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Why PA?

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PA wasn't on my radar until after my freshmen year of college. After a 3-month research internship at an abalone aquaculture facility on the big island in Hawaii, I came back home to Maui feeling crushed. Though the internship was a great opportunity, absolutely none of my heart was in it.  I didn't want to spend my life studying mollusks or running trial after trial for the same experiment. I felt disheartened and confused. I loved science but hated what I did that summer. For a short time, I felt really lost in regards to my career objectives. I reluctantly paid my old family practice a visit for some persistent urinary pain, frequency, and discomfort. My PCP was not in, and I wanted to be seen at the earliest available convenience. This is the moment I was seen by the first PA I've ever met. I was immediately intrigued by his role and scope of practice. He presented himself with a tremendous amount of cultural sensitivity and warmth. I left the exam roo...
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How Many Schools Did I Apply To?

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Let me start by clarifying that I expected a total of 3 gap years before matriculating into a program. I started CASPA in the spring of 2017. By then, I had ~1.5 years of STNA/CNA experience in assisted living and dementia care, as well as a little less than a year of Medical Scribe experience in the emergency department. In short, I went into the application process treating it more like a practice run to prepare for the real deal. My thought process at the time was that I did not have enough hands-on experience to be competitive. I thought I'd apply this round for the hell of it; if I got in, I got in, and if I didn't, that would have been okay too. You can imagine how ecstatic (and surprised, lol) I was after I found out I was offered a seat. As a result, I applied to mostly local schools (3 in Ohio). In total, I applied to five.  Those five are (in order of preference): University of Dayton Kettering College Rush University (Chicago) Rocky Mountain College (Mont...
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