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Hey all, I would appreciate some community feedback on this PS.

Thanks

 

 

The call came just as we were unloading our gear from a fourteen-day fire assignment in California, “Lightning strike, multiple victims.” We quickly loaded our buggies and headed up to the alpine tundra of Rocky Mountain National Park. in route to the scene I reviewed the mental index cards of how the scene would go and what my role would be as lead EMT of the Alpine Hotshots.

            We arrived at the trail head, and I saw a man wailing on the side of the road. Someone up the trail was not just a victim, but this man's love. We moved quickly up the trail to find the rangers working a young, unresponsive woman not much older than myself with a lacerated scalp and blood coming from her mouth. With half a second of hesitation, followed by an internal affirmation ofYes, I am the one for this job,” I stepped in to perform CPR on that dear woman.

            After two cycles of CPR, the monitor showed a sinus rhythm and a palpable femoral pulse! With new resolve, our crew began the litter carry to the waiting helicopter when we lost her again. There, at 11,000 feet in the hail and thunderstorm, every rescuer poured themselves into the life of this mother and wife.

            That day on the mountain was the catalyst that brought me into the physician assistant (PA) world. Since that first code I have felt that same clarity and focus while responding to early morning shootings as a volunteer with Shreveport EMS, acute surgical abdomens while on my general surgery clerkship and septic patients in acute respiratory distress syndrome in my emergency medicine clerkship. In those moments of high drama nothing exists outside of the scene and as I continue my career as a PA I want to have faith in my training and dialed in skills when the line separating life and death is thin. My decision to pursue a residency is part of a lifelong pursuit of mastery in high stakes situations.  I believe working right out of school can provide exposure, but only a residency guarantees dedicated training.

            Ultimately, I aspire to work in rural emergency medicine, where I may be the only provider for hours or even days if I make it up to Alaska.  If I put myself in a setting like this I want to have the confidence that only comes from competence.  I want to be able to trust my findings on ultrasound, manage ventilators and feel confident placing advanced airways and the many other advanced skills of emergency medicine in which PAs are often not trained.

            Before PA school I was once a pretty good backcountry skier and a fledgling mountaineer.  While in school I have stayed in touch with my physicality with running, CrossFit and jujitsu.  I can’t wait until the day when a day off does not mean running on the narrow shoulder of a Louisiana country road, but once again over miles of western single-track through our nation’s public lands.

I have looked at several residency programs, but after reading the biography of Mr. Kalan and exploring your website I feel like I am looking for the same things as this program was designed to teach.  I believe that the wilderness medicine fellowship is the perfect way to unite my prior life in EMS and fire with the National Park Service and my future as an emergency medicine PA.   I can bring to this program my lighthearted attitude, my diverse experience in wilderness as well as urban medicine and my belief that the fun does not start until you have run farther than you ever have.  It is only after going to the limits of what was thought possible can one go beyond and forever have an expanded sense of possibility.

 

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On 9/17/2017 at 2:22 PM, Wildmed-PA said:

 

The call came just as we were unloading our gear from a fourteen-day fire assignment in California, “Lightning strike, multiple victims.” We quickly reloaded our buggies and headed up to the alpine tundra of Rocky Mountain National Park.In route to the scene, I braced myself for my role as lead EMT of the Alpine Hotshots.

            When we arrived at the trail head, and I saw a remorseful man sobbing on the side of the road and I knew someone he loved was up the trail, severely injured. Someone up the trail was not just a victim, but this man's love. Hurridely scaling up the the mountain, we found the rangers performing CPR on a young, unresponsive woman not much older than myself suffering from a lacerated scalp as blood gushed from her mouth. With half a second of hesitation, followed by an internal affirmation of “Yes, I am the one for this job,” I stepped in to perform CPR on that dear woman.  (what was going on in your mind when you saw her bleeding? What did you think you needed to be cautious of when performing CPR such as internal lung damage, brain hematomas, anything related to your skillset as an EMT at that time) Seeing the exhaustion in the rangers, I acted quickly and led my team to take over CPR. After two cycles, the monitor showed a sinus rhythm (normal?idk?) and she had a palpable femoral pulse. After stabilizing her, (did you? the transition here was really confusing)  we carried her to the waiting helicopter but we lost her again. There, at eleven thousand feet in the hail and thunderstorm, every rescuer worked together to revive her life. (were you successful as a team?)

Rewrite:

When we arrived at the trail head, I saw a remorseful man sobbing on the side of the road and I knew someone he loved was up the trail, severely injured. Hurriedly scaling up the mountain, we found rangers performing CPR on a young woman suffering form a lacerated scalp as blood gushed from her mouth. (insert sentence). Seeing that the exhaustion in the rangers, I acted quickly and led my team to take over CPR. After two cycles, the monitor showed a sinus rhythm (?) and she had a palpable femoral pulse. After stabilizing her (?), we carried her to the waiting helicopter but we lost her again. There, at eleven thousand feet in the hail and thunderstorm, every rescuer worked together to revive her life. (add). 

            That day on the mountain was the catalyst that brought me into the physician assistant (PA) world. Since that first code I have felt that same clarity and focus while responding to early morning shootings as a volunteer with Shreveport EMS, acute surgical abdomens while on my general surgery clerkship, and septic patients in acute respiratory distress syndrome in my emergency medicine clerkship. In those moments of high drama nothing exists outside of the scene and as I continue my career as a PA I want to have faith in my training and dialed in skills when the line separating life and death is thin. (awkward sentence)---> During those curical moments in the field, my full fledge attention is dedicated to only my patient and stabilzing them with my team to prevent them from slipping into death. As a PA, I am looking to further my education in emergency medicine in order to have faith in my training and obtain the proper skillset when the life separating life-and-death is thin. My decision to pursue a residency is part of a lifelong pursuit of mastery in high stakes situations.  I believe working right out of school can provide exposure, but only a residency guarantees dedicated training.

            Ultimately, I aspire to work in rural emergency medicine, where I may be the only provider for hours or even days if I make it up to Alaska. (last part of the sentence through me off, so just take it out becuase maybe they want you to stay in the area??)  If I put myself in a setting like this I want to have the confidence that only comes from competence.  I want to be able to trust my findings on ultrasound, to manage ventilators and  to feel confident placing advanced airways. There are many other advanced skills of emergency medicine in which PAs are often not trained and it would be an honor to learn them from your residency program. (talk about yourself as a student somewhere because I feel like you are missing that and what you have already gained and how your education further ignited your passion for EM).

            Before PA school I was once a pretty good backcountry skier and a fledgling mountaineer.  While in school, I have stayed in touch with my physicality with running, CrossFit and jujitsu.  I can’t wait until the day when a day off does not mean running on the narrow shoulder of a Louisiana country road, but once again over miles of western single-track through our nation’s public lands. (? this seemed out of context so maybe you need to elaborate on how you want to work in a rural community within limited resources where you can give the most of yourself and also enjoy the vast countryside of the people you serve). (I also feel that this paragraph is a little out of place and maybe could be your last paragraph or just have a better transition)

I have looked at several residency programs, but after reading the biography of Mr. Kalan and exploring your website I feel like I am great match for this program due to its teaching design.  I believe that the wilderness medicine fellowship is the perfect way to unite my prior life in EMS and fire with the National Park Service and my future as an emergency medicine PA. I can bring to this program my lighthearted spirit, my diverse experience in wilderness and urban medicine as well as my belief that overcoming challenges brings the most satisifcation  It is only after exceeding expectations of what one originally thought was possible can someone gain an expanded sense of possibility.

 

 

 

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