Jun 24, 2024
Embarking on the path to becoming a physician assistant is asignificant journey filled with challenges, growth, and invaluableexperiences. In a recent podcast episode of Victors in Grad School,host Dr. Christopher Lewis had a compelling conversation withgraduating physician assistant student Hannah Richard. The dialoguedelved deep into Hannah's personal journey, from her decision topursue a career as a PA to navigating the rigorous demands of PAschool. Let's explore key insights and reflections shared by Hannahas she transitions from student life to professional practice.
Discoveringthe Path to PA School:
Hannah's journey to PA school began with a spark of curiosityand intrigue during her high school anatomy class. Like manyaspiring PA students, she was drawn to the profession's blend ofmedical knowledge and patient care. The process of deciding topursue graduate education in physician assistant studies involvednavigating challenges, doubts, and ultimately reaffirming hercommitment to this rewarding career path.
Preparing forPA School:
As Hannah shared, the preparation for PA school goes beyondacademic readiness. It requires gaining hands-on experience,accruing clinical hours, and honing essential skills to thrive inthe demanding environment of a PA program. From working as acertified nurse assistant to learning procedures and patientassessment, each experience contributed to Hannah's preparednessfor the rigorous journey ahead.
Navigating theChallenges of PA School:
PA school is a transformative experience that demandsflexibility, resilience, and self-awareness. Hannah highlighted theimportance of listening to oneself, understanding when to pushforward and when to prioritize self-care. The transition fromdidactic learning to clinical rotations brings unique challenges,requiring students to adapt their study methods, collaborate withpeers, and maintain a balance between academic rigor and personalwell-being.
Reflections onProfessional Preparedness:
As graduation approaches, Hannah reflects on how her PA schoolexperience has equipped her for the next chapter in herprofessional journey. The diverse backgrounds and experiences ofher classmates have enriched her learning, preparing her tonavigate the complexities of patient care with confidence andcompetence. From mastering procedures to building practical skills,PA school has laid a solid foundation for Hannah's transition intothe healthcare workforce.
Advice forAspiring PA Students:
Drawing from her own experiences, Hannah offers invaluableadvice to future PA students embarking on their graduate schooljourney. She emphasizes the importance of embracing all aspects oflife during PA school, from academic pursuits to extracurricularinvolvement and mental health support. By actively engaging withresources, seeking mentorship opportunities, and maintaining aholistic approach to education, students can maximize their successand personal growth throughout their PA school experience.
Hannah Richard's journey from student to graduating physicianassistant is a testament to the dedication, passion, and resiliencerequired to thrive in the field of healthcare. Her insights offer aglimpse into the multifaceted nature of PA education, emphasizingthe significance of self-awareness, adaptability, and communityengagement in fostering success. As aspiring PA students navigatetheir own paths, Hannah's story serves as an inspiring reminder ofthe transformative power of perseverance, learning, and embracingthe full spectrum of experiences on the road to becoming ahealthcare professional.
TRANSCRIPT
Dr.Christopher Lewis [00:00:01]:
Welcome to the victors in grad school, where we have conversationswith students, alumni, and experts about what it takes to findsuccess in graduate school.
Dr.Christopher Lewis [00:00:11]:
Welcome back to Victor's in Grad School. I'm your host, doctorChristopher Lewis, director of graduate programs at the Universityof Michigan, Flint. Really excited to have you back again thisweek. This week, as always, I love being on this journey with you.This opportunity to talk to you every week about what you're doingto find success in this journey that you're on. Now you might bejust starting to think about grad school. You might be in gradschool. You might be looking at that light at the end of the tunneland you're almost done.
Dr.Christopher Lewis [00:00:43]:
Wherever you are in this journey, it is a journey. And every personthat goes through what you're going through, goes through a uniquejourney for themselves. What's important is that you have sometools in your toolbox as you apply, as you go through graduateschool that you can draw upon to be able to find success on thatjourney. And that's what this show is all about. This show is allabout finding ways to be able to help you to find success earlierin that process, to be able to help you to learn more about whatyou need to be doing as you, as I said, apply, go through and gobeyond. So every week, I love being able to bring you differentpeople. People that have gone through grad school, that are goingthrough grad school, and have had different experiences. But thoseexperiences have led them to find success in that journey that theywent on.
Dr.Christopher Lewis [00:01:43]:
And today, we have another great guest with us. Hannah Richard iswith us today. And Hannah is a graduating physician assistantstudent from the University of Michigan Flint. She's actuallygraduating this term and heading off into her professional career.We just talked and talked about her future, and she has a job readyto go, going to be working on the west side of Michigan as a PA inan emergency room, just what just what she wanted to do. So she Iknow she's really excited about that. She's got a lot of thingshappening in her life. But throughout that experience, she's beenable to find success, and I'm excited for her to share that journeywith you.
Dr.Christopher Lewis [00:02:25]:
Hannah, thanks so much for being here today.
Hannah Richard[00:02:26]:
I'm excited to be here as well.
Dr.Christopher Lewis [00:02:28]:
Well, I'm really excited that you are here today. And I guess let'sturn the clock back in time. I would love for you to talk to meabout the journey that you went on to be able to, at some point,through that undergraduate experience, you made a decision that youwanted to go further, you wanted to go beyond the bachelor's degreeto be able to get that master's degree, and especially masters inphysician assistant studies. So talk to me about what went throughyour head that made you decide that graduate school was
Hannah Richard[00:03:04]:
right for you? Yeah. So I think similar to a lot of other masterstudents or for that matter, PA students, we kind of all had asimilar epiphany. Maybe in like high school or college. We cameinto contact with PA's or became aware of the profession. Myjourney is similar to that. I took an anatomy class in high schooland I was really shocked with how much I was intrigued by it. Andprior to that, I didn't really have any idea of what I wanted to doin college. And I had time, you know, I was a junior in highschool.
Hannah Richard[00:03:34]:
And then I started college, and I made my major right away, ageneral health science degree. And then the university that I wentto, Grand Valley, they had a pre PA emphasis, meaning that youcould take prerequisite courses and still earn a degree. So I didthat, and I'm not gonna lie. There was definitely a time where Ichanged my degree from that to a different degree just because I'dheard of the daunting process of PA school and how difficult it isto get in. But somewhere along the line, I came back around to PA.I changed my major back, and I just kept putting one foot in frontof the other, and I took the prerequisites as needed. Took classesin the summer to kind of graduate faster, and then I knew I neededsome health care hours. So I started working during the summer aswell, and it was a little bit more difficult for me to work duringthe school year.
Hannah Richard[00:04:31]:
I actually was a college athlete, so I couldn't have a job and swimand go to school. So that kinda slowed things down, but it allworked out for the better. So I took 2 years off before PA school,and during that time I was applying, and the application cycle isvery long. It can take probably up to a year. I I'd say that's howlong it took me. But from by the time you apply and then you hearback, and then if you interview, and then if you're accepted. So itwas a long journey for me, but I'm glad that I'm almost to theend.
Dr.Christopher Lewis [00:05:03]:
So you took those 2 years off to figure things out and to make thatnext step for yourself. And in that journey, you applied, I'm sure,to a number of different graduate schools. You ended up choosing toattend the University of Michigan Flint. Talk to me about thatdecision making process, and what made you choose that U of M Flintwas the right program for you?
Hannah Richard[00:05:26]:
Yeah. So I tell everyone this who asks because actually at onepoint, during my career here, I was a graduate ambassador, so Ikind of told the story a lot. But I went to a open house at U of MFlint for the PA program. This was right before the pandemicstarted, so I think it was probably February of 2020, and professorGilkey, who is our director, actually was hosting the event, and Ijust heard all the wonderful things that they were setting up forthis program and the promises of great rotations and excellenteducation and community service, and I was hooked. I was like, thisis where I'd like to go. The campus is really nice, and it'ssomewhere that I've never really been before, so I said this iswhere I wanted to go. So like you mentioned, obviously, I appliedto other places to cast a wide net, but ultimately, I wanted to endup here.
Dr.Christopher Lewis [00:06:21]:
In those 2 years that you took to prepare yourself for applying,I'm sure that you were getting some experience in preparing in thatway too, because I know PA programs do require you to havedifferent experiences to prepare you for coming into becoming aphysician assistant. Talk to me about the experiences that you hadthat prepared you for coming into PA school, and and how did thatprepare you, or did you feel unprepared in any way when you enteredthe program?
