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5. Burnout
128 Plays4 years ago
In this episode, I talk about the real struggle of burnout and some of the things I did to get through it and prevent it.
These are some of my favorite podcast episodes this week
Becoming a P.A. (Physician Assistant) by Ariel Campa
Her latest episode is great, she interviews a PA-C about PA school, clinical year, and after PA school.
Freakonomics Radio
Episodes 456 and 457 talk about Healthcare in the United States and dialysis. Very intriguing discussion.
The ZDoggMD Show
This is a great take on the state of COVID from a more moderate point of view.
Discount links
Picmonic
https://www.picmonic.com/insiderhookup/6MEYO8NSPP6TLDK21
Recommended
Transcript
How Anchor supports podcasters
00:00:00
Speaker
If you have been wondering how I could do this podcast in PA School, I'll tell you, I use an anchor. This is the easiest way to make a podcast. Let me explain. First, it is a free hosting platform which allows anyone to start a podcast with no upfront cost. It has built-in tools which allow you to edit and record a podcast. You can even record it from your phone.
00:00:23
Speaker
Anchor will distribute your podcast for you so it can be heard on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and other major podcast platforms. You can make money from your podcast with no minimum listenership. Anchor has everything that you need to make a podcast. They make it so easy for you. Download the free Anchor app or go to anchor.fm to get started. That's anchor.fm to get started today.
Discover new podcasts
00:00:54
Speaker
Hello everyone, before I get started with this episode this week, I'm just gonna let you know that in the show notes every week, I'm going to add some of my favorite things, my favorite podcasts I've listened to, so you can enjoy them. A big podcast enjoyer, so I love to listen to new ones and tell people about them. A lot of them are super cool, some are a little nerdy, so I'll link those in the show notes so everyone can enjoy them.
Episode 5: Addressing burnout in PA school
00:01:20
Speaker
This is the P.A. School Experience Podcast, Episode 5, Burnout. Welcome to the P.A. School Experience Podcast. I'm your host, Sebring Sands, and we will explore what it's like to go through P.A. school and give you a glimpse into the excitement of becoming a P.A.
00:01:47
Speaker
Welcome everyone to this week's episode. I'm glad you guys are able to come and listen. We are growing a bit so it's exciting to get to see where people are listening from and the new people around. It's kind of exciting. But this week is a little bit more heavy topic where I'm gonna talk about burnout because it is a big thing in PE school because it's hard and it's challenging and it's stressful
00:02:13
Speaker
and it's ripe to get burnout in. It's a ripe environment and it's super easy to get burnout. Now I'll talk about my experience of burnout last semester and how I kind of was able to work through that a bit and just some ways that I have been able to implement into my life that's helped me avoid and not have to deal with burnout because it is super easy.
00:02:39
Speaker
And right on the cusp of finals week, which we're having this week, I felt like it was a pretty appropriate time to talk about burnout because I'm sure I'm feeling the effects of long hours of studying and stress of exams. And that is definitely a factor into burnout.
00:02:59
Speaker
Burnout has a few meanings I think people give it. I think there's not one vocabulary for it. When I think of burnout, I think of my really inability to make myself work on something. I just lack the capacity to care enough to work on it and I just can't bring myself. I can't get motivated enough to even try a little bit. And I feel like that for me is burnout.
00:03:25
Speaker
Another word for is deep procrastination. You procrastinate so much you just can't, even though you know you have a task coming up, you have to study for
Overcoming burnout challenges
00:03:34
Speaker
it. You just can't bring yourself to study for that. And I feel like a way that that happens is you just have, you have a demanding task that you're doing that's hard. And also that the feeling of maybe that you don't have any choice in the matter.
00:03:54
Speaker
For instance, last semester, even though I feel it way more this semester, I felt like I was in control of my schedule because I was under the dictates of the schedule of the program, which were long hours sometimes. I would get there from nine to five and lecture, and then feeling like I had no other time to study. And I was expected to study all these things. And I didn't want to sacrifice my sleep too much because I just couldn't function without sleep.
00:04:23
Speaker
and that was hard and I felt like I was in control of that. And another way that I've heard it put is I feel like you're just not in control of whether your destiny or your path and you just aren't able to be invested in it because it feels like it's kind of out of your control. So that's just one way to look out burnout. So last semester I was, I think I came down to a lot of my study skills.
