Healthcare Assistant Supporting Information

I am applying to the NHS with the intention of attaining the position of Healthcare Assistant at Orchards Inpatient Unit. This aspiration has been shaped throughout my life for various reasons, most importantly understanding and seeing first-hand how much of a difference professional help makes when it comes to mental illnesses. I would like be part of the team that improves and saves the lives of others.

In 2013, I decided to go to Nottingham Trent University to pursue my talent in Fine Art and feed my strong willingness to learn, and really enjoyed my time on the course. However, university is a harsh and often difficult place to adjust to, and like many other students in the UK, I struggled to adapt and was diagnosed with anxiety and depression in my second year. My interest in a career in healthcare was ignited after experiencing and seeing the crucial help received by so many of my friends, classmates and family members affected by mental illness, and how important professional help is in order to recover. This inspired the subject of my final degree show: I produced contemporary art responding to the importance of talking about mental illness, raising awareness and provoking conversation about the social issues we have in the UK when it comes to mental illnesses.

My degree has helped me to develop my ability to articulate ideas and critically analyze relevant research in order to formulate my own practice and ideas. I can communicate effectively through speaking and writing, and can present ideas with confidence and conviction. I work well under pressure and have a mind that works simultaneously to think creatively and logically to solve problems - an asset in unpredictable situations such as in a hospital environment and caring for adults with mental illnesses. My modules within my degree involved a considerable amount of self-motivated practice, working autonomously and with others, as well as a considerable amount of self-evaluation.

My current position is Activities Coordinator at Etheldred House, a residential care home in Cambridgeshire. I have been part of the Ethelred House family for a short period of time, however these short few weeks have been essential in pointing me down the right career path.

Working and caring for older people with mental illnesses has been, without doubt, the most rewarding and interesting role I have ever been a part of. I have learnt so much about the mind, and how dementia affects thinking, daily functions, personality and character, and I want to continue on this journey further by working towards a qualification in nursing. This is just one of the reasons I would like to pursue a career as a Healthcare Assistant.

Whilst my current position is the first professional position I have encountered, I have been involved in various situations that have required a similar practical, patient and understanding manner to enable the most positive outcome possible. For example, when my Grandmother had a fall, she needed extra help to ensure she was able to live her daily life as normally as physically possible, in which I helped her. This involved washing, dressing and generally helping her with her day to day routine, acting as her career for a period of 3 weeks.

Furthermore, I volunteered at 1st Witchford Brownies, having responsibility for the children's safety and wellbeing, as well as teaching them new skills in outward-bound type activities. Patience was essential here, as well as the ability to acknowledge the level of comprehension of students to make the lessons interesting and memorable.

I would be the perfect candidate for this role because I am patient, understanding, polite and caring and pride myself on my work ethic and practicality. I understand the importance of confidentiality, and keeping patient dignity in-tact, whatever stage if their illness.

Further to these skills, I have completed a number of e-Learning training programs including Dementia Awareness, Infection Control, Fire Safety, Food Hygiene, Equality and Diversity, Mental Capacity Act, End of Life Care, Fluids and Nutrition and CoSHH. Moreover, whilst in Canada I undertook a Foodsafe Level 1 course, in which I passed with 94%. This will be beneficial to caring for adults with mental illnesses during meal times, and ensuring their general health and well-being is a priority. In addition to the food safety courses I have attended, I have had practical experience with feeding residents at Etheldred House, both hard and soft food.

Another course I have undertaken with contributing attributes is my Avalanche Safety Level 1. Although not as useful in England as in Canada, the course included basic First Aid and basic emergency medical training.

My ability to work well in a team, motivate and encourage others was proven in 2014, two friends and I cycled 850 miles over 10 days from Amsterdam to Berlin to raise money for Cardiac Research at Papworth Hospital, Cambridge. I overcame an array of problems and had to find solutions to these almost instantly in order to keep on schedule. This shows my determination to succeed, and also my exceptional time management and organizational skills.

Through education, previous employment and everyday life, I have gained various skills and experiences which makes me an ideal candidate for the position. My degree supplied me with many useful attributes which I am able to apply to a career in healthcare. I been on both the receiving and the providing side of mental healthcare, and feel I have a full understanding of the role. I understand public healthcare as a vital and integral part of society and I would like to be a part of that. I am determined to help make a difference.

One particular memory that has shaped my foundational passion for medicine is a particular habit my grandparents had. Growing up, my grandfather stored home-grown pumpkins under our beds and my grandmother collected hundreds of water-filled Gatorade bottles throughout our home. As I matured, I realized these once perceived bizarre habits were practices that helped my family cope with their PTSD. My grandfather stored pumpkins under our beds because it was an old habit to avoid theft and starvation. My grandmother collected water bottles as a result of her son’s death from dehydration during the Cambodian genocide. Although deeply pained by these experiences, it has pushed me to mature and has ingrained a deep-rooted desire to positively impact the lives of others while being intellectually engaged and challenged through a career in medicine. With this goal in mind, insights I have gained through hands-on experience as a medical assistant and graduate student during clinical clerkships have led me to pursue a career as a surgical physician assistant.

My experiences as a medical assistant for a group of plastic and reconstructive, microvascular, craniofacial and hand surgeons drew me to the field of surgery. The patients I have encountered have provided me insight into the problems I will treat as a future PA such as invasive cancers of the tongue and face requiring muscle free flap reconstruction, Le Fort and mandible fractures, severely infected hand fractures due to crushing dog bite wounds, and infected aortic graft requiring debridements and omental flap transposition. Influenced in large part by these patient encounters, I have a strong interest in general surgery, acute care, trauma, and reconstructive surgery. A career as a surgical physician assistant appeals to me because it encompasses a wide spectrum of medical and surgical conditions with a diverse and exciting patient base, requiring diagnostic acumen, surgical expertise, and empathy.

Keck School of Medicine of USC Physician Assistant program has endowed me with a solid medical education and have provided many opportunities through my clinical clerkships to treat a wide spectrum of acute illnesses, injuries, and exacerbations of chronic conditions. In my general surgery clerkship at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, I skillfully first assisted in extremity amputations, cholecystectomies, liver biopsies and high impact falls from skiing accidents. In orthopedic and trauma surgery at Los Angeles County and USC Medical Center, I was highly involved in numerous reductions and stabilizations for automobile versus pedestrian trauma and injuries from high impact falls. In emergency medicine, I learned to thoroughly assess and identify medical conditions and level of risk and executed well-informed critical decisions in high pressure situations.

I have since found that diagnosing disease, determining the proper course of treatment in each scenario, and caring for complicated surgical patients are rewarding and challenging. A career as a surgical PA will allow me to utilize strengths I have developed thus far, including an ease of rapport with patients, an ability to educate patients regarding their health and disease, and strong commitment to medicine.

As PA student, my clinical experiences in general surgery and orthopedic trauma were most rewarding and am eager to continue my fostering my intellectual growth and clinical training through a surgical fellowship. _ will challenge me to grow professionally and personally and continue to expose me to a variety of surgical specialties. I bring with me a strong work ethic, desire to excel, and modesty to serve those whose health care needs have been entrusted to me. I hope to the surgical expertise and valuable experience in the management of acute illness and trauma and the exacerbation of chronic diseases. I am eager to begin a surgical fellowship so that I may gain the training necessary to become a well-rounded and confident physician assistant, capable of handling the many challenges of providing medical care in a fast-paced environment.