Hannah Richard[00:06:51]:
Great question. I did some research because I knew I needed to finda way to get hours, and I found out the best way for me personallywas going to become a certified nurse assistant, which is standsfor CNA. And, I took the class. It was a summer class. I think itwas like 2 or 3 weeks. And I got a job in a nursing home, around mycollege campus. And I did that for as long as I could, and I had tostop because I was then entering my senior year of college. Aftermy senior year of college, I stayed on the west side for a littlebit longer and I got another job in a different nursing home, onethat was hiring.
Hannah Richard[00:07:31]:
And I worked there for a while. And then I came kind of towards theend of the road where I felt like I needed more experience. I wasalso kind of ready to not work on the weekends, and it's definitelya hard job, and I was ready for something different. So I had someconnections which was fantastic which was fantastic. And because Iwas able to use some of the experiences I had from being a CNA andthen learn so many new skills. I learned how to give injections,how to obviously take vitals. I did some charting. I was trained askind of a part time scribe as well, so I was really grateful forthe physicians and PAs and MPs that worked there.
Hannah Richard[00:08:20]:
They were willing to train me because they knew that I ultimatelywanted to be a PA, and so they kinda pushed me out of my comfortzone. So I will say if I did not have that medical assistantexperience, I probably would have struggled a little bit in PAschool because, ultimately, we are providers, and we areresponsible for charting and just assessing the patient overall,and I think I got a good taste of that when I was working in a
Dr.Christopher Lewis [00:08:53]:
physician assistant student, and it is a demanding program. It's adem it's a demanding sequence of events, didactic learning,clinical learning, taking what you're learning from the class,putting it into action. Talk to me about some of those moments,some of the things that you didn't expect when you entered into PAschool that you had to learn for yourself that would have helpedyou maybe to know earlier?
Hannah Richard[00:09:17]:
That is definitely a deep question. I think the first thing thatcomes to mind is flexibility. I think that when students who wereto some degree successful in their undergraduate career because youhave to achieve good prerequisite grades and also have a part timejob or a full time job getting the hours. I think a lot of us canbe kind of set in our ways as far as studying or preparing forcertain assessments. And I think the biggest thing PACE will taughtme is to be flexible, that some ways of studying won't be the sameas they were in college. So I kind of drew on many ways ofstudying. I would write things out. I would look at charts.
Hannah Richard[00:09:58]:
I would read books. I listened to podcasts, which is something Inever did before. There's a lot of great PA podcasts, so I thinkflexibility is one of the biggest things as far as what I had tokind of learn to adapt to. And then I think another thing about PAschool that's really interesting is reaching out and being withpeople in your class. I think in undergraduate studies, I studied alot alone. And when I was found myself in PA school, I studied witha group of friends frequently, and I think it helped all of ourgrades and helped all of our comprehension when you're talking andsinging out loud. And then, of course, when it comes to patientevaluation course that we have, we have to actually perform theexams on fake patients. And so that was a perfect opportunity tobring in your friends to for that.
Hannah Richard[00:10:49]:
So I think flexibility and then just kind of accepting that otherpeople around you has something to share just like you do aswell.
Dr.Christopher Lewis [00:10:57]:
So you took a couple of years off between your undergraduate workat Grand Valley and then came into grad school. And every student,when they make that transition into graduate school, it is atransition. And you do have to think about things differently,learn differently. You kind of mentioned some of those pieces. Talkto me about what you had to do to truly find success in thattransition and what you had to do to maintain that successthroughout your time in the PA program.
Hannah Richard[00:11:28]:
That's a good question. I think one of the biggest things for mewas learning to listen to myself. And when I say that, I mean,listening to how I felt. And this changed from didactic year, whichis the 1st year of our pro 1st year and a half actually, toclinical year, which is another year. So in didactic, the studyingis completely different. But I learned to listen to myself and seehow I felt. If I if it was the end of the day and it was afterdinner, I was tired. I didn't push myself too hard.
Hannah Richard[00:12:03]:
I would, you know, try to commit to maybe, say, 30 minutes ofreading out of a textbook versus an hour and a half of studying.And this was especially true in clinical year, which is the yearthat I'm just completing. And the reason is is because we aredriving all over to our rotation sites, and we deal with patientsand providers and preceptors, and we still have to go home at theend of the day and study. So I think I really, really tuned intomyself how I was feeling. Because if you're too tired and yourbrain is just zapped, you're not gonna be able to retaininformation. And I no one told me that before I came into PAschool. I think everyone things I had heard would then were justlike study, study, study, like, pull all nighters and, you know, doall the stuff that can make you successful. Well, I think that'sabsolutely absolutely not the case.
