Rough Draft - post your essays here and I'll return the favor.

[GITim]

Hey everyone,

 

I've done a few drafts of this essay and it's getting a little closer to what I want but needs some work. Any honest advice is appreciated.

 

Also, feel free to post your rough drafts too! I'll give you my take on it.

 

 

 

            I had been vigilantly keeping heat exhaustion at bay for hours, cursing the lack of ventilation provided by my uniform. It was over 100 degrees outside, and it was so humid I felt like I was in a sauna. There was no time to dwell on discomfort though – I had to make a plan. I was in charge of the squad treating casualties inside the battalion aid station. There were six beds, 13 medics including myself, and we just received word from the squad running triage outside that the incoming casualties were numbered in the double digits. My mind was racing. Should I open four beds with three medics each and risk a bottleneck of casualties? Or should I open up all six and risk spreading our personnel too thin?

           Thirty seconds until they start showing up. There is not enough time for calculated decisions - go with your gut. “I want two medics at each bed. Get all your equipment out and ready.” The beds filled up quickly as I directed the incoming litter-bearers where to go with their casualties. Dividing my efforts between overseeing all six teams of medics and assisting with the most urgent injuries, there was no time to remember how nervous I had felt leading up to this moment. Roughly a half hour had elapsed and all 11 casualties had passed through the aid station with their wounds assessed, stabilized, and ready to be evacuated to a higher level of care.

            Luckily, no one was actually hurt that day. This was just a mass casualty training scenario during the final week of the U.S. Army’s combat medic course. The wounds were simulated, but the nerves I felt that day were real. Up until that point, I had little leadership experience. I never pictured myself as a leader. In fact, before that day the thought of being put in charge left a huge pit in my stomach. That pit had disappeared. I felt stronger. I felt proud.  

           The life of a physician assistant (PA) is filled with these kinds of moments. Moments when true growth is earned working outside of your comfort zone. Whether it is assessing a patient presenting with symptoms you have never seen before or assisting in a surgical procedure for the first time, there is always an opportunity for a new challenge.

           One of the PAs I have shadowed epitomized this quality. After spending the first few years of her career as a PA working in infectious diseases, she decided she wanted to take a leap and face a new challenge. While remaining part-time on the infectious disease team, she began to work in the field of plastic surgery. The learning curve was steep. There were countless skills and techniques to master, but she knew her patients depended on her ability to overcome these new challenges. This opportunity to learn continuously and even explore a new specialty mid-career excites me most about becoming a PA. The prospect of reliving that same feeling of accomplishment that I experienced that day in the aid station will motivate me throughout my career.

           These experiences have defined my path to becoming a PA. Comforting and cleaning a patient who has been incontinent due to her C. difficile infection every half hour since she woke up. De-escalating a patient with severe PTSD who lost control to a fit of rage. Receiving the “five minute ETA” page from the paramedics and waiting anxiously in the trauma bay of the ER for my first level 1 trauma. These are the moments where I learn that regardless of how scared or uncomfortable I am with something, it is not about me right now. The patient is more scared, more uncomfortable, and in more pain – and they need our help.