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Sent Today, 01:26 PM
Basically the background of my application is that I attended Northeastern University with a full time class schedule on top of a full time work schedule throughout all my years attended. My cGPA is 3.3 and my sciGPA is a 3.7 with last 60 credits a 3.7 as well. I will have about 2,000 hours ER Tech and Ophthalmic Assistant experience when applying in a week. I have worked so so hard for this(as everyone else has I'm sure) especially with my full time work and school load. I just feel as though that does not express itself in my essay but I would like your opinion because I could be wrong and have just read it too many times! Thank you so much! It is greatly appreciated.
“You want to go to what? To physician assistant (PA) school? You were a business major!” My life has had no shortage of these conversations over the past few years. My drive and journey to become a PA all began by making a decision to attend one of my Mother’s oncology appointments. Coincidentally enough, that day a PA student completing her elective rotation was accompanying the provider. I was immediately curious about her position because her white coat stated “PA Student” but she was completing my Mother’s exam much like a doctor. Once I got home I began to read everything I could about the profession. The more I delved deeper into my research the more I appreciated the ability to be a team based medical provider with the mobility to move across specialties without pursuing further cumbersome education and fellowships.
Captivated and provoked by this career path, I knew I had to challenge myself and complete the requirements to get into PA school. I obtained my EMT license to discover if I was capable of handling emergent, life threatening and humbling patient encounters. Becoming an EMT only solidified my zeal and dedication to pursue an education and career as a PA. Each experience nudged me closer towards PA school motivating me to pursue a Health Science degree, a one eighty degree turn from my original Business major. Shadowing PA’s at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in contrasting fields namely Neurosurgery, Interventional Radiology and Emergency Medicine demonstrated first hand the abilities PA’s have to take detailed patient history, perform physical exams and diagnose and treat a multitude of disease processes. Although the specifics of the PA’s role varied across specialties the core values of the medical model remained.
Becoming an EMT and earning shadowing experience led me to pursue patient care experience as a Nursing Assistant (NA). While still on orientation I watched with trepidation as the emergency room PA and attending physician entered the room anticipating a level one trauma en route. Before I knew it the patient and responders were entering the room and the organized chaos began. I found myself helping transfer our patient onto the trauma stretcher while my preceptor began chest compressions. Simultaneously, the PA and doctor worked to assess the condition of our patient while the nurse’s placed IVs in either arm. I worked around them to get the patient on the monitor and pads, going by muscle memory.
Unfortunately, after attempts at resuscitation, the outcome for this patient ultimately led to her death. After extenuating measures were completed, it was the PA who provided the family with not only answers to their questions, but empathy for their sorrow. I was honored to be in their presence knowing that our team truly did everything we could before confirming that resuscitation measures could no longer save this patient’s life. I greatly admired the gracious words provided to the family by the PA delivering the bad news that day. Although the circumstance was unfortunate, I hoped to one day be in his shoes, perhaps diagnosing the acute myocardial infarction and getting the patient to the catheterization lab before he coded. Such a tragic event would allow me to use my compassion and profuse kindness to console the family and provide them some comfort in this life changing moment, thinking back to the day my Mom was diagnosed and appreciating the empathy shown to us by the providers that day. While also being confident in my role and ability as a PA to be succinct and assertive during a code. That I learned to be during my time in the sometimes rough Trauma II ER.(wasn't sure if I should add this)
The past few years, I have dedicated the majority of my life to shadowing PAs, completing my prerequisites, and working towards my goal of becoming a PA. I was able to complete all of the daunting requirements to successfully apply to PA school while also maintaining a full time job. My commitments to complete the necessary requirements to apply to PA school are an accurate demonstration of the ability I have to manage the demands of a physician assistant program and thrive under stressful conditions. In addition to understanding the demands to PA school, I also comprehend the demands and responsibilities of the profession from my experience in the ER. Finding the time to be a “jack of all trades” has been difficult at times, but my hard work and perseverance have led me here. I am confident in the career choice I am making and I hope to have the opportunity and honor to one day call myself a PA-S and eventually (my name here), PA-C.