Personal Statement for applying to PA school: engineer to paramedic to PA

Hi, I will be submitting applications for PA school in the next few weeks. Here is what I have so far for the prompt "Please describe your motivation towards becoming a PA ". 5000 characters limit. 4182 used

Any comments or suggestions are much welcomed.

thanks in advance!

Since I've been old enough to talk, I've been asking questions. What makes lightening and thunder? Why does the doctor tap my knee with the hammer? Where does the electricity come from? How does the car's engine work? I've learned the answers to these questions and many more questions by observing people at work and continuing to ask questions. I've taken apart countless items just to see how they work. Many of my questions have been about how humans and animals work. I've had the privilege of watching many medical professionals work and now I want to be one those professionals.

After graduating high school and attending Purdue to get a bachelors degree in electrical engineering, I spent 15 years as an electrical engineer in the automotive industry and another four years in the consumer electronics industry I felt that I needed something more - a new challenge. I enjoyed working as a software engineer for the last several years. I started out working in small groups that were co-located with me, the industry took a turn to exporting software development to other countries. It was then I became a technical leader but the people I worked with were now located in another country. At first this was exciting and I even spent three very enjoyable months in Mexico learning to work with these people. As time passed many people that I worked with in Mexico moved on to other jobs and were replaced by new college graduates. I was frustrated by the starting over process and very much missed the camaraderie and interaction of working in a small co-located group. My frustration grew even greater when the people I worked with were located in India and China.

I knew I wanted something different but I was not sure what. I found out about an EMT class being offered at a local fire department. It was offered at night so I could easily go to class and continue working my regular job. It did not take me long to realize that I was really fascinated by the workings of the body and the medical world. I got my EMT basic license a few months later and began working as a part-time EMT. It seemed natural to sign up for the next paramedic class that was offered.

I found paramedic training to be both interesting a challenging. After completing the classroom portion of paramedic training the real fun began with clinical hours spent in the ED, the OR, the psych ward and labor and delivery. The OR was like a live anatomy lesson and totally fascinating to me. The ED presented an unending variety of patients with complaints ranging from imagined ones to life-threatening conditions. Many of my hours in the ED were spent with a PA. I was very sad when my clinical hours for my paramedic training were over. I was going to miss getting to see patients in the ED as well as the people who I had grown used to working with. Since becoming a paramedic I've continued to spend as much time as I can in the ED. More recently shadowing the PA's in the ED has allowed me to get back into spending more time with many patients. I have enjoyed my time in the ED so much that I've taken a second job working as an ED technician.

During my life I have had the opportunity to be personally involved in the treatment of many medical conditions. A few years ago my friend and co-worker was critically injured when hit by a van while riding his bike. I visited him often during his 18 day stay in the ICU. I closely followed his case while he spent 18 days in the ICU fighting his way back to a normal life.

My father has had a myriad of medical conditions over the years. Dad nearly bled to death from a GI bleed caused by all the medicines he was taking. Dad also had to have emergency open heart surgery while undergoing what should have been a routine heart catheterization. I've also followed his cases. Throughout both of these cases I talked to the doctors as often as possible and helped the patient and his family better understand the lab results and treatments being given.

I have no doubt that I want to further my medical education and learn to practice at an even higher level. I know attending PA school is the next right step for me.