Medicine - OohJulie

“Reducing health disparities in underserved communities, is the driving force behind my desire in becoming a physician assistant.”

Those were the opening words of my personal statement when I applied to PA school. They captured a passion I had carried for years and were reflected in both my employment and my community service.

Now that I am a practicing provider, I see the complexity of achieving that vision within a healthcare system that is, at its core, profit-driven. Increasing access and delivering quality care are often treated as secondary goals when profit margins are at stake. This reality has forced me to reconcile the difference between the ideals that drew me into medicine and the system I must work within.

Hello beautiful people!! So yesterday I asked one of the doctors I once worked with if he would be willing to write me a letter of recommendation for PA school. Anyone who knows me well knows I absolutely hate having to ask for a LOR. For some reason I always feel like I\’m a burden, but that\’s clearly my own hang-up I’m going to have to learn to get over. All week I had been gearing up to ask. Should I text or email, what should I say, how long should it be…. lol needless questions that caused me much anxiety. Anyway I finally sent the text and was ecstatic when he replied and said yes. Though, he did have a question for me

— Why did you go from Physician to PA to teaching to Public health, and back to PA?

I wasn’t expecting this question, but it got me thinking. The short response is I chose PA because I want to play an active role in reducing health disparities with marginalized groups, working primarily in primary care and substance abuse. However, this was not always my purpose and in fact my life has been a journey leading me to where God intends for me to be.

Tag: Medicine

Medicine, Profit, and Purpose

My PA Journey – Why I Chose PA?