On March 22nd, we received the privilege of being able to interview a PA student at PC’s PA school to have a more in-depth look into the school for those interested.

Before we dive in, there were a few errors in our last post about being a PA, so those need to be corrected:

• The correct title of a PA is Physician Assistant
• PAs are required to work under a physician
• The program lasts 24 months
• Graduate students do not qualify for subsidized loans

Graduating from PA school can be beneficial in the growing field and can offer promising job opportunities. The PA student, Sarah Grace Whitt, answered several questions about attending PA school and its impact on the community. First, the application for PA school is done through an online application called CASPA. It consists of your academics, grades, personal statement, and the program type you would like to be enrolled in. There is no specific undergraduate major required for PA school, as long as the prerequisites for the program you want are fulfilled. Sarah Grace, however, acknowledged that the more rigorous majors help prepare for the coursework at PA school.

When asked about what motivated her to become a PA, she said, “I was struggling with a medical condition for a while and a PA was the one that was finally able to figure out what was wrong and was able to walk me through the process so that’s when I decided that was the route in medicine that I wanted to take.” One of the main goals of PAs is to improve patient care everywhere, and Sarah Grace’s story is a prime example of how they have been able to achieve that so far. Alongside that, the growth of PA as a profession has and will continue to improve access to healthcare in rural parts of the country. Thanks to them, small towns like Clinton have faster and easier access to medical aid!

Sarah Grace also spoke highly of the PA program here at PC. She praised the faculty for being outstanding and helpful with all that she needed.

PC’s PA school participates in many charity drives. Currently, they are collecting donations for the Hospice of Lee County and pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald House. For Valentines, they wrote cards for the nursing home here in Clinton. Not only are our PA students preparing for their futures in the medical field, they are also an important part of our community!