This is my first draft for my admission essay to PA school. The prompt states: Please describe your motivation towards becoming a PA. Constructive criticism is welcome! I really need help with this. Here it is:
It all started with a crash. On June 11, 2001, my mother fell asleep at the wheel and drove into a street lamp. While nonfatal, this event changed my life and led me down a path full of hardship and learning experiences that motivated me to pursue the Physician Assistant profession.
The car accident itself had a huge emotional and financial impact on my family. My mother crushed her heel and broke her wrist. Not long after surgery to reconstruct her heel, my mom developed a staph infection that nearly took her life. She was confined to a wheel chair for months and had to receive antibiotics through a PICC line. It was extremely difficult to see my mother so weak and helpless. Since my mom was the sole provider for the household, my family had to learn how to live on next to nothing. This meant that going to the doctor's office was a luxury we couldn't always afford. I can't even begin to tell you how terrifying it is when you have to decide between your health and having food on the table, if the cough was just a cold, or if my ankle would heal on its own. I came to realize what a huge impact a health care provider has on the lives of others, not just in times of dire need, such as after a car crash, but for every day aches and pains. I realized that I wanted to affect people's lives in that way, so I started looking into the health field.
To further investigate a role in the health sector, I enrolled a medical careers class in high school, which consisted of volunteering in the local hospital and shadowing different professionals. I gained firsthand knowledge of the collaboration required in the hospital and got my first taste of what it feels like to contribute to patients' healthcare. I usually worked as a team with a Patient Care Assistant to gather vital signs, administer bed baths, and change bed sheets. Even though I was limited in the ways I could help, I still found the work rewarding.
Since I felt ambivalent about medical school, I spent the first few years of college aimless until a website enlightened me about the PA profession. The shorter training period and less expense associated with PA school intrigued me so I joined the Pre-PA club at the University of Michigan to learn all I could about the career. Guest PA speakers further convinced me that I had found my calling. The ability to practice medicine after 2-3 years with the flexibility to change specialties would allow me to help others sooner than a medical student and to go wherever I am most needed.
After deciding to become a PA, I sought out patient care experience that further strengthened my resolve to pursue this career path. I went on a medical mission trip to Costa Rica and Panama for two weeks to help provide healthcare to the underserved. During the trip, I assisted in setting up clinics in local churches and schools, interviewed patients for their symptoms and medical history, and took vital signs. Not only did this trip remind of how gratifying it is to help others, it was a valuable learning experience since I received training seminars in tropical medicine and was able to practice skills I learned. For the past year and a half, I have been working at Eisenhower Center, a traumatic brain injury (TBI) rehabilitation center. Each day I get to work with a team of therapists, nurses, and behavior analysts in order to help clients facing extreme adversity. TBI clients have a variety of mental deficits, medical issues, and behavioral problems that make treatment and caring for them very complicated. I have learned how to persevere under difficult working conditions and work as a team to improve the health of my clients.
All of my experiences have led me to the Physician Assistant profession. Due to the adversity I faced in my own life plus my work and volunteer experience, I appreciate the role that caring health practitioners have in changing the lives of those in need. I am eager to start a career in which I can practice medicine in varying specialties and assist the poor and underserved.
