydronephrosis, polycystic kidney disease, pyelonephritis, urinary tract infection, renal calculi, renal cell carcinoma, and renal vascular disease.
Friday
- AM: Clinical Rotation
- PM: 100-question practice exam (generalized topics)
Saturday
- AM: Hematology topics include acute/chronic leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, clotting factor disorders, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.
- PM: Hematology topics include anemia of chronic disease, iron deficiency anemia, vitamin B12/ folic acid deficiency anemia, G6PD deficiency anemia, thalassemia, and sickle cell anemia.
Sunday
- AM: 100-question practice exam (generalized topics)
- PM: Take the night off.
Near the end of your study period, it’s a great idea to take a mock rotation exam before sitting for your actual EOR to test-run your exam day experience. 🏃♀️➡️
Explore your options with Blueprint’s Mock Rotation Exams, available for each of your EORs with 120 questions that align with your upcoming exam’s specific blueprint! (Don’t worry, these are completely unique questions that you won’t find anywhere else, including your Qbank 😎)
Final Thoughts
Hopefully this will help your rotations go a bit more smoothly! Remember to follow the blueprints, create a schedule that works for you, and do lots of practice questions. Keep these tips in mind, work hard, and you’ll do great.
Best of luck, and happy studying! 💙
For more (free!) content to help you through clinical year, check out these other posts on the Blueprint blog:
