Career As A Medical Assistant: A Career Analysis

I slam my foot on the gas pedal and rush towards the scene. My partner and I, young clueless boys, receive our first emergency response and are quite nervous. My fingers are fumbling everywhere as I struggle to turn on multiple switches for the ambulance. At the intersection we see a young man whimpering. “Kidney stones,” the officers say. Without hesitation, we load him into the truck and hurry towards the hospital. My partner gives the report to the triage nurse and I take the man’s vitals. His teeth are clenched tight, streams of tears rolling down his cheeks, and his body twisting and turning to adjust to the pain. As we head to the examination room, his sobbing continues. I firmly lay my hand on his shoulder and tell him he is going to be all right.
There was not much I was able to do for Tom. I felt useless. While he was weeping in pain, all I could offer were words of comfort. Yet, as I spoke these words, he turned towards me and his eyes lit up. “Thank you,” he said, as we parted ways. In that brief moment, I knew that I had done the best I could. I played a small role, but one that was a distinct element in the progression of patient care. It is

I had asked her what other careers there were in healthcare and she briefly mentioned a few. However, physician assistant stood out to me. Not long after, I shadowed a PA at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the interventional radiology department to gain more insight. I admired his ability to perform a procedure alone, which is only possible after the radiologist and the PA are confident this can be done safely and with high quality. I appreciated how he would talk to his patients before the procedure, making sure they understood everything that was to happen and comforting them. He was flexible, able to work autonomously and alongside the physicians and nurses. I told myself, this is how I would achieve that yearning to do