My Motivation to Be a Physician Assistant

Prompt Examples for Physician Assistant Essay

• Personal Passion: Discuss your personal passion for becoming a physician assistant, and share the experiences or moments that ignited this desire.

• Compassion and Patient Care: Explain your motivation driven by a desire to provide compassionate care to patients and the satisfaction you find in making a positive impact on their lives.

• Inspiration from Role Models: Share the stories of any role models, mentors, or healthcare professionals who have inspired you to pursue a career as a physician assistant.

• Commitment to Health Equity: Discuss your commitment to addressing healthcare disparities and your belief that becoming a physician assistant is a way to contribute to greater health equity.

• Personal Growth and Challenges: Reflect on any personal growth or challenges you have faced that have fueled your motivation to become a physician assistant and how you have overcome them.

Physician Assistant Essay Example

I cannot remember the day I began to take interest in the medical field. I do not have a story about dealing with a childhood illness or an experience in an emergency room. All I remember is wanting to play doctor while my friends played house. Science, medicine, and helping others have always been of interest to me.

While shadowing a physician assistant at an internist’s medical practice, I witnessed a remarkable interaction which made a deep impression on me. Joseph, a middle-aged man, was scheduled to be seen by the physician assistant. I watched as Joseph barreled through the door and immediately erupted in a litany of complaints and criticism. The physician assistant did not bat an eyelash; rather, she greeted him pleasantly. The patient responded with a barrage of rude remarks, yet the PA calmly reviewed Joseph’s medical history and interviewed him. Joseph presented with high triglycerides and was pre-diabetic. The physician assistant proceeded to patiently review his bloodwork and explain why she was prescribing certain medications. She educated him regarding specific lifestyle changes that would improve his health, such as weight loss, which improves fasting blood glucose levels and triglyceride levels. This incident was a true eye-opener for me. My first conclusion was that a professional PA always maintains composure, without getting flustered or sidetracked from the job at hand. A patient’s inappropriate behavior is no excuse for a proficient healthcare provider’s reciprocation with parallel poor behavior. I further deduced that a physician assistant does his/her job assiduously, irrespective of slovenly patient appearance, extreme patient condition and disturbing patient background or origin. A PA does exactly what he/she are morally obligated to do, without veering from the universal health care mandate to provide top notch medical treatment to each and every individual.

The PA profession appeals to me most due to its diagnostic, analytical component and the duality of autonomy and collaboration under which PAs function. Furthermore, I strive to be a lifelong learner. In medicine, there are constant cutting-edge advances, as well as the further sharpening of skills in helping to become a more discerning diagnostician. Specifically, a physician assistant receives a broad, comprehensive medical education, and unlike an MD, has lateral mobility within the medical world. I would like to build up an extensive repertoire of experiences and skills when it comes to delivering medical care. Naturally inquisitive, with a passion for learning and a multitude of interests, I am a great fit for the PA profession.

I am, by nature, social, enthusiastic, and outgoing. I thrive when interacting with patients, whether while shadowing a PA or while working as a medical assistant in a fast-paced internal medicine practice in Lakewood, New Jersey. Ocean County Internal Medicine is one of the largest practices in Lakewood, servicing thousands of patients from a variety of backgrounds and a wide range of ages, from teenagers all the way through centenarians. Doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants practice together side by side. I was trained as a medical assistant, taking patient vitals, updating electronic medical records, calling in prescriptions, and assisting the doctor with different procedures. Through my firsthand experience with the patients, I worked hard on developing a compassionate, empathic mindset and on validating concerns. Explaining the diagnosis and clarifying the doctor’s prescription usually eased patients’ anxiety, and allowed them to feel in better control of their health. Through shadowing one of the PAs, observing cases, and talking to other PAs about their work experience, the parameters of the PA role became clearer. I am attracted to both the intellectual challenge of learning how to identify and treat pathology and learning to utilize the interpersonal skills that I have strengthened as a medical assistant. The scope and breadth of knowledge, confidence, and genuine skill displayed by PAs reinforces my commitment to my goal. Because I work alongside PAs, I know with clarity and conviction that I find their daily tasks and procedures both interesting and meaningful.

Being a mother has furthered my desire to be a PA. As cliché as It sounds, I have a passion for helping others. I now live as a giver and caretaker for my son and have never felt more fulfilled. It would be an honor and a privilege to dedicate my life and career to supporting and assisting those in need. With my husband and family as my support system, I am prepared to take on the demanding schedule of PA school. We plan to relocate to New York to be near my parents who can help care for my son so that I can give my studies the full focus and attention that they deserve. It is of utmost importance to me to learn and study well, and join the ranks of the noble profession of Physician Assistant.

My desire to become a Physician Assistant

My desire to become a Physician Assistant can be traced back to a childhood experience I had with my mother. At the age of 12, my mother experienced excruciating pain from a fibroid in her womb. On admission to the hospital, she was treated by a team of health professionals, and over the course of a month, the fibroid was detached, and I watched her get better due to the work done by the team of health professionals. The ability for people to work together and put a sick person back to a perfect state was very heroic I then realized how good and fulfilling it was to care for the needs of others, which made me want to pursue a career that cares for the needs of people.

My interest in the health profession propelled my decision to move to The United States in search of a good school and also prepare me for a professional program. My research on various schools led me to Texas Southern University as I was easily convinced by its culture and history. In my time as an undergrad at Texas Southern I learned two important skills which are the ability to make critical decisions on my own and the ability to place the needs of others above mine in service to the community. In a bid to find the right health profession, I decided to get a Job at Walgreens as a pharmacy Technician trainee. There, I experienced first-hand, the devotion and selflessness of a Pharmacist, it was in fact motivating. However, I realized few weeks in that although I could see the Pharmacist give his all to his work, I would not be able to do same because my interest began to depreciate. The sense of satisfaction I was seeking was in something else. As I continued to work there, I commenced to examine within myself and search what could bring me contentment and also create a strong and valued human relationship with patients. This prompted me to look for other health professions that would enable me to acquire the kind of fulfilment I sought for making an impact in people’s lives.

Becoming a Physician Assistant is not just to justify my own desire but also to impact the lives of others as well as my community. My independency as a young adult and pursing a degree in the last 4 years, I have developed patience, perseverance and dedication. My crossing so far has equipped me a resilient foundation in people skills and knowledge and last but not least making me a better candidate for Physician Assistance school.

Works Cited

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