Let me introduce myself!

Hello!

I am Olivia, and I am currently a first-year PA student. I’ve taken a bit of a winding road to get here, and I’ll be the first to admit that I have self-diagnosed “Career ADD” which means becoming a physician assistant will actually be my third career. Whoa.

After high school, I thought I wanted to major in business. Had excelled throughout most of my education but quickly learned that economics and finances were not my thing. So, I started considering other careers. I liked writing but didn’t want to be a starving artist, so I ended up transferring schools and ultimately getting a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism & Mass Communication.

I worked for about three or four years at advertising agencies doing writing work in creative, public relations, social media… and I was good at it. But I didn’t like it. It didn’t leave me feeling fulfilled. So after much thought (and a big breakup) I convinced myself to go back to school for dietetics. I completed a three-year certificate and landed a job out of one of my clinical rotations. My job as a registered dietitian (RD) at an acute care hospital was amazing.

So amazing, though, that it left me wanting more. I felt like I was able to influence only one piece of the puzzle in