My journey to becoming a dermatology physician assistant took a few twists and turns. I will be the first to admit that there was a bit of luck involved with ending up in the career I have today. They say everything happens for a reason and because of my experiences, I do truly believe that. Every journey into the medical field is different. I have written about my journey briefly before but never in detail, so here it goes.
Freshman year fall semester of college
It all started fall semester of my freshman year of college. I had just spent a week in the hospital due to needing emergency surgery for a retropharyngeal abscess. I watched in and out of sleep on my hospital bed as my grades took a plunge. It had been a few weeks since I had last been in class or completed an assignment. I had missed a chemistry exam worth roughly 25% of my grade. The drop period was over. If it wasn’t for my mother’s persistent calls to the University of North Carolina, I would have graduated college with an F in Chemistry 101. Fortunately, through all of her hard work, I was able to apply for medical underload and drop the class. This meant I was taking less than the minimum amount of courses required to remain enrolled as a full-time student.
Freshman year spring semester of college
Returning to classes after surgery was difficult, to say the least. I had planned to go to medical school and through my naivety I thought I would never be able to catch up. My academic advisor had said I needed to take Chem 101 fall semester and Bio 101 in the spring. Now that I was “off track”, I believed my dream of attending medical school would never come to fruition. My parents, as loving, intelligent, and helpful as they are, did not have any experience in the medical field. I knew I had to seek out other options for my future on my own.
Learning about the PA profession
Spring semester rolled around and I decided to double down on my schedule so I could make up for missed time. I still decided to enroll in Bio 101 because that had been my original plan, and I am one to figure out a plan and stick with it. It was at this time I met my now best friend. She was also a freshman and had taken Bio 101 in the fall and was now a teacher’s assistant for Bio 101 lab in the spring. We realized we were in the same sorority, which I had barely any involvement with since my surgery. Her father was a physician and as we were talking she told me she was planning on attending physician assistant school. It was the first time I had ever heard of this career path. I was intrigued by this option. If her father, who was in the medical field, was recommending it to her then maybe it was also an option for me.
Shadowing and volunteering
After hours upon hours of researching the career, I finally decided it was something I wanted to pursue. It required similar science courses as medical school as well as a ton of direct patient care experience. With that information, I continued to take science courses and started volunteering at the emergency department. I shadowed my parent’s neighbor who was a cardiology PA at Duke and interviewed my friend’s mom who was a family medicine PA about her experiences. The summer after Sophomore year I took an EMT course and then joined the local volunteer rescue squad. I volunteered as an EMT on the weekends and some weeknights when I didn’t have to be up super early for class. I loved the adrenaline rush of emergency medicine but truly disliked night shifts.
Healthcare experience
As my time at college came to an end I knew I had to decide what my next steps would be. I didn’t have enough direct patient experience to start applying to PA school. With my EMT certification, I figured the only thing I could do was find a paid job as an EMT in the area. I applied for one position and got it. I was about to accept the offer when one day I was volunteering with another EMT who had graduated the year before me and was talking about her day job. She was a medical assistant at a dermatology office nearby and they were hiring. I told her I didn’t have any certifications as a medical assistant and she told me they did all their training in-house. I quickly applied and when I got the job I decided this new experience was worth more than continuing to gain experience as an EMT.
My introduction to dermatology
That one decision was one of the best decisions I have made for my life and my career. I entered the world of dermatology and instantly fell in love with the specialty. It was unlike cardiology, emergency, or family medicine. I could work normal hours without having to worry about night shifts. The office was closed on the weekends and for holidays. I had the pleasure of working directly with other PAs who I admired. They all had full autonomy. They saw their patients, performed minor surgeries and procedures, and only asked the physicians questions when needed. The staff and patients loved them.
Why I fell in love with dermatology
The patients followed directions and were compliant with treatment regimens. My favorite part was no one was dying around me. During my time working as an EMT and volunteering in the emergency department, I had seen a few deaths and watched as providers gave bad news to patients and family members. I knew that was a part of working in medicine that I would just have to deal with. I rarely have to give bad news in dermatology. The patients for the most part wanted to be there, they wanted to look better. I have also always been a visual learner, and I still am. I have to see something to understand and remember it. Dermatology is all visual learning. I saw a rash, learned what it was, and I would remember it the next time I saw it.
Applying to PA school
I applied to PA school after one and a half years of working as a dermatology medical assistant. During that period, I continued to volunteer as an EMT on the weekends. I also took a few science classes at night with the intent to boost my science GPA. I was accepted into PA school two years after graduating from college. It was my first time applying and I got the email when I was at work. The first word was “Congratulations!” It was a moment in my life I will always remember.
PA school
Dermatology was what I knew and what I loved. I told myself I would be open to pursuing other specialties but it was very clear when we started learning about dermatology in PA school that it was the specialty I wanted to work in. Those 27 months of school were rigorous. I learned a lot about medicine, patient care, and about myself.
6 months before graduating from PA school
When I was about 6 months away from graduating from PA school I decided to start searching for jobs. I applied to several different specialties. My then-boyfriend, now husband was/is active duty military and had gotten orders to Maine. I had lived my entire life in North Carolina and now Virginia. I was moving to a part of the country where I had zero connections. To make matters worse the part of Maine we were moving to was rural and I couldn’t find any dermatology offices within an hour’s drive of where I would be living. At least none that hired PAs. To make things even more difficult the year I was graduating was 2020. There was a global pandemic going on and a lot of hospitals had hiring freezes. I finally decided to bite the bullet and apply to locations even further away. An hour and a half away to be exact.
My first “job interview”
I received an email a few days after applying for a dermatology PA position an hour and a half away from where I would be living. I set up a phone call with the dermatologist who owned the practice. After some initial questions about myself, the dermatologist then told me she had gone to medical school with one of the dermatologists I used to work with in North Carolina when I was a medical assistant. She had recognized the name of the practice when she was looking at my resume and had called her friend before reaching out to me. I was stunned and to this day realize how lucky I had been with that connection I didn’t even know I had. She offered me the job without a true interview. A reference from her friend was good enough. I graduated from PA school in August 2020 and started my first job as a dermatology PA in October 2020. Since then, I have never once considered switching to a different specialty.
I hope you enjoyed my story of how I became a dermatology physician assistant. It truly is my dream career and I am very grateful to have gotten my foot in the door immediately after graduating from PA school. There was a little sacrifice for the first year. I had to commute an hour and a half EACH way, but it was worth it and I wouldn’t change anything. Do you relate to any part of my story? Let me know which medical specialty you are interested in pursuing in the comments below!
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