Sarah

[cleveland05]

Commented: Full Traumatic Arrest 2 Mins Out and You Can Be So Much More.

This is like draft number 6 so I think I'm getting close to nailing it, let me know what you think! Also, I'm about 700 words over, so any cuts you guys think don't add to my essay please let me know! Thanks everyone.

When I think about what has defined me as both a student and a medical professional, Sarah is the first person I picture. I quickly learned that call lights are few and far between in the intensive care unit, perhaps because so many of the patients are on a ventilator and restrained, or constantly being monitored by the nurses for blood draws and two-hour turns. Whatever the reason, that was not the case with Sarah.

Sarah loved pressing the call light. I thought it was accidental when I heard a beep just after my initial rounds. Usually the light meant she just wanted more water or a fresh gown. I didn’t mind; time with patients is important and Sarah had no visitors. I had run to the lab mid-day, and when I got back, the same pale blue light was on, but not a nurse in site, which was strange given the floor acuity. This time it wasn’t water Sarah needed, but air. I learned in basic life support class what to do in an emergency, exactly how long to check for a pulse, how deeply to compress into the chest and how often to give a breath. The skills required are laid out in a step by step process perfected by research and statistics to prepare you, a caregiver, for the worst. The truth is nothing can prepare you for the worst. No amount of practice with dummies could ever acclimate me to the sound of Sarah’s ribs cracking underneath the pressure of my sweaty palms. No amount of classroom instruction could prepare me for seeing her head hit the bed underneath her as I worked furiously to bring her back. I pressed my fingers on her neck to check for a pulse, watching the empty doorway, until I finally felt a faint pulse on her neck. I can still feel it on my fingers.

I have always known this profession was for me but I have always struggled to put it into words. My day in the ICU resolved that. The rush I felt is incomparable to anything I have ever experienced, and it has everything to do with knowing that I was the difference that day, for Sarah and for my nurses, but what if air hadn’t been what Sarah had needed to revive her and had required advanced care? While I enjoy my work volunteering with the Free Clinic and the American Cancer Society in addition to two years of STNA work, it is not enough. On that day in the ICU, I was the difference, and maybe one day I will be that difference again, but I need to go into work and know that I am reaching my maximum potential to help my patients every single day.

Moving to northeast Ohio from Croatia had its challenges for my five year old self, but resilient as I was, I was able to pick up English with ease, and began to look forward to school. May before graduation, I decided to explore the field of medicine, something that had always interested me through my honors classes. I shadowed my first physician, and I loved that he was able to connect with his patients personally. Upon departure from his office, I was determined to find my own way of getting to work with people in a medical setting. I concurred that it was expensive and tedious, but to this day becoming an STNA is the best decision I have ever made. I appreciate everything I am able to do to help in patient recovery, but my current scope of practice does not utilize my full potential. I have always known education is crucial for me to make my potential an every day reality, and I will pursue it as essential facilitation in my development as an independent, medically-oriented provider that is a catalyst for improving both prognosis and the patient experience. I need the knowlegde to expedite full recovery by being able to provide an advanced level of care, whether it be prescribing medicine or performing procedures, because given the right didactic and clinical tools I know I can be that difference.

As a student at Cleveland State University in the Honors and Scholars program, the time I have spent in the classroom has been critical in my understanding our physiology, and has set a strong foundation both for the advanced coursework that the PA program and the conceptualization the career entails. Biology, organic chemistry, and even calculus were especially interesting; the correlations between the groundwork I have learned in the classroom and actual patient cases are now clear. Learning about how a stroke occurs is one thing, but seeing a patient struggle with its debilitating affects is another. I have been fortunate enough to have worked with a wide range of psychological cases through the Cleveland Clinic as well as been a founding member of a research group that has worked extensively with virtual memory theory and stress correlation. I find it fascinating that such small parts of our anatomy can affect demeanor in such a large way. It was not until I started working at the Cleveland Clinic and exposed to a vast number of patients that needed continuous 1:1 care that the spark and appreciation for psychology came, and my interest has increased ten-fold; no matter where I start in my career as a PA, I will end it with a psychiatric clinic of my own.

With every experience I have had, another reason has anchored my aspirations. At work it became habit to observe the physician assistants and I became intensely fascinated. Their professional yet approachable manner and the variability in their roles is incredible and the knowledge that I could become a provider for a variety of departments as a PA is still exhilarating. In healthcare today we need PAs, in every type of patient setting, and we need them now. We need them for harvesting veins, , for consults, in our emergency rooms and urgent care centers. The demand is evident and I am ready for the challenge.

[astone]

I think your experience sounds great and that is something they will value.
You said it was a little long so here are some ideas of thing to cut out.
- Specifics about classes, they require theses classes because they know they relate and are important, I don't think you need to say that.
- The part about how you moved. While it was a big part of you life and impressive I think it is a little random in this essay.
- The firs paragraph in general. They know what question you are answering so you don't have to repeat it. I think if you just started at "Sarah loved..." it would have the same effect.

Hope this help!
I am no expert so these are just my option, take it or leave it.
Good luck!