Preparing to Become a PA
During my senior year of high school, I was first introduced to the PA profession through my sister who is a PA, but at that time I didn’t really know what she did in this role. However, it wasn’t until I worked alongside shadowing PA's at the urgent care that my desire to go into this field solidified. Through this experience, I was able to collaborate with the physicians, nurses, and PA's. At the urgent care where I worked, PA's were primarily the ones who diagnosed and treated patients, and I saw how autonomous and independent they were. One of the most impactful clinical experiences was an orthopedic surgery medical mission trip I attended a year before starting PA school. I was fortunate enough to go to Honduras with a group of doctors, nurses, scrub techs, and other people and help assist in hip and knee replacement surgeries for people in Honduras who cannot afford these procedures. Even though I had no knowledge or experience in this area, I was able to learn about sterility and how to scrub and assist in these surgeries.
Choosing Mount Union, Again
My experience at Mount as an undergrad was nothing short of amazing. It was an easy choice for me to choose their PA program. During my time as an undergrad I was able to visit the PA faculty from time to time and although I had just a few interactions with them, I found them all to be so welcoming and encouraging. As I shadowed various PA's around the area (many of whom were Mount alumni), they would enthusiastically share how great their experience being in the program was with me. My desire to attend Mount was cemented. Additionally, Mount has a very successful PANCE pass rate which encouraged me as well.