My Journey to Physician Assistant

Becoming a PA has been the most fulfilling accomplishment of my life to date. But, it has certainly been the most challenging. Applying to and being accepted into a Physician Assistant program (as like MANY other healthcare professional programs) takes years of dedication and passion. Not to mention, then you have to actually survive PA school and commit to a lifetime of learning medicine. My path, like so many others, was not an overnight process. So, as a first generation college student and thus first generation master’s student, I had nobody to warn me how difficult the journey would be. Hopefully sharing my story helps some of you who are in the same boat.

Pre PA:

I attended undergraduate at UNC Chapel Hill where I graduated with a Bachelors in Exercise and Sport Science with a concentration in Athletic Training. Upon graduation I passed my Board of Certification exam and became a Certified Athletic Trainer (AT), later licensed to practice in the state of North Carolina.

I worked as a secondary school (high school) AT who was employed by and worked partially in an orthopedic clinic, and provided after school comprehensive sideline coverage, acute care, and rehabilitative services to high school athletes. Of note, I was their FIRST AT ever and had the privilege of crafting my own AT program from the ground up. After a year of this, while I loved the student athletes, I realized the schedule, opportunity for career advancement, and compensation did not align with my professional goals. I also sought a broader scope of practice. I knew at that point, I wanted to pursue higher education, so I relocated to accept a job working in a primary care and sports medicine practice. This clinic was unique in that it utilized ATs in a clinical assistant role but also gave us the liberty to evaluate and help oversee the return to care plan for concussions in high school athletes. I worked in this position for 4 years while I took some prerequisite courses and the GRE. I had worked with PA’s professionally and seem them as a patient myself, and realized along the way becoming a PA would allow me to meld my sports medicine experience and skills with a broader medical training. But, things got slowed down when I found myself working in primary care during the onset of COVID in 2020!

During the peak of the pandemic, I applied two consecutive cycles. The first cycle, I was still wrapping up some courses I needed to retake to improve my grade, and so I only applied to 2 local programs. I received no interview invites at all. I did not let that stop me though and immediately prepared for the following cycle. This second cycle I applied to 15 schools up and down the east coast, I beefed up my application, rewrote my personal statement, and came in with a much stronger GPA on my application. I received 3 interviews (2 of which were top 10 schools at the time!) and 12 automatic rejections. Of those 3 interviews, I was waitlisted at one school (ultimately did not make it off the waitlist), received another rejection, and I got an ACCEPTANCE from my DREAM school – Wake Forest School of Medicine – PA Studies.

[I’ll make another post with more specifics about my stats and tips for making your CASPA shine!]

PA School:

That’s right! I got into a top 10 PA program after all of those rejections. And Wake Forest was TRULY my dream school. Wake follows an inquiry based learning format – which means – I was not stuck in lecture 8-5, instead we met weekly in small groups and worked through cases that taught us how to FIND the answers we sought, think critically about every patient, and prioritized the importance as being a member of a healthcare team. Wake is a split campus, with about 1/3 of students being in the mountains of NC, on App State’s campus. I was one of the lucky ones who got to call themself a ‘Boonie’ as I was on the Boone (App State) campus. We were close knit, and I carry those friendships to this day!

NHSC Scholarship:

Even before applying to PA school, I knew I wanted to go into primary care. I wanted to enter a speciality that rewarded forming deep relationships with my patients, caring for a wide variety of medical conditions, and was very interested in the schedule and flexibility a foundation in primary care would offer. The NHSC scholarship – which I learned about during a PA program open house – was a federal scholarship which offered a full ride WITH a living stipend (among other supports), in exchange for working at least 2 years in a underserved/federally qualified health center. I applied for and was very lucky to receive it, along with 6 other students in my cohort.

My First PA Job:

I applied to numerous scholarship qualifying positions my last several months of PA school. I interviewed for and ultimately accepted my post graduate position in February of 2023. I graduated a few months later in May 2023, and began my position at a rural NC primary care clinic in August of 2023. I am still employed by the same organization, and am nearing the 3 year mark of practice! I completed my scholarship commitment last summer, which means I am officially (almost) debt free as a PA who attended a program that costs 6 figures! I am very grateful for the NHSC scholarship, and for my current position taking a chance on a new graduate! This past year, I started precepting, and had my first two students from Wake – they were exceptional. Now I’m looking forward to whatever life brings next!