00:04:52
Speaker
I was just trying to memorize things because, you know, that's my M.O. When I went in doubt, I buckled out and tried to power through flashcards and try to memorize everything. And learning now, much later, a little bit more wise piece of me talking is that that's not that's not the case. And it's boring. Flashcards just to memorize is boring. And I was pushing myself through this. And I think towards the middle of the semester and the end of the semester, when I
00:05:22
Speaker
burnt out for a week. I was still on the PE school high. I was in PE school. This was exciting. This was new. I was just trying to go to the next thing. I wasn't really thinking about it as much. Then slowly, over time, I was kind of wearing myself down. My mental motivation and intrinsic motivation kept wearing down because I was trying to force myself to do these long hours of boring recall from flashcards.
Restoring balance with mentorship
00:05:50
Speaker
and I wasn't really seeing the purpose of it and I was doing okay with the tests. A lot of it too had to deal with just test taking skills that I've gotten better in. But during that time it just, I just was so hard, so boring to study because I was doing it wrong. I came down to, there's just two tests and I remember the week before I tried to go outside and kind of do flashcards outside because I felt like maybe that will, that change of scenery will help me
00:06:19
Speaker
Focus more and that kind of helped but I just kept realizing I just kept going over the same flashcards Not really knowing what was going on just trying to memorize it didn't really know I gather several because of one of the things that didn't do so well was heme and
00:06:36
Speaker
And there's several things I didn't understand. I just didn't really spend time to learn it. I just kept like, okay, eventually I'll remember it because I do these flashcards. Eventually I'll learn how to do it, but it just, yeah, it didn't work out so well. And I was just doing these day over day over day and just me not caring increased
00:06:59
Speaker
And when it came to those exams, I knew I didn't do as well. I didn't really learn it and I didn't want to learn it. I didn't want to study anymore. I couldn't bring myself to really study. I was studying maybe a couple hours a day for that week.
00:07:14
Speaker
rather than like five or six hours for the times I'm really excited to study and motivated to study. And it was definitely hard and I ended up failing three exams last semester, which was super tough. And I was talking with one of my mentors, PA, that got me into
00:07:34
Speaker
looking into PA school and kind of helping me along in that respect. He said that you just gotta take some time yourself and something you look forward to during the week so you can be energized when you are done studying and something to look forward to. So another thing too I felt like was I was literally studying or learning 12 hours a day
00:07:53
Speaker
And I didn't have any time myself because I have a family and when I get home, I'm, you know, needing to help them and they want my attention. I just didn't have any time on myself. Literally every waking moment, I felt like I was either studying or in PE school and that was hard. And so I started thinking of things I could do to help me unwind and things that helped me feel fulfilled.
Finding joy beyond academia
00:08:21
Speaker
Self-actualization.
00:08:22
Speaker
things like that and that's one of the reasons why I started the podcast because this is really enjoyable and fun for me and a nice creative outlet and also it helps other people which I'm all into if this helps anyone that brings great satisfaction to me and then I started thinking of other things of what I could do hobbies that didn't take a lot of time which is hard to do sometimes I usually have to push them to the weekend because I'm studying during the week even Saturday these last couple Saturdays I've been studying all day
00:08:51
Speaker
and it's hard and then Sunday comes and I go to church. I do participate in other things. I do family activities and that kind of eats up all the time too. So I have to be mindful of the things that I do want to spend time on, the things that really bring me joy. I started learning to play the piano, which isn't too crazy. I'm not spending four hours a day, just like 10 minutes a day kind of getting the hang of it and it's really enjoyable.
00:09:16
Speaker
those little things like that. Podcasts really bring me joy. I don't, some people, especially on the Reddit, on Reddit, the subreddits, they talk about, you know, I probably will do this when I get into clinical rotations, is listening to podcasts.
00:09:30
Speaker
PA podcasts about, you know, pants prep topics that people listen to. I can't bring myself to listen to that right now during Diabetic Year because first of all, like learning it for six hours or seven hours a day. I just need to let my brain unwind and listen to something enjoyable. And it's funny too, because a lot of people on these podcasts like, oh yeah, how do you take notes on podcasts? I hate doing that because I feel like I'm in school. So I just listen to enjoy it. And some things are very informative. I take those to heart, but those are enjoyable.
00:10:00
Speaker
A little things like that can bring you joy. It might be easier if you're single to have a little bit more time, especially time with friends in the program or other friends that you have nearby that might help as well. I tried to be most of the most efficient as possible with my study time. I don't spend a lot of time.
