Personal Narrative: My Experience As A Medical Assistant

As a child, I loved being a caring "healer" of my beloved toys. My first patient was my unsuspecting teddy bear. I treated his imaginary broken arm with duct tape, cleaned his wounds with a spray bottle filled with tap water and used an entire box of adhesive bandages to cover his lacerations. This childhood play came naturally to me but did little to prepare me for being my mother 's occasional caregiver a little later in life.
Following my parents ' divorce, my mother worked as a letter carrier for the US Post Office. Years of this arduous labor resulted in her suffering from muscle spasms, tendonitis and degenerative cartilage disease that left her incapacitated at times. While doing my chores one evening, my mother yelled my name with an uncharacteristically distressed and pained voice. I rushed to find her lying in the bathtub immobilized by pain. Though the look of fear and panic on her face frightened me, I overcame my fear so that I could help her. She said to me in low, strained tone, "run to the kitchen . . . get the vinegar." For generations, vinegar has been the home remedy of choice in my family passed on to us by my grandmother. I hurriedly brought her the vinegar, she drank it from the bottle and I helped her out of the bathtub. Assisting my mother that frightful evening was the single most important catalyst for my pursuit of a career in healthcare. I initially wanted to become a physical therapist because my mother 's health was greatly improved due to the excellent care she received in PT. After high school, I began volunteering at a local physical therapy clinic where I had my first interaction with patients in a medical setting. For four hours a day, twice a week, I would go to the clinic and provide clerical support and observe therapy sessions. Months of volunteering led to me working as a rehabilitation technician at two of Atlanta 's greatest teaching hospitals. Unlike the limited patient contact I had as a clinic volunteer, my rehab tech responsibilities gave me an opportunity for direct patient care. I loved working …show more content…
Observing the PAs providing optimal care their patients with integrity and compassion, taking the extra time to both anticipate and thoroughly answer any questions and listening to the patients speak very highly of the approachability of the PA struck a chord in my heart making me very fond of the profession. I also admired the amount of medical decision making that a PA has which is in line with my original dedication to provide a more comprehensive care, a far cry from my childhood pastime of healing toys with imaginary bumps and bruises. This experience clarified the professional path I want to take. I decided to fully immerse myself into the physician assistant profession by learning as much as I could about the profession outside of my job and shadowing. I later joined the American Academy of Physician Assistants as an affiliate member to keep up with the growing profession of PAs and all of the state regulatory laws as well as receive weekly articles keeping me abreast of current medical practices and trends. As I look back on my life, know that my journey has led me to a profession that I continue to grow with and stay passionate about. My compassion to provide care and comfort to those sick and in need as well as my unwavering desire to always learn gives me confidence that as I will be a great asset to healthcare as a physician