Grad school is challenging. There are endless hours of work and study to be done. This article was put together to help you make the most of your time in physical therapy school.

Questions you should ask yourself:

• How can I make my time in grad school easier by becoming more efficient?  
• What can I do to decrease the organizational work I need to do, improve my chances of success, and free up time for hobbies, recreation and whatever else I may want to do?

One of the best parts of physical therapy school is that all your classmates share the same experience you do. You are not the only one who will be facing this challenge, and you need not go at it alone. Your classmates will be going through the same program as you at the same time as you are.  

Making your life, and the lives of your classmates, easier and more efficient can be achieved by following the 5 simple steps below. Be the hero of your class by helping automate the process of grad school and leveraging everyone’s talents to the advantage of the group.

This process can be started and organized once you get into school. Don’t wait! Start the process now and your class will be forever grateful!

Step 1:  Set up a Facebook group

The Facebook group will be your main point of communication. Set this up prior to arriving at school. You can then arrange housing, find people to connect with, and share information about the first days of school. Visit the Facebook tutorial video to learn how to set up a Facebook group.

Step 2: Set up a Google Calendar

Google calendar allows you to organize important dates such as assignment due dates, exam due dates, social events, and so on. School is not all work, work, work… it should also be fun!  Set up social events and enjoy yourselves. Mavenlink shared a great article on how to optimize your use of google calendars.

Step 3: Set up a Google Drive account

Google drive is a very powerful tool that will allow you and your classmates to share files for study guides, group projects, and other assignments that may require collaboration. Visit our Youtube video tutorial for a step-by-step of setting up the account, inviting your classmates, and using the documents to collaborate.

Step 4: Set up a Trello account to manage your network

Trello is an excellent tool that will help you stay organized and manage your connections as you meet new people during grad school. Matt Geller O.D. put together a great tutorial video and post for using a Trello board to manage your connections.

Step 5:  Elect executives for each account

It is important to elect someone to manage each of these accounts. Unless you want to do all the work for the class (very noble but not recommended), survey your class through your Facebook group and find out who would like to take on each responsibility (trust me, someone will step up). You can use all these tools without account managers, but it will be more challenging and disorganized. 

These are the basic tools you need for an organized and automated trip through grad school.  We will continue this series by providing more advanced tools and strategies. If you enjoyed this information or would like any specific videos or advice, please comment below and we will get back to you right away!