Personal Statment rough first draft! suggestions needed!

[fosshc]

It was a slow day in the emergency department. I was standing next to the nursing station observing the medical providers flutter from room to room when a physician approached me. “Do you want to assist me with a patient?” Nervous as a new volunteer, I stammered a response and followed the physician into the room. A friendly woman with a swollen knee smiled at me as the physician explained that he was going to draw fluid from her inflamed knee for laboratory testing. The physician laid surgical cloth over the woman’s knee and instructed me to place my hands on the woman’s leg and hold the cloth in place. The nurse handed the physician a large needle and he began to draw out the fluid. I felt a rush of adrenaline as the first needle slowly filled. The nurse then handed the physician the second needle and my world went black. I woke up woozy and disoriented in the nurse’s arms and realized I had my first real experience in healthcare and I was hooked.

 

My time volunteering in the hospital began while I was in college. I was the first to attend a university in my family and was searching for my niche. After my time in the emergency department, I volunteered in the inpatient pharmacy at the hospital. I enjoyed learning the science of pharmaceutical medicine, but I craved the patient interaction and excitement that I first experienced in the ER. I was introduced to the Physician Assistant (PA) profession through a casual conversation with a PA in the emergency department.  We discussed the major changes occurring in healthcare and discussed the dynamic relationship of a physician/PA team in primary care and rural medicine. Growing up in a small town with a population of 2000, the long car rides to the next town when the only local clinic was booked out a minimum of two weeks was a regular memory. With our conversation and the memory of my own rural hometown in mind, I began researching the PAs role in healthcare immediately. As a PA in rural medicine, I would be able to provide higher-level care to a community in need in a cost effective way. I would be able to offset the demand for primary care services, shorten drive times to the clinic, and build long-term relationships with patients and take care of several generations of a family. Being a PA in rural medicine would allow me to individually diagnose, treat, and prescribe medications while maintaining a relationship with my supervising physician for more complicated cases.

 

My motivation to work in rural medicine and underserved areas was further influenced as a community health intern at the YWCA under the mentorship of a Community Health PA. She worked to address health disparities amongst underserved populations and promoted preventive health and self care. I was given the opportunity to connect with these underserved populations through community outreach events. While at the local soup kitchens, I realized each encounter presented a new story. People were eager to learn from me about proper nutrition, exercise, and routine medical visits as well as share their personal stories. Even though some of them did not have permanent homes or know where their next meal was coming from, they remained positive. They exposed me to the darker parts of my community and taught me as much as I taught them.  Each personal story made me realize everyone should have access to quality primary care, and further fueled my desire to become a PA.

 

To gain more experience, I became a certified nursing assistant (CNA) during college. As a CNA in long-term care, I was able to assist my patients with their physical needs, and hold their hand and reminisce during their times of emotional stress. Learning their likes and dislikes and seeing their day-to-day changes allowed me to see my patients as real, vulnerable, emotional people, not just as a room number, disease, or problem. Working in long-term care gives me great insight into direct patient care, but leaves me with the desire to provide higher-level care for my patients. Being a PA will allow me to provide primary care and maintain a dynamic relationship with my patients.

 

Although my entrance into healthcare was not graceful, my experiences have taught me this is where I need to be. Each new person I meet and story I hear further encourages me to bridge the primary care gap. As I continue my journey to become a PA, I hope to build relationships with my patients similarly to my past experiences by treating my patients as emotional, raw people, by treating my patients with respect and dignity, by treating my patients to the best of my ability.