My first blog post! I’ve been at a loss as to what to write for this first one as I’ve never done anything like this before. So I’m going to be a copycat on this one and sum up my life as it pertains to pursuing this career as Amy did in her first blog post.

I can’t think of a time in my life when I didn’t want to pursue a career in healthcare. Minus a few days when I was convinced I would become an Olympian after watching my back-then-heroine Marion Jones sweep 5 gold medals in Sydney, I always knew I was going to be a physician. I made a slight adaptation to that ambition by tacking “assistant” to the title when I discovered and fell in love with the amazing Physician Assistant profession.  I came upon this incredible finding my sophomore year in high school after cruising through one of the find-your-perfect-career exploration websites.  Scouring the web for more info, personal accounts, stats, and facts, I became more and more convinced that this is what I was meant to do.

I have had amazing experiences in my life that continue to motivate me down this path, some of which have inspired my goal of being a PA involved in international medical humanitarian efforts. When I was in elementary school and living in south Texas, my mom brought me with her to Mexico to do mission work where we visited impoverished communities and clinics. In my high school and early college years, I was able to volunteer for four summers at a hospital in medical imaging, physical therapy, ICU, and emergency departments. I’ve worked at a psychiatric hospital with kids coping with ADHD, ODD, anxiety, depression and related disorders.  I have been able to shadow some really great Physician Assistants in emergency medicine, orthopedics, and neurology.  Currently I’m a CNA working as a personal care worker for a young woman with cerebral palsy and a girl with autism and epilepsy. Recently I went on an incredible medical service trip to Costa Rica and Panama. All of these experiences have been challenging and rewarding and have confirmed my dreams of being a PA.

For my fellow pre-PA students out there, if you have the opportunity, I highly recommend going on an international service trip. I can’t say enough wonderful things about it and I can’t even come up with the right words to describe how amazing, eye opening, moving, beautiful, heart wrenching yet heart warming it was! I can share more details on a future blog post if any of you are interested in hearing about it!

On my way to making these dreams come true, I am currently studying Neurobiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and I plan to graduate this December. I’m in summer school right now taking physiology and it’s a very exciting class! I’m also working as an Undergraduate Research Assistant at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center doing research on pre-clinical Parkinson’s disease.  I’m going to quickly put in a little plug for research. If you have the opportunity to participate in any research projects at your university, I would strongly recommend it.  I think it’s important to experience the whole process of research to truly appreciate medical discoveries and to be exposed to scientific literature and research terminology.  Aside from research, school, and work, I’m volunteering, studying for the GRE (ahh it’s next Saturday), and working on my PA application!

I am super busy this summer, as I know all of you are too!  We all know how tough it is to get accepted and the process can be very stressful as we all try to make ourselves competitive applicants.  But I hope that through this blog I can share my experiences, stories, tidbits of advice, and whatever knowledge I can come up with in hopes that you all can learn more about the pre-PA journey to make your own successful!