"Conditon C. Presbyterian. Seventh floor. South Tower. Room 7652." The announcement screamed twice over the loud speakers. My stomach dropped. I knew right away that a patient's status had taken a turn for the worst. Without hesitation, I stopped what I was doing and sprinted towards the room for which the code was called. Arriving outside, I peered in to see a swarm of nurses, doctors, and physician assistants frantically tending to the patient's every need. "He needs to be intubated," shouted a doctor. "Someone grab a stretcher!" I knew the patient needed transferred to the Intensive Care Unit immediately. With adrenaline rushing through me, I had the stretcher outside of the room in no time. "This can't be happening," I thought to myself.
Every day as a nursing assistant for UPMC's flagship, Presbyterian Hospital, I would hear codes being called over the loudspeaker for patients in distress. It was only a matter of time until one happened on our floor. Eerily enough, I wasn't scared. I wanted to rush into the room and go to work on the patient myself, whether it meant intubation or even surgery. It was this instinct to help that made me realize I wanted to make my summer job into a career in healthcare.
In the spring of 2002, I was sitting in a classroom in Altoona High School for an Odyssey of the Mind competition with five of my team members. Odyssey of the Mind is a competition in which students from the same school district work in teams to collaborate and solve problems in the most creative way possible. Each team works on a problem from October to March, forming a short skit to present to judges at a regional competition. That day in March, we knew we were in the classroom to participate in an event called, "spontaneous," in which a panel of judges gives the team a problem to solve in a given amount of time.
"Your task is to build a structure using dry spaghetti noodles, toothpicks, and clay that will be judged on both height and its ability to hold three marshmallows for 10 seconds. You will have five minutes to complete this task. When the judge says `begin,' you may start."
Toothpicks, dry noodles, and clay? Challenge accepted. Immediately, my team and I started constructing an architect's worst nightmare. How were these objects supposed to go together well enough to hold marshmallows? Luckily, my team and I were veterans in these "hands-on" creativity problems. We got the task finished with time to spare while using all of the given materials. Teamwork was nothing new to neither my team nor me.
Fortunately, all of our hard work, commitment, and collaboration paid off. That year, my team made it to the world finals competition at the University of Colorado at Boulder - the championship level for Odyssey of the Mind. Since then, teamwork has continued to be an integral part of my life.
Last August, I opened an email from my physiology professor. It read:
"Dear Benjamin, I am pleased to announce that I have selected you, among others, to be a teaching assistant for my Biology 142 lab."
I am fortunate enough to say that the Fall 2011 semester was my first time teaching fellow undergraduate students in an entry-level mammalian physiology laboratory. I was able to relay both my passion and knowledge of the human body to students who were eager to learn. The looks on their faces when students were finally able to understand a difficult concept will be etched in my mind forever. When I was asked to teach again for the Fall 2012 semester, I did not think twice about accepting the offer.
When I found out about what a physician assistant's job entailed, I knew that this career choice would fit me perfectly. My experience on an Odyssey of the Mind team has shown me the benefits of working as a team. As a physician assistant working with a team of doctors, I will be able to utilize and enhance my team building skills. We would be able to exchange thoughts with one another in order to improve diagnosis, treatment, and care of our patients. As a teaching assistant, I am able to communicate ideas and knowledge to my students. I can use these skills as a physician assistant to communicate effectively with a team of doctors and also to convey information to the patient in order for him to better understand his condition. I believe that I am an excellent candidate because I possess many of the attributes necessary to become a successful physician assistant: people skills, creativity, and most importantly, the ability to cooperate and think critically.
Every day as a nursing assistant for UPMC's flagship, Presbyterian Hospital, I would hear codes being called over the loudspeaker for patients in distress. It was only a matter of time until one happened on our floor. Eerily enough, I wasn't scared. I wanted to rush into the room and go to work on the patient myself, whether it meant intubation or even surgery. It was this instinct to help that made me realize I wanted to make my summer job into a career in healthcare.
In the spring of 2002, I was sitting in a classroom in Altoona High School for an Odyssey of the Mind competition with five of my team members. Odyssey of the Mind is a competition in which students from the same school district work in teams to collaborate and solve problems in the most creative way possible. Each team works on a problem from October to March, forming a short skit to present to judges at a regional competition. That day in March, we knew we were in the classroom to participate in an event called, "spontaneous," in which a panel of judges gives the team a problem to solve in a given amount of time.
"Your task is to build a structure using dry spaghetti noodles, toothpicks, and clay that will be judged on both height and its ability to hold three marshmallows for 10 seconds. You will have five minutes to complete this task. When the judge says `begin,' you may start."
Toothpicks, dry noodles, and clay? Challenge accepted. Immediately, my team and I started constructing an architect's worst nightmare. How were these objects supposed to go together well enough to hold marshmallows? Luckily, my team and I were veterans in these "hands-on" creativity problems. We got the task finished with time to spare while using all of the given materials. Teamwork was nothing new to neither my team nor me.
Fortunately, all of our hard work, commitment, and collaboration paid off. That year, my team made it to the world finals competition at the University of Colorado at Boulder - the championship level for Odyssey of the Mind. Since then, teamwork has continued to be an integral part of my life.
Last August, I opened an email from my physiology professor. It read:
"Dear Benjamin, I am pleased to announce that I have selected you, among others, to be a teaching assistant for my Biology 142 lab."
I am fortunate enough to say that the Fall 2011 semester was my first time teaching fellow undergraduate students in an entry-level mammalian physiology laboratory. I was able to relay both my passion and knowledge of the human body to students who were eager to learn. The looks on their faces when students were finally able to understand a difficult concept will be etched in my mind forever. When I was asked to teach again for the Fall 2012 semester, I did not think twice about accepting the offer.
When I found out about what a physician assistant's job entailed, I knew that this career choice would fit me perfectly. My experience on an Odyssey of the Mind team has shown me the benefits of working as a team. As a physician assistant working with a team of doctors, I will be able to utilize and enhance my team building skills. We would be able to exchange thoughts with one another in order to improve diagnosis, treatment, and care of our patients. As a teaching assistant, I am able to communicate ideas and knowledge to my students. I can use these skills as a physician assistant to communicate effectively with a team of doctors and also to convey information to the patient in order for him to better understand his condition. I believe that I am an excellent candidate because I possess many of the attributes necessary to become a successful physician assistant: people skills, creativity, and most importantly, the ability to cooperate and think critically.