The motto I live my life by is hard work pays off. Going into college, I knew I wanted to be in the medical field, but I did not know what role that I wanted to be within the field itself.
My cousin Jennifer Manaker was the first person to introduce me to the Physician Assistant (PA) profession. She brought up the profession when she and I were talking about my plans after college. When I told her that I was trying to decide what profession that I wanted to go into, she brought up the PA profession. She told me that the job was very rewarding and very flexible in terms of not being stuck in one specialty for your whole career like a physician. The more I looked into the profession, the more intrigued I became.
Throughout my undergraduate career at LMU, I became more involved in the medical field. I was able to job shadow Kenneth Nicely who is a PA at Caring Medical Center. I was able to see the day-to-day tasks of a PA such as diagnosing patients, performing in-office procedures, and interpreting imaging and lab results while shadowing him.
During this time, I also obtained my Certified Nursing Assistant license which allowed me to get my feet wet in the medical field. This allowed me to grow as a medical professional by allowing me to hone in on the craft of patient interaction skills. This position allowed me to work with patients from all different walks of life and all different backgrounds as well. This was, and still is, one of the most beneficial skills that a provider can have—being able to work with and treat every patient equally, no matter what their background or ideologies are.
PA school is not easy, but it is definitely not impossible if you want it bad enough. For two years, my schedule was class from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. five days a week. Then after class I would give myself an hour to take a break and to get dinner. Then by 6 p.m. I was back at it studying, practicing hands-on clinical skills, and cementing in my mind the massive amount of material that we had gone over that day until 10 or 11 p.m.
The thought that pushed me to keep going and to study so diligently was knowing that the information that I was learning was not something that I could learn and forget. I knew that these were skills and pieces of information that I would use in the future to save lives and better the community in which I practiced. This mindset is what kept me going and allowed me to get through the rough patches that I came across in PA school.
During my clinical year of rotations in PA school, I was able to explore many different specialties and I was able to get hands-on experience with many different skills and procedures. Throughout this year, I was able to travel to Houston, Texas, for my OB/GYN rotation and I had the privilege of assisting in many C-sections, and I was able to help deliver a baby vaginally as well.
During my general surgery rotation I was able to assist in many different surgeries that included mastectomies, a splenectomy, many gallbladder removals, and many more interesting procedures.
I was able to work in a mental health institution in Virginia for my behavioral medicine rotation. There I was able to see first-hand the importance and complexity of treating and managing mental health disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, just to name a few.
In my final rotations I was back in East Tennessee honing my skill in primary care and internal medicine. These rotations solidified my knowledge and my ability in treating chronic conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes and conditions of the heart, along with managing acute conditions such as pancreatitis, stomach ulcers, viruses and bacterial infections.
During these rotations I was also able to perform many different procedures such as putting in stitches and removing stitches, drainage of abscesses, and even removing a bug out of a patient’s ear, just to mention a few.
Since graduating from PA school, I have passed my state board exam, decided to continue my education in a Doctorate of Medical Science program, and I am now looking for positions in primary care or internal medicine so I can give back to the East Tennessee region that has given me so much.