As a high schooler, the question, “What are you going to do when you graduate.” seemed like the most difficult question to answer. I knew that in order to find satisfaction in any career, I had to do something that I had a passion for as well as something that mattered and had a purpose, but actually identifying what that was felt impossible until my junior year of high school.
The first day of class that year was the same boring school day I had come to know until the last period of the day, Biology 2. As soon as the bell rang the teacher began handing out the textbook for the course, which was essentially an anatomy and physiology textbook. The teacher then proceeded to have the class mark each graph, chart, and picture that we would be …show more content…
It was early on the first day of clinicals when my trainer and I were needing to change the brief on a resident who had dementia. The resident was non-compliant, shouting, crying, and raising her hand toward me. I don’t know why, but for some reason I decided to reach out and gently hold her hand. When I did this she immediately calmed down, sighed, and kept repeating, “That’s it, that’s it, that’s it.” I think that was the first moment I truly understood the purpose that the medical profession gives. Being a medical practitioner is about being there for someone at perhaps the worst moment in their life and doing what you can to comfort and care for them in any way possible. Whether it means diagnosing and treating a patient or holding their hand to ease their mental anguish, every decision I make in my career has to be focused on caring for someone else. Because of this, what one does as a PA has real meaning and value. Moreover, a PA can never lose sight of the fact that the material they learn is only valuable because it can be applied to a person that needs their care, and I love all of these things about the profession. They’re the reason why my obsession with the material began in high school and why it continues to this
The first day of class that year was the same boring school day I had come to know until the last period of the day, Biology 2. As soon as the bell rang the teacher began handing out the textbook for the course, which was essentially an anatomy and physiology textbook. The teacher then proceeded to have the class mark each graph, chart, and picture that we would be …show more content…
It was early on the first day of clinicals when my trainer and I were needing to change the brief on a resident who had dementia. The resident was non-compliant, shouting, crying, and raising her hand toward me. I don’t know why, but for some reason I decided to reach out and gently hold her hand. When I did this she immediately calmed down, sighed, and kept repeating, “That’s it, that’s it, that’s it.” I think that was the first moment I truly understood the purpose that the medical profession gives. Being a medical practitioner is about being there for someone at perhaps the worst moment in their life and doing what you can to comfort and care for them in any way possible. Whether it means diagnosing and treating a patient or holding their hand to ease their mental anguish, every decision I make in my career has to be focused on caring for someone else. Because of this, what one does as a PA has real meaning and value. Moreover, a PA can never lose sight of the fact that the material they learn is only valuable because it can be applied to a person that needs their care, and I love all of these things about the profession. They’re the reason why my obsession with the material began in high school and why it continues to this