Undergraduate / To spend the next two years training to be a physician assistant. [7]

Thank you very much for the input. I was not sure how this essay would look to the reader... Sorry for not creating a new thread. I will continue to work on this essay and post a new draft soon :)

Undergraduate / To spend the next two years training to be a physician assistant. [7]

Tried to bring more impact to the introduction: intro #1 or #2?

intro #1- The high-pitched saw screamed as it descended. Shrilling sounds from the drill made the hair on my arms stand straight up. Louder and more impressive tools were passed to the center as the team worked together. The feeling in the room was calm but focused. Pieces were pulled out of the removed from the cavity as replacements were fit. Was I really watching a 71 year old women have her hip replaced? By the sounds and tools that were being used, one next door could easily mistake the work was being done on a car and not on a human being. I was puzzled but in complete awe. The amazement was something I had a hard time putting in to words as I tried to describe this experience to my family and friends. It was as if I just got off a thrilling roller coaster and was still on a huge high. My emotions began to make me believe someday I can become a part of a health care team who has the opportunity to play a role in improving someone's life.

intro #2- As a high school student, being asked to scrub in for a medical procedure by the head physician seems almost unreal. Especially when there are resident doctors beside you looking for an opportunity to assist with the case. To observe a total hip replacement for the first time was exhilarating. While sawing, grinding, and drilling was going on, it can be easy to forget that a human is going through surgery. For someone who has never experienced a surgery case, the medical team may start to resemble a group of human body mechanics rather than a group with an advanced understanding in the subject of science. The entire day in the operating room was very special to me as we moved from one room to the next. My emotions began to make me believe someday I can become a part of a health care team who has the opportunity to play a role in improving someone's life.

Considering most of my time spent with patients in health care has been as a volunteer, however; my experiences were have been very knowledgeable. Whether it was early in the morning or late in the evening, most of my observation and assistance was with physician assistants in the operating room. Each day we would visit patients submitted for surgery and follow up with them in post-op consults. Our duties were to make sure the patient and families felt prepared by reiterating the steps of their surgery and answering any questions they may have had. Through these experiences I learned more about the physician assistant role and the amount of contact they had with patients.

I am fortunate that I have developed lasting contacts through my rotations. These relationships have been informative toward my educational path and maturity. The passion found within health care became obvious when my physician assistant mentor could no longer influence my outlook on medicine. It was the patients that continued the fire inside me to become a physician assistant. Gaining their respect by listening, being able to treat their symptoms and providing myself as their medical resource, would be the ultimate satisfaction.

With more exposure, the vision of patient care became almost concrete as it seemed that physician assistants had a lasting relationship with patients and their families. Ms. Julie Cragholm PA-C, helped shed a new light to my passion. I had the opportunity to work as part of the medical team with her in an outpatient environment as well as observe her responsibilities in the hospital. While volunteering as a medical assistant, I was able to help Julie with her daily routine in the office. These experiences have taught me that medicine is more than just the science or art of healing. It is also about compassion and the sharing of knowledge with patients.

Many of my qualities and interests could have taken me a thousand different directions, but it was health care that kept drawing me closer. It is my life experience and clinical/surgical exposure which have provided the compass to guide me toward saving serving my community as a compassionate physician assistant. I would like nothing more than to begin my post-graduate training and continue to play a positive role in the lives of others