Signs and Symptoms

[Sally21]

We are learning about respiratory and cardiovascular emergencies and I was wondering how did you guys learn all the different signs,symptoms and treatment of diffent conditions like pulmonary edema, COPD and so on. It seems so hard to actually just sit down and study them all because the next week we are on another body system and I don'twant to spend to much time on one type emergency then be behind. I actually had to skip most of neurologic chapter so I could finish note taking and studying for the respiratory chapter. Have to find some time to go back to that.

 

[STXmedic]

I always recommend flash cards for people. Ironically, I hate them. But I've seen them work for students enough to feel they're truly beneficial. Write the disease on one side, and the signs/symptoms on the other. Go through them throughout the day. Have somebody quiz you. Etc.

 

[medichopeful]

Having a good understanding of A&P will help make signs and symptoms make more sense and be easier to remember (though, you won't truly have to just remember them at that point), and the treatments will make more sense too. Once you understand WHY and HOW something happens, seeing the signs of what is happening becomes a lot easier. I know this will take time, which is difficult to come by in class, but that's truly the best way to do it!

I hope this makes sense!

 

[joshrunkle35]

I went days without sleep in order to study during medic. A lot of people did. Then people either failed because they eventually needed sleep, and they skipped studying, or people figured out how to sleep but start maximizing their time. I had 3 jobs during medic school and also went to a different college full-time. You need to find ways to maximize your time. Buy podcasts to listen to during your drives from one place to another. Record your voice reading facts, etc to yourself. Listen to them while you work out. If you have a significant other, have them quiz you over the phone in your down time, breaks or during drives. Do quiz apps on your phone when you would normally be on your phone on Facebook. Cancel Facebook, at least until school is over.

 

[Handsome Robb]

You don't retain anything studying without sleeping that's terrible advice.

With that said I agree with everything else you said.

 

[STXmedic]

You don't retain anything studying without sleeping that's terrible advice.

This. Seconded. Quoted for truth. Etc.

 

[NomadicMedic]

I went days without sleep in order to study during medic. A lot of people did. Then people either failed because they eventually needed sleep, and they skipped studying, or people figured out how to sleep but start maximizing their time. I had 3 jobs during medic school and also went to a different college full-time. You need to find ways to maximize your time. Buy podcasts to listen to during your drives from one place to another. Record your voice reading facts, etc to yourself. Listen to them while you work out. If you have a significant other, have them quiz you over the phone in your down time, breaks or during drives. Do quiz apps on your phone when you would normally be on your phone on Facebook. Cancel Facebook, at least until school is over.

Every time I read a post like this, I just have to shake my head. Medic school is grueling, yes. Not because the material is difficult, but because there's a time crunch. It's really no more difficult than a high school science class. Most of it is simply rote memorization. You don't have to end your life during medic school, you just need to have a good grasp on time budgeting. During paramedic school, I had plenty of time to study, socialize, still go out and have dinner with my wife and have a life.

And yeah, I was number two in my class, I missed the number one spot by the 10th of a point. Something that infuriates me, due to my competitive nature.

Read a book on time management. Figure out ways to budget your time. Giving up all of your social interaction and fun simply to cram for paramedic school will burn you out quicker than you can imagine.

 

[Sally21]

Yes I've written down the how and why's to them before the signs symptoms and treatmeants, but it's not just that. I have to learn the medical terms also which are a lot that I don't know. I guess just writing everything down and going over it everyday is my best choice.

Thanks everyone for the advice.

 

[Av8or007]

The thing is to learn and understand the reasons (physiology and pathophysiology behind the signs and sx.)

This makes everything easier, including pharmacology. If you know your physiology and patho, pharm is just learning meds - the why is self explanatory.

Add in a good anatomy base and you're set.

Although this seems more brutal, trust me, rote memorization w/o understanding is harder. If you know the WHY behind the clinical picture you see, and the tx you perform - and can apply this in the field you end up as a clinician, not a tech.

E.g. an understanding of the patho (even a basic one to start) involved in CHF means that the textbook signs and sx are dead obvious. If a pt doesn't fit the book - which they usually don't - you can reason it out to make up your differential Dx list and narrow that down to the Dx you are treating for

 

[STXmedic]

I am never one to say further education is not needed, but OP is an EMT-B student (yes?). She is already in class, and EMT-B is very, very weak on A&P- major anatomical structures and one or two broad physiology concepts. As much as I agree that OP should know A&P and that it would make everything else make more sense, she does not have the time, likely the resources, and honestly the need to delve into physiology concepts to the extent that the patho will make sense. She needs rote memorization right now. Hopefully, during her next semester she'll take an A&P class and start developing the understanding, but right now that level of understanding is not realistic. Like most EMT students, she's going to have to do it the hard way, which in all honesty isn't all that hard.

 

[Akulahawk]

We are learning about respiratory and cardiovascular emergencies and I was wondering how did you guys learn all the different signs,symptoms and treatment of different conditions like pulmonary edema, COPD and so on. It seems so hard to actually just sit down and study them all because the next week we are on another body system and I don't want to spend to much time on one type emergency then be behind. I actually had to skip most of neurologic chapter so I could finish note taking and studying for the respiratory chapter. Have to find some time to go back to that.

Many of us took to learning the physiology before we started to have a good understanding of what was going on and why these problems presented the way they do. Since you're knee-deep in EMT school now, I'm not suggesting that you take additional time out to learn this stuff now, but keep it in mind for later because studying this stuff later will only help you really understand it.

For now, you'll have to rely on flash cards or something similar. What you need to remember is that each problem has a classic set of signs and symptoms. Signs are those things you can observe. Symptoms are things a person feels and has to tell you for you to know about it. When you study the various problems, separate out the signs and symptoms so you don't confuse yourself with which description of the problem is a sign or a symptom. So, COPD has these signs... and these symptoms... Got it?

Another thing you can do is read the material a few days before you have that class, review it right before class, then again after.

Everyone takes their own amount of time before they reach that "Eureka!" moment where things just start to make sense. It's completely OK if it takes you a while to get there, and even if it happens well after you're done with EMT school.

Don't worry too much about how we all seem to remember all that stuff. A lot of us have been around medicine for a while and it's just a natural part of our knowledge base.