00:10:17
Speaker
outside of the lecture preparing materials to study. So I can just hop in and start studying and learning right away, which is really helpful for me. They're really enjoyable. So you have to think of those things that help just bring you joy.
00:10:32
Speaker
And also, you know, P.A. School, I think this is a fact of life. If you're thinking that after this one test, I'm gonna be happy and less stressed, or after this trimester, or if I get into P.A. School, I'll be less stressed. Really, you'll be stressed, and it's gonna be hard all along, and it might even get harder as you go on, like, next semester. I'm looking, we are all looking back with hearing some of my cohort, saying, like, I had so much time last semester, why did I, like, what did I do at that time?
00:11:01
Speaker
felt so I felt like I had didn't have any time and this semester this semester was way more busy way more compact of material but we we didn't think it was probably maybe you think it's a little bit worse than but I felt like I was it was more doable than last semester
00:11:18
Speaker
just because you're used to things even though things get harder you're used to them and you build up the the mentality and the strength to to be able to achieve that thing like even clinicals i'm kind of a little worried and nervous about how i'll do
00:11:34
Speaker
But, you know, in this next semester, they're preparing us with clinical integration things where we're going to go in and shadow a little bit to help us get in that mindset and preparation for it. Even clinicals, you know, for practicing, it's going to help us get more practice and more competent and able to learn better after PA school. So everything builds on itself and finding happiness in the moment.
00:11:57
Speaker
and where you're at in this season is an important skill to have. It's hard, it's easier said than done for sure, but thinking that the next step is going to bring your happiness. It's never going to achieve the happiness you're looking for and you're missing out on opportunities to be happy.
00:12:13
Speaker
and to recharge and to rejuvenate and to be excited in the present. So I encourage everyone to think of things now that you really enjoy and people, pre-PAs are going to PA school that might have been accepted. Think of things that don't take a lot of time, that bring you a lot of joy. And if they do take a lot of time, maybe taking a weekend here and there, because you do have breaks in PA school where you can do that thing. I have a friend in PA school, he goes golfing.
00:12:41
Speaker
You know, it takes a lot of time, but the days that he has off, he does them, or sometimes he doesn't have a lot of school, he goes and does it. I'm just working with that schedule. You know, I am a big YouTube watcher, and even that sometimes doesn't bring me, you know, all that stuff doesn't bring me as much joy as more intentional off-screen things. So I encourage you to kind of think of things, cultivate things, try some new things out,
00:13:08
Speaker
If you don't have any hobbies or things that bring you enjoyment to do that. And you know, if you play video games, all power to you. I'm not going to judge you about it. Me personally, just my life. I don't play a lot of them because first of all, how the technology to play them. I don't have the time nor like some of these times they're enjoyable to play with friends, but I don't have any friends to play with.
00:13:31
Speaker
And sometimes it just feels like, okay, what's the point, you know? But do what you feel like is important to you and stick with it. Don't let anyone tell you or judge you that it's not good enough or it's like, oh, it's too nerdy or whatever. I'm a big nerd. So I definitely get that. But do things that make you enjoyable because that helps you with that philosophy of I'm in control of my life. I'm in control of my situation.
00:13:56
Speaker
I'm in control of my free time and even though yes I'm having all these demands of studying and learning in PA school, I can control out of PA school
Surviving and thriving during finals week
00:14:06
Speaker
time. I can do the things I'm doing rather than just feeling like you're studying 24-7 because you'll burn out real quick and it's not going to be enjoyable.
00:14:13
Speaker
So I hope that helps. I hope everyone has a great week, especially this week. I think a lot of people have finals this week. So everyone happy finals week. We're almost there and you guys could do it. I know it's super hard, but at least one positive.
00:14:29
Speaker
I will tell you this, one positive of the finals week is that there's no lecture, which is amazing. I love that. No lecture. You spend 20 hours a day studying. Oh, not really, but six, seven hours studying, which is nice. And every day gets easier because every day you take a test, at least in our program.
00:14:47
Speaker
We have five exams one night every day, so we don't have to double up, which is really nice. I really enjoy that. I don't think we've ever doubled up on any exams. They just space it out. We might have four tests, four exams in a week, but we don't have them two in the same day, which is really nice for my program. But every day we don't have to study for one test because by the end of the week, we're only studying for one exam, which gets easier during the week, which I enjoy a lot. So hope you guys have a great week. Talk to you later.