Growing up I didn't always know exactly what I wanted to do with my life. But from a young age I was always in a hospital setting due to the illness of my cousin who had been diagnosed with bone marrow cancer at the age of 3. From being in and out of the hospital with him and having my family talk it about it constantly sparked a level of interested for me about the health field. I would watch as they would perform some procedures and constantly ask questions out of personal curiosity and interest as to what exactly was going on and how would it work or help him feel better. As I was getting older I became even more fascinated, I would look up all of the things that the physician and PA were talking about and serve as a translator and also help interpret lab tests for my cousin and family. Most of the time the PA was the one who came in to speak to us and was able to answer all of our questions and explain to us exactly what was going with my cousins prescriptions, procedures and prognosis in detail. Since this experience I knew that I wanted to focus on becoming a PA because of the level of knowledge, expertise and skills that they held. From what I saw first hand is that they are somewhat of a mixture between a registered nurse, whose primary role is direct patient care but aren't allowed to partake in the diagnosis and treatment aspect as the physicians are. I liked how the PA would be able to do what the physician could do such as order labs, diagnose the patient and administer physical exams but also were the ones who were there to comfort the patients and had a more direct relationship with the patient unlike physicians. Their independent role in health care bundled with the hands on approaches as similar to a nurse was exactly what I feel I am a better fit for. As I entered college, I soon started to volunteer at Florida Hospital in Orlando, FL. Initially I wanted to shadow a PA but there was no such position available so therefore I was placed in a the case management department for a couple of months. I would be told to go to the floors and pick up patients charts to make copies. I didn't particularly like this department because I wasn't in direct contact with helping patients but it helped push me towards the PA career even farther. One thing I did learn through it was to read the patients charts, which I would always do and paint a mental picture as to what exactly was going on with them through the physicians progress notes. I was then transferred over to the outpatient pharmacy department where I yet again deprived of the physical contact that I was looking for with the patients. They had a program where they would go up to the floors and ask the patients for any prescriptions that needed to be filled. I would be the first to volunteer myself to get a chance to go up and interact with the patients. This experience was what reassured me that I wanted to be a PA because of how excited I would get to go up to the floors instead of sitting around in the pharmacy. Although the pharmacy wasn't something that interested me at all, I did learn quite a bit as to what certain medications were used for and what their reactions would be if given to a patient with certain allergies or illnesses. Soon after I started to shadowing a wound care nurse in the hospital who I have learn quite a bit from. This type of experience has been the best to date for me, its not exactly the PA experience that I have been waiting for, but its something to where I am directly able to aid the nurse. Just from being in the hospital setting I have learned a good amount about how much of the population if at a disadvantage due to language barriers, health education and lack of access to health services. Senior citizens are especially those that are prone to infections and diseases due to their weakened immune systems. From this experience I've come to learn that many older patients develop pressure ulcers due to neglect in nursing homes where they are being turned every couple of hours are they should be. I have aided in the debriding, and measuring of the wounds. There have been many times where the nurse would be changing the dressing and cleaning the wound where I would be holding the patients hand and having a conversation with them to let them know that I cared for them as well as distracting them from the pain that they may be experiencing. Through all of this I realized that I love interacting with patients and their families and enjoy being a apart of their lives through difficult times. I feel this is what will ultimately make me a strong candidate to become a PA, I believe that not only do I possess the skills that I have obtained from the lecture halls in school but I also have the hands on experience that will help me reach my goal which is am so excited about. Dreams of one day becoming the exceptional physician assistant that I work so diligently towards are what motivate me each and everyday.
First, separate into different paragraphs. It could be that you just pasted it incorrectly but it's really hard to read when it's just in one long paragraph. From what I've gathered, your paragraphs should be
Intro
Experience #1 - Cousin in the hospital
Experience #2 - Florida Hospital volunteer experience
Experience #3 - Shadowing the nurse, more patient care interaction
Conclusion - "I feel this is what will..."
Also - You mention VERY briefly about having to serve as a translator? Is this referring to language? If so, I think you have A LOT to go on from this. If English is not your first language and if you come from an ethically diverse culture, expand! This will grab the reader's attention and allow for a more personal connection.
I like your ideas and with some improvements it can be a great statement! Good luck!!
'physical therapy vs other health care careers' PTCAS Narrative SO FAR
I have started my essay, so far i have the entire thing minus the conclusion, any insight would be greatly appreciated! thanks!
Describe your decision making process in choosing physical therapy as a career choice versus other health care careers.
Every since my Junior year of high school when I started volunteering in the hospitals patient transport department, I knew I wanted to be a part of the healthcare field, I just didn't know what yet. As I continued to volunteer I was exposed to many different healthcare fields. This helped me solidify my decision that healthcare and helping others is what I essentially wanted to do.
As I entered my freshman year of college I still had no idea which career path in healthcare I wanted to pursue. All I knew was that I wanted to help people feel better and get back to their lives as quickly as possible. So from sophomore year until the end of my junior year I started exploring different healthcare professions, I shadowed and volunteered in the hospitals case management office, an in-patient and out patient pharmacy, a physician assistant, a wound care nurse.
I still continued to shadow the wound care nurse, Ron, who would teach me how to check blood pressure, packing wounds and the differences between lab values in patients. I was exposed to a great deal while I was with him, but the one thing that I took from that experience wasn't just the knowledge, but was the fact that I had learned to care for someone and interact with the patients on a more professional level. He would always ask me what I aspect I enjoyed most about healthcare. I told him about how I really wanted to be apart of the strengthening process for the patient and wanted them to have a smooth transition back into their normal lives. To my surprise he instantly suggested that I shadow a physical therapist, as I would extremely enjoy everything that they do. At this point I started doing some research about the field and found three physical therapists that allowed me to shadow them.
I started to shadow the physical therapist in 2 different settings; the first 2 were outpatient settings, which dealt mostly with patients seeking treatment exercises to strengthen their injuries after having surgery. Mostly the patients had either shoulder surgeries or total knee replacements. I enjoyed these experiences because allowed me to be apart of the patients healing process. Unlike other fields in healthcare where the healthcare professional doesn't end up seeing the patient once they've left the facility. Physical therapy is different in the sense that it gives me opportunity to view the patient's progress from the time they get out of surgery to the time they are fully healed and back to their everyday lives. One patient in particular that helped me make my final decision that I really wanted to pursue physical therapy was a 3-year-old boy named Zane. He contracted meningitis and was taken to the hospital. The doctors, not being aware that he may be allergic to the medication that was given caused him to loose his vision, his hearing and immobilizing him because of all the skin irritation. When he first came in he couldn't walk at all and he was extremely disoriented due to the lack of hearing. As therapy progressed we saw significant improvement just after a few weeks of treatment. After he has gotten a cochlear implant put in and could hear he was progressing even faster, he started to walk against the wall on his own and could even start going up steps. Just seeing this accomplishment gave me chills to see that one day that will be me who will be helping patients achieve goals that will be set for them.
Being able to see the many patients that I did allowed me to reinsure myself that physical therapy was the career path for me.
made volunteering enjoyable and educationaleducative .
I think you should write more about the feelings of sadness and happiness you are dealing with in hospitals every day, and write about the influences of these feelings on you for being a nurse. I mean, when you see a patient regain his health, his sadness is changed into happiness. This is a great moment not only for that patient, but also for other people around him and it may affect you as a nurse. Sometimes, you may attache to a patient, but you may lose him/her because of death. Even this sad event can make you a stronger person and it may be a case that may convince you to become a nurse. If you portray such events, you can make the essay more interesting. (JUST A SUGGESTION)
