Graduate / "Mercy Flight ten minutes out!" - CASPA PA Admissions Letter [7]

Hey everyone. I am applying to Physician Assistant schools and I have to write an essay on my motivation to become a PA. Heres the rough draft of my essay :).

"Mercy Flight ten minutes out!," one of the Emergency Room nurses shouts to me. My beepers start alarming and my heart starts racing. As I run up the stairs to the helipad, I wonder what lies ahead. Will the patient be intubated? Is the airway secure? Did they suffer extensive injuries and are now in cardiac arrest? As these questions race through my mind, I have to remain calm and organized. Down in the trauma bay, doctors, nurses, and other health care workers race around, asking questions and assessing the patient. From the outside looking in, this picture may seem chaotic. However, in reality we are a well-organized team, completing our assessment of the patient within minutes.

As a Respiratory Therapist for 2 years at Upstate Medical Hospital in Syracuse, NY, I encounter scenarios like this on a daily basis. These scenarios and others that I have experienced first hand while working throughout Upstate's Level I trauma center have been an amazing learning experience. I love knowing that my care is making a difference in someone's life.

Working in the health care field has always been something that I have wanted to do. I started my health care training at a young age by applying for and being accepted into a program called New Visions Medical during my senior year of high school. Through this program, I took 20 college credits at SUNY Orange and shadowed physicians, physical therapists, physician assistants, nurses, and even a veterinarian. We spent the entire day with a health care professional 2 days a week for the length of the school year. I followed several surgeons and was allowed into the Operating Room to observe them performing surgery. This experience taught me that while I was amazed at the beauty of surgery, the lifestyle of being a physician was not for me. However, I was unsure of what I wanted to do in the health care field. I decided to attend Albany College of Pharmacy (ACP), where I studied pharmaceutical sciences. Throughout the year that I spent at ACP I longed for the direct patient care interaction that I had witnessed during my New Visions Medical shadowing. I remembered how happy I was during my adult primary care rotation when I followed a physician assistant. I had also followed physician assistants in the emergency room as well as during my pediatric primary care rotation and they were my favorite rotations. I loved the autonomy that they had and I was amazed at all they were able to do.

I decided that this was the career path that I wanted to take. To gain more critical care and educational experience, I became a Respiratory Therapist. While I absolutely love my job, I long to and know that I am capable of doing more. I work with physician assistants on a daily basis and it excites me how much this confirms my belief that this is what I truly want to do in life.

Physician assistants are extremely vital to the health care field as they provide a crucial role in preventing, maintaining, and treating illness. I believe that because of my knowledge, experience, and dedication to patient care, I could make a positive impact doing that as a future physician assistant.