Hannah Richard[00:12:56]:
I think you have to give yourself grace because we are we're human.And I think that's true for whenyou practice as a PA.
Hannah Richard[00:12:56]:
You can't go, go, go, go and go, go, go, go and not listen toyourself because at the end of the day, the people that will beharmed by that are the patients and then ultimately yourself.
Dr.Christopher Lewis [00:13:17]:
And now you're getting to the end of your program. And as I said,you have this opportunity now to go out and to start in yourcareer. Talk to me about the learning that you went through,through that didactic learning, through the clinical experiences.How do you feel that that has prepared you for the next step inyour own professional journey?
Hannah Richard[00:13:40]:
I think it's prepared me really well. I think one of the coolthings about preschool is that everyone comes in with differentbackgrounds, kind of like you mentioned. So while someone may haveworked in a nursing home, someone may have worked in a doctor'soffice, someone may have been a scribe in a hospital. And I thinkthat's really cool and not a lot of professions kind of get thatpre master's degree or pre doctorate degree education and learningexperience. So I think having different classmates with differentspecialties prior to b school is is huge. You know, someone may beable to help you on this topic, and others may be able to help youon this exam or procedures. Something that I think gets overlookedto the general public who may not know a lot about PA school iswhile we're learning this information, we're also learningprocedures. So we have days where we learn lumbar punctures andchest tubes and arterial lines and IVs.
Hannah Richard[00:14:36]:
And because that is a part of our training. And even if you go intosay a cardiology office and you may not use those procedures, youstill have to learn them and become competent in them. So kind ofto, like, round up your question is, I think it prepared me and myclassmates really well, and I think it's something that is justreally neat about PA schools that we all have differentexperiences.
Dr.Christopher Lewis [00:15:01]:
Now earlier, you mentioned that in your time at the University ofMichigan Flint, you also acted as an ambassador, and you talked toprospective students. And I guess as you're talking to studentsspecifically about becoming a physician assistant or about applyingto becoming a physician assistant down the road. What were some ofthe biggest concerns, and how did you help those students to dealwith those concerns as a ambassador for the program?
Hannah Richard[00:15:33]:
Some of the biggest concerns clearly were the application process,and this had very little to do with U M Flint and very much to dowith just the standardized process of applying to PA school. So Ihad a lot of questions, and these students would reach out to mevia email, phone call, in person events. Our program hostedshowcase night. I don't know how to describe it other than that,but, oh, kind of like an open house. So I would get a lot ofquestions on, does this prerequisite match this prerequisite?However, that's more difficult to answer because, everyundergraduate degree and prerequisite may fit U of M Flint versus adifferent university. So that was a huge one. I think a lot ofhurdles that people were experiencing were finding clinical hoursand shadowing hours. I know that COVID kinda changed the landscapeof medicine in some good ways and some not so good ways.
Hannah Richard[00:16:32]:
So for instance, I know a lot of students struggled to findshadowing hours because the pandemic repercussions lasted for a fewyears or even ongoing currently. So, not a lot of offices orhospitals wanted kind of an extra student following them aroundpotentially exposing or being exposed to COVID. So and that issomething that PA programs almost all absolutely require isshadowing hours because they want to know why you want to be a PAversus a nurse practitioner or an or physician. So that was anotherbig hurdle. And then I think other questions that we got wereregarding to our experience in the program. 1 of our professors saythat picking a PA program is kind of like dating, So you have tolike the program, and they have to like you, which I think is afunny analogy, but it's actually absolutely true. So they wanted toknow kind of what our day to day life was like, the subjects welearned, did we have a cadaver lab? Is there on campus coffeestores? And so I was more than happy to answer the dry or mundanequestions as far as applications, and then I was equally as happyto tell them about my life. And did I move from Metro Detroit andor did I commute? And I was just happy to kind of share myexperience here because I would have absolutely loved to talk tosomeone like that at any of the programs I applied to.
Dr.Christopher Lewis [00:17:56]:
Now one of the things you just mentioned was the fact thatsometimes students are trying to determine and they are asked thequestion of, okay, why PA? Why not MD? Why not getting a nursepractitioner degree? You made the choice that you wanted to becomea physician assistant. And through your undergraduate program, youprobably could have been and could have gone the route of MD. Whatmade you decide that PA was right for you?
