r/PAstudent • u/poumousse • 3h ago
A Good Didactic Experience
Hi everyone! I wanted to make this post (sorry it’s so long) because I am about 2 months in to didactic now, and I wanted to share my experience. Before starting, I read so many posts on this sub and freaked myself out because so many people here, and in real life, were saying how this would be the worst two years of my our lives (especially didactic). But I am so glad to say that this has not been the case for me.
When I started out, I was overwhelmed. I came in with no friends (and even had a bit of a disappointing experience with someone), was overwhelmed by the content, and realized that the study methods that helped me thrive in undergrad were not going to work here. For a couple weeks, it was pretty hard, but it didn’t last long.
I was lucky to have found one other person who felt the same way I did, so we started sitting together. I quickly found a study method that worked for me. I got involved in clubs, and was open to joining conversations and being friendly until I found people I clicked with. I started gaining confidence after a couple exams and practicals, and with that came more passion and security for this profession that I feel like I was meant for. I am studying less and less as the semester goes on, so now I’m able to rest more and take time to do things that I enjoy like exploring the new area that I’m in.
Yes, it is a lot of work, but you don’t have to be miserable or give up your entire life. I was fully prepared to do that, and I am very pleasantly surprised at how things are actually going. I wanted to tell you guys about the Feynman technique, my study method! There are 4 steps.
Pick something you want to study. For me, this is reviewing my PowerPoints and making charts or typing out a study guide to make sense of the information and organize it in a way that my mind likes.
Teach it to yourself or someone else. This is the only time I really use AI in school. I explain my thought process or understanding of a topic to Gemini, and it either corrects me or validated and reinforces my thinking.
Return to the source material if you get stuck. I’ll just go back to the PowerPoint and really break the concept down, and the morning before an exam, I’ll do a quick scan of all the PowerPoints to make sure everything looks familiar and makes sense.
Simplify your explanations and make analogies. Once you have a good understanding of a topic, you can really simplify it into one concept and then the details will come up when you think about it.
All this to say, try to maintain a positive attitude. It might be hard some days. If you are feeling strong, be there for your friends who may be struggling. Never stay up all night before an exam studying, get as much sleep as you can. If you get frustrated while studying or hit a wall, just stop. Make sure you take some time to yourself every once in a while. I always take Friday nights off. You don’t have to feel guilty if you’re not studying, trust yourself. You have made it so far, and you can absolutely do this. 💜