1.

Introduction (likely one, but no more than two paragraphs): Start your paper
with an overview of the purpose of what you are writing about. Name the career
you are aspiring to How long have you wanted to pursue this career? Is this the
same career you chose at the beginning of this course? If you have changed your
mind, tell the reader what career(s) you were initially considering and, briefly, your
reason(s) for making the switch. What aspects of the profession interest you?
How well suited to the career do you believe you are?
Many college students have a difficult time choosing a career path when entering
college. The intro to health professions class at the University of South Florida made
this process less challenging. With speakers of professional healthcare careers
coming to speak to students, it makes it easier to choose a career. After listening to
multiple guest speakers and doing some research, the physician assistant career
the career that was the most appealing to me. Prior to entering the intro to health
professions course the plan was to become a physical therapist due to major
injuries in the past that required a lot of one on one hands on work with a physical
therapy. With the ability of being able to shadow a physical therapist that dream
quickly came to an end. When choosing a career it is important to have a lot of
passion and drive for the career which is something that I didnt see myself
possessing for physical therapy. It didnt appear to a career that would give me
excitement every day. When the physician assistant came to speak in the class it
was something that I found myself to be interested in. Physician assistants are able
to perform a wide variety of specialties and tasks. They are similar to doctors but
dont have the vast amount of education that doctors have.

2. About the profession (two to three paragraphs; likely about 34 to one page)
Describe what the profession is like on a daily basis what type of duties will you
have?
Answer this generally and specifically. Example 1: If you want to be a
doctor, describe that daily life/duties generally, and then specifically about the type
of doctor you want to be. Example 2: If you want to pursue a career as a traveling
physical therapist, describe physical therapy duties generally and then, specifically,
what your duties/work life would be like as a traveling physical therapist. In this
section you should also address the following: Who supervises you? In what
context are you likely to work (hospital, private practice, etc.)? What other
healthcare professionals will you potentially work with/in what ways?
Physician assistants have many duties that they must perform on a daily basis.
They review medical histories, examine/treat patients, order and interpret
diagnostic tests, Counsel on preventive health, Assist in surgery, Write
prescriptions, and Make rounds in nursing homes and hospitals (Collins 2015). When
a physician assistant with a specialty in orthopedics, Leroy Collins, came to speak
he provided an overview of his daily life which consisted of treating patients, being
on call, and participating in surgeries. Since I love to work with children, I plan on
being a physician assistant with a specialty in pediatrics. This means that I will have
to deal with a wide variety of children daily. Not only will I have to deal with
children, but also their caregivers. It is important to keep the family and caregivers
of the child being treated informed. With graduate school being so expensive, I will

most likely be working 40 hours a week in order to pay off graduate school loans.
Work weeks will consist of early morning hospital rounds to emergency calls and
working all night/weekends. When it comes to working with children, there must be
a lot of patience and you must have unique methods in treating them because
children tend to have a different reactions compared to adults in which they need to
be comforted.
Physician assistants are generally supervised by a licensed physician. This concept
does not mean that the physician must always be present with the physician
assistant or direct every aspect of the physician assistants practices. Due to the
fact that Physicians and physician assistants have similar curriculum, training, and
practices while in school they tend to develop similar medical reasoning training
that is used in the clinical workplace. Physician assistants can be found in almost
every clinical setting such as hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, private practices,
health centers, outpatient care, and schools. I will likely be working in a hospital due
to the vast amount of opportunities and tasks available to perform at the hospital.
In terms of teamwork, physician assistants collaborate and work with many other
healthcare professions when dealing with a patient. With my specialty in pediatrics,
if I have child patient who recently had surgery for a broken leg, I will be working
closely with a surgeon and a physical therapist. In other cases, for example dealing
with a patient with some form of cancer, I will be working closely with a primary
physician, a nurse, a dietician, etc. Depending on the type of diagnostic, I will be
working with a variety of healthcare professionals in order to carry out the best plan
in treating a patient.

3. Requirements of the profession (approximately two pages) What are the

educational requirements for the profession?Be very specific here. Depending upon
your chosen profession, this may or may not include a degree beyond the
bachelors degree you will earn from USF (for example a medical degree if you are
planning to be a physician). See below for how to proceed: If your profession does
require an additional degree or program of study beyond the bachelors: What
programs will you apply to? Name at least two programs, including the institution
who sponsors the program and the full name of the degree program. Why these
programs? What is attractive about them? Include a summary of each programs
pre-requisites that you must fulfill and indicate which ones you will need to do. This
may be done as a table/chart, if you wish. If your profession does not require an
additional degree beyond the bachelors: What sources will you use to find
jobs? (Job boards, hospital career sites, etc.) You must list at least three.
Identify two job announcements in your chosen profession that you feel qualified
to apply for at the conclusion of your bachelors degree. Describe them here in
sentence form, but include a screenshot or copy/paste of the job announcement
(including the direct link to the announcement) as an appendix. What
appeals to you about these positions, above? If this profession requires a license or
certification: What are the licensing and certification requirements in the state you
wish to work? (Name the state.) Is there an examination for licensing or

certification? What is the exam called? When will you be ready to take it? (It should
be made clear what the pre-requisites for the exam are.)
There are several education requirements needed in order to become a physician
assistant. The first step is to obtain a 4-year undergraduate bachelors degree. It
doesnt matter what my major is in, as long as I have the pre-requisite courses
required to get accepted into a physician assistant program. After earning a
bachelors degree, I must complete a two year masters degree at an accredited
physician assistant program. Most programs are approximately 26 months long
which include classroom lectures and clinical rotations. My goal is to become a
licensed PA in in the state of Florida or Texas. With that being said, I looked into PA
programs within these two states. Two of my top choices that I will apply to are the
PA programs at Nova Southern University (NSU) and the Baylor College of Medicine
(BCM).
The Nova southern university PA program is a program that is very well known in
the state of Florida. Along with their masters degree in PA, they also have the
option of a PA/MPH degree. Basically, it is a masters in PA and public health which
makes you more of a competitive contender when applying for jobs after graduate
school. By attending this program, I believe that they will have a lot to offer and
provide many opportunities in the PA field. The NSU has a couple of requirements
that need to be fulfilled in order to get accepted into the program. The pre-requisite
courses include; college math, English, humanities, social sciences, General
Chemistry 1&2 with lab, Biology with lab, Anatomy and physiology with lab, Organic
chemistry, and genetics. Along with the pre-requisite courses it is required to take
the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), an exam that all students applying to a PA
program must take. This exam is a broad assessment of your critical thinking,
analytical writing, verbal reasoning, and quantitative reasoning skills-all skills
developed over the course of many years (Staff 2013).

4. Continuing your learning (approximately two paragraphs) How will you continue
your learning about this profession after this class? Address both of the
following: What are professional associations that you may wish to become
involved in? What will they offer you? What learning resources you will consult
in the future? How will they benefit you? Note: Refer to the assignment: Learning
Resources for Your Desired Career. Your answer here needs to follow the same
requirements as the assignment.
5. Conclusion (approximately one paragraph) Discuss your feelings about
your path toward this profession. Are you nervous? Excited? Overwhelmed?

 In sentence form, conclude your paper with the discussion of your feelings
and your specific next steps for pursuing this profession. Reference your 5-year
timeline assignment and then include the graphic illustration of your timeline as an
appendix (the timeline should be on its own page(s) and does not count toward
meeting your page count minimum or maximum. The timeline needs to follow the
requirements given previously) 6