Confessions Of A Future Physician Assistant [PA Week Feature]

I think one of the many opportunities during PA Week is to motivate young people, college students, and others considering career changes, to consider a career as a Physician Assistant.  Certainly the best decision of my life,  I’m hoping that this career path will be equally as rewarding to one of our own, here at Medelita.  Read her story below.

Lara Francisco, PA-C
Medelita Founder

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I always knew that I wanted to do something in medicine. I love people - helping them, hearing their stories, joking around and developing that sense of camaraderie. Ever since I was young, I’ve always enjoyed being the friend who others feel comfortable coming to for advice and help. In working in medicine, the ‘social’ aspect of creating authentic relationships with patients is a huge part of reaching positive health outcomes. I don’t see anything better than a career that blends my inner science nerd with the social butterfly aspect of my personality.

But the number of different career options within the field of medicine is overwhelming: how was I supposed to know which medical role would be the right fit for me?

While mentally preparing for my future medical career, I began my current job at a medical scrubs and lab coats company - enter Medelita. One of the special things about Medelita is that it was founded by a Physician Assistant, a strong woman role model who actually worked as an Emergency Medicine PA in inner-city and high-volume trauma centers for 10 years before she started the company. After hearing Lara’s stories about her career as a PA and how rewarding she found it (naturally, most of these conversations took place over the coffee machine) I came to the conclusion that becoming a PA would be the best fit for my own medical career as well.

What appeals to me about being a Physician Assistant is the flexibility it offers, while also giving me the opportunity to work one-on-one with patients in a number of different clinical settings. I enjoy diagnostics and want to be a part of creating a plan of action for patients, and the idea of working under a supervising physician with whom I can consult as a PA excites me. PAs can also more easily work in different specialties, a level of flexibility that will quench my ceaseless thirst for learning new things; I can definitely see myself wanting to explore different specialties once or twice after I become a PA!

Physician Assistants are also some of the happiest people with their job - it recently snagged the 7th spot on a list of the top 25 best jobs in America, which takes into account factors such as job satisfaction, career opportunities, number of job openings and median base salary. From a ‘big picture’ perspective, Physician Assistants are growing in importance for our healthcare system, because having more PA positions in hospitals helps to bring down costs of healthcare. This is important to me and I want to be a part of it.

Great health outcomes are the result of great medical teams, and I enjoy being part of a bigger team all working together towards a similar goal. I know that becoming a PA is the right choice for me. This is a truly fulfilling career path in which you are constantly learning new things and facing new challenges, while having the privilege of improving the lives of patients in a meaningful way. What could be better than that?

Natalie Arellano

Aptly named, Enclothed Cognition is the official Medelita blog for medical professionals interested in topics relevant to a discerning and inquisitive audience. Medelita was founded by a licensed clinician who felt strongly about the connection between focus, poise and appearance.

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