1st draft- PS. Opinions are definitely welcome

[afaulise]

Please feel free to critique away. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

I have never had one moment in my life that screamed “I want to be a PA”. I cannot sit here and write an essay solely based on one life altering experience. For me it has been all of the different experiences, jobs, and people that have culminated in to this dream. It started with a young childhood desire to help people, then my time in the Navy, and finally my work in clinical research.

Growing up I used to tell everyone that someday I was going to heal people. No one in my family works in medicine and growing up I had very little exposure to any medical field. None of that mattered to me though I was drawn to medicine, the challenge, the details, understanding the way the human body works. I loved it. I would be the one to bandage up my younger siblings when they got hurt. My little sister once tried to light her jeans on fire. As you can imagine this did not turn out well for her. She burned her leg pretty badly. I was the oldest and my parents were not home so I was the one that took care of her. The idea of being able to help people that couldn’t help themselves made me feel complete. It was the only area that even as a child I knew it was perfect for me.

I joined the Navy when I was 17. Originally I had wanted to be a corpsman but that was just not a possibility at that time. Instead I ended up working in avionics. At first I thought that this was a step in the wrong direction but looking back I am grateful for all of the lessons I learned. The more knowledge I have of what it means to be a PA that more I understand there are certain skills that you must have. One of the more important ones is the ability to work on a team as well as be a leader. These are two traits that I can attribute completely to my time as a sailor. I learned that you have to be flexible and adapt to any situation you enter in to. Whether it is jumping on a corrosion busting team or supervising a shop of 80 people working on avionics, you have to be ready for any situation.

After college I needed to find a job. In what would turn out to be a life changing opportunity I got a job as a Clinical Research Coordinator. Working as a CRC was a doorway into patient care for me. I had patients that I personally got to work with on a regular basis. I got to learn more about working in a clinic and a lab. I gained valuable technical experience during this time. However, for me the most important thing I gained from this job was my very first opportunity to work hand in hand with multiple PA’s. I was able to work with as well as shadow all of them. I saw every day their interactions with the patients, every aspect of their daily job from start to finish. I also got to hear first hand from our patients how great they were to work with. I learned about their backgrounds and their inspiration for entering this profession. I started to realize that this was the job I wanted. The PA career fits everything I want for my life.

I was fortunate that I was able to work so closely with a number of different PA’s. The one resounding aspect of this job is that every one of them had multiple reasons for going in to this field. They were all looking for something different and experiences throughout their life had led them down this path. I am proud of my life and all of the experiences I have had. It’s because of these opportunities that I know becoming a physician assistant is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.