Over the past year, I had the opportunity to meet several physician assistants.  In addition, I also had the chance to shadow and interview Megan, a physician assistant at Dublin Methodist Hospital.  She works in the Emergency Department there and I really enjoyed shadowing her and getting to know more about the career.  The first thing I learned during my time with Megan was how important it is to obtain as many direct patient care hours as possible prior to applying to PA school.  Since this interview, I have been looking and applying for several jobs to start collecting my hours.  Next, we talked about what classes are needed for PA school.  She remembers that it was confusing at times deciding what classes to take since each PA school has different requirements; however, she did recommend to try to take as many as possible so that I will have more options when it comes time to apply.  Furthermore, she talked about life as a PA in the Emergency Department.  Since she just recently graduated from PA school, Megan loves this path because she likes how there is always a lot going on.  With that being said, she also told me that the nice thing about being a physician assistant is that you can easily change to a different specialization if you feel that will fit better into your life.  This was the first time I had heard of this, and it made me even more excited to pursue this career.  At the end of the interview, I also asked her how many schools she recommended applying to.  She said that the average is usually twelve schools and that it is never too early to start narrowing down which ones you think you want to apply to.  Since this interview, I have made a spreadsheet of all the PA schools I am interested in as well as what courses are required for each so that I know I have a strong application.  Lastly, this time with Megan was great because in addition to the interview, I also got to see a couple patients with her.  I have always had an interest in the Emergency Department and this was a wonderful opportunity to see what life is like in this career path.

Even since deciding to come to Ohio State, I always knew that I had an interest in the medical field.  However, the more I looked into the different paths that one can take, I decided that I was more interested in following the PA track.  In order to gain more knowledge and advice on what I need to do to follow this path, I talked with a second-year in HSS to see what her recommendations were and what she has done so far to prepare to apply for PA school.  First, I started off by just asking her why she is interested in becoming a PA.  Her response was very similar to my thought process in the way that she has always been interested in the medical field, but when she looked more closely at the difference in medical careers she decided that a PA is more fitting.  Some reasons included that it is a more stable lifestyle and that a PA can do almost all of the same tasks as a physician.  Next, I asked a few questions pertaining to what clubs and volunteer opportunities she has taken advantage.  She said that she is involved in MedLife, Pre-Med Club, AED Fraternity, and volunteers at the Wexner Center and at a local elementary school.  I look forward to looking into more medical related clubs and volunteer opportunities next year at the Involvement Fair.  In addition, she also shared that she has been in a few psychology research projects.  However, her one piece of advice was to make sure you are interested in the type of research because it is very time consuming and will not be as rewarding if you are not interested in it.

After asking these questions, we then talked about future plans to continue to prepare for PA school.  She said that her next goal is to get her STNA/CNA certification over the summer and begin getting hours once this is complete.  Furthermore, she said that when it does come time to apply for PA school, she hopes to apply to between five to ten of them.  Lastly, I asked her if she had any final advice for me.  She said to be sure to not slack off freshman year because PA school is highly competitive and it is important to maintain a high GPA.  She also recommended that I try to take medical terminology if I have time in my schedule because a lot of PA schools require it and the class will be very helpful if you play to have a career in the medical field.

Overall, I am really glad I had the opportunity to interview a second-year HSS member and I look forward to thinking about her advice as I continue on my path of hopefully one day being a physician’s assistant.

Over the course of my first year as a member of the Health Science Scholars Program, I have had numerous opportunities to serve on campus, for local organizations, and in neighboring suburbs.  One of my first service opportunities through HSS was volunteering with the Garden of Hope.  This is a local garden that grows fresh produce for patients that have cancer.  Having access to fresh produce is very important to these patients and many times it is hard for them to get the fruits and vegetables they need to better their health while they are going through treatment.  In addition, I also volunteered to help make blankets and pillows for the children with cancer at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.  Being able to help children battling cancer is something very near to my heart and therefore I really enjoyed being able to spend time with new friends helping a great cause.  Furthermore, I also spent a total of eight hours serving the homeless in Columbus by making sandwiches at a local church.  This has been a long-term service organization that I am involved in, and I plan to continue to volunteer my service with them as much as possible.  One of my favorite service opportunities with HSS was going to a local retirement home on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to help several of the residents.  My job during this time was to help organize one of the resident’s rooms.  I really enjoyed helping her clean her room as well as talk to her and get to know her better.  Lastly, my final service experience for my first year in HSS was to help with a simulation exercise at the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

My most memorable experience of service during my first year was being a victim of a bombing in the simulation exercise.  This was an experience that not many people get to do and it was really interesting seeing how much planning needs to go into preparing for a city-wide disaster.  Another reason this was very memorable to me is because I got to interact with medical school students as they were learning what to do in the case of a bombing.  Being able to be a part of them learning how to act in this situation and hear all of their knowledge on how to treat each patient based on their injuries made me excited as I thought about my goals for a future in the medical field.  I also gain more networking connections as I was able to interact with doctors in the central Ohio area as well as having the opportunity to meet the Dean of the medical school.  Lastly, this opportunity gave me insight as to what my role will be this summer as I get o intern with OhioHealth in their simulation laboratory.

Overall, this first year of service has given me the chance to serve several different organizations and groups of people, and I look forward to continuing to serve more in the future.

This is a picture of our “injuries” from the simulation volunteer experience.