PA PS ESSAY REVIEW NEEDED

[kffuturepa]

EMS calls ahead, and gives report "66-year-old female patient, unresponsive, multiple epis given, amio drip, bicarb, CPR, intubated … asystole, 15 minutes down time, will arrive in 10 minutes," is what I overhear over the radio while I am working in catching up with my charts. EMS arrived with the unresponsive patient, everyone in the ER rapidly working together trying to save her. The doctor frantically giving orders, asking EMS for more information. As per EMS, the patient was in dialysis when she suddenly collapsed. Sadly, after an hour of attempting resuscitation, it was time to call it, time of death 1:11 pm. It is difficult to watch someone die in front of you; no class can prepare you for it. But it is even more difficult when the family arrives, you have a front row seat to their cries, screams, shock, and disbelief. It was not my first time seeing someone die, but this death stayed with me more than the others because my grandma passed away the same way while getting dialysis. As you stand there, in the middle of it all, you wonder-- is there anything I could have done to prevent this? I found my answer in the PA profession.  

I believe that most medical problems can be prevented with the right care and knowledge, or medical conditions can be stopped from progressing. I want to become a PA to keep people and their families from experiencing the pain my family and I went through with my grandma. As a scribe, I have worked closely with PAs in the emergency department. Every day, I am amazed by their skills and knowledge. With every shift, I learn something new such about a new technique, diagnosis, or treatment. Working alongside PA's has taught me the significance in positive findings during a physical exam and their indications, analyzing blood work and imaging, and collaborating with the attending physicians, radiologists, and specialist to achieve the ultimate goal of treating the patient successfully. Learning about the medical field and how to provide optimal patient care has been exciting. Scribing has given me a VIP seat to what being a PA entails, but it leaves me with the desire of wanting to do more. 

The PAs I work with are never intimidated by how complicated a patient might present due their preparation before encountering them. They exude confidence because of their ability to ask questions with a supervising physician. One of the main reasons the PA profession is so appealing is because of the comfort in asking for guidance from an SP and the flexibility it offers in specializing due to my multiple interests in subjects. From my experiences, I love working in both the clinical setting and the ER. By becoming a PA, I would have the opportunity to practice in either setting. As a future PA, it is my goal to provide the best patient care I can by being prepared to take on difficult medical cases and work as a team to deliver optimal patient care.   

As a scribe working in the clinic, I have seen the high demand and need for PAs in South Texas, especially in the Rio Grande Valley. The Valley is a highly medically underserved area. The doctor I work with has over 1,000 patients assigned to her. If it were not because of the PAs, she would not be able to see all of them and provide the healthcare they deserve. They say clinic care is not exciting, but the PA's in the clinic have caught a couple of MI's or patients with sepsis, so that is a very inaccurate assumption. Those patient's lives were saved because of the PA's. I have seen first-hand the positive impact PA's have in clinic and ER. I have heard the patients "thank you's;" I have seen their faces of worry transform into faces of relief, their pain disappear. I want to be a part of that. The Valley is known to be made up mostly Spanish speaking residents, but a majority of the providers are only English speaking, or their Spanish is very limited. I know that being bilingual will help me in closing this language barrier. I love South Texas and know that I can positively impact the community when it comes to their medical needs because I know their language and the culture.  

My goal is to enroll into a PA program that will prepare me with the adequate skills and knowledge that are necessary to provide the best medical attention to the people of The Valley. I know that the PA journey will be challenging and difficult, but I am prepared for it. I spent 12 years of my life crossing the border every day for school and waking up at 5 in the morning to have the opportunity at a better future, I know challenging. The journey to get here has not been easy, I have overcome language barriers, I knew no English on my first day of school in the US, now I am fluent in it. Not only did my parents sacrifice allow me to graduate from a US high school, it also gave me the opportunity to attend a US university with a full ride scholarship. Everything I have done up to this point, I have done in order to succeed in this career. I know this career requires excellence, and I am prepared to give it all that I have in order to succeed as a physician assistant. I will continue to work hard until this goal is achieved.

[Guest HanSolo]

This essay tells me you saw a lot of other people do things, but I am having a hard time seeing what you did in terms of patient care. Honestly, I would suggest getting another job with hands on experience. I know it's not what you want to hear, but this essay is revealing your inexperience. Very little in this essay is about what you did. It's only about what you saw other people do.