Hannah Richard[00:18:23]:
You know, I used to have this answer down pat and memorized forapplications and interviews. And now that almost 3 years havepassed, I don't have a standardized answer, which is a good thing.I wanted to be a PA for a few reasons. And one of them was I waslooking for a right fit for the kind of life I wanted. I wanted tobe out and practicing earlier in my life rather than later. And Ithink physicians have great lives and great careers. However, theirtraining is obviously longer. So not only do they have 4 years ofmed school after undergraduate, they have residency, which can beanywhere from 2 years to 4 years to 8 years, depending on thespecialty.
Hannah Richard[00:19:08]:
So they wanted to be able to practice earlier. Another thing was isthat I had a great experience with the PA. In college, I spent alot of time in the athletic training room. Swimming can be hard onthe body, but I was seeing a PA and I was just so intrigued. Shewas so knowledgeable and she spent so much time with me, and I hadreally never experienced anything like it. You know, your familydoctor is more often than not, especially back when I was growingup in high school and college, a physician. So to have experiencewith this PA, I was just like taken aback. And especially when Istarted shadowing the PAs, I shadowed a PA who worked in orthopedicsurgery and she was first assisting the surgeon in knee replacementand the hip replacement and a partial knee.
Hannah Richard[00:19:53]:
And I was just shocked that you can be a PA. You can have someaspects of what it's like to be a physician. You can have someaspects of what it's like to be a more, just like a different role.And it just fit really well for me in my life. And I at some point,you have to pick a career and you can't say this or that. You haveto just start making progress towards it. And that is for all thosereasons I chose to be a PA because ultimately I wanted to practiceand treat patients and just provide good care.
Dr.Christopher Lewis [00:20:28]:
Now as you think about people that are coming behind you, whetherthey're going into becoming a physician assistant or some othercareer area, but they're thinking about graduate school in general.What's one piece of advice you'd wanna give to every student thatis looking for ways to find success sooner in their graduate schoolexperience?
Hannah Richard[00:20:48]:
That is a tough question to pinpoint it down to something thatwould help them to success sooner. I would have to say, continueliving your life. And when I say that, I mean, when you're ingraduate school, it's very easy to put the blinders on and be agraduate student. Go to class, go to lectures, go to clinicals. Butanother thing our professor says life does not stop just becauseyou're in PA school. So my advice would be, go to that recvolleyball game, go to the gym with your classmates, attendvolunteering events and get involved with things like becoming agraduate ambassador or anything mentoring upcoming students. Ithink the more you put in, the more you'll get out, and it's veryeasy to just put your head down, get your degree, and, you know,walk away a successful, successfully licensed PA. But the more thatyou put in, like I said, the more you'll get out.
Hannah Richard[00:21:49]:
So I think use the resources. If you need mental health counseling,take advantage of that at U of M. If you need someone to talk to,if you wanna join a club, if you wanna do anything, I say takeadvantage of it because once that 28 months are over, your life isAnd so I knew that I wanted to look back and say, say I dideverything I was interested in. And that also included studentsociety. I was a representative for our student association of thestate of Michigan. So just do it all. That is my advice to findsuccess earlier.
Dr.Christopher Lewis [00:22:22]:
Well, Hannah, I just wanna say thank you. Thank you for sharingyour journey today, for walking us through this path that you'vebeen on, and I am looking forward to hearing more about your ownprofessional journey as you move forward in your career, and I wishyou all the best.
Hannah Richard[00:22:39]:
Yes. Thank you. I appreciate it so much. And I appreciate youtaking the time to chat with me and listen to my story. I alwayssay that an attitude of gratitude is best, and I am very gratefulfor everything that U of M Flint has provided me. And I try to givethem back everything that they have given me, including theopportunity to be a physician assistant. So thank you.
Dr.Christopher Lewis [00:23:05]:
The University of Michigan Flint has a full array of masters anddoctorate programs if you are interested in continuing youreducation. Whether you're looking for in person or online learningoptions, the University of Michigan Flint has programs that willmeet your needs. For more information on any of our graduateprograms, visit umfluent dot eduforward/graduateprograms to findout more. Thanks again for spending time with me as you prepare tobe a victor in grad school. I look forward to speaking with youagain soon as we embark together on your graduate school journey.If you have any questions or want to reach out, email me atflintgradoffice@umflint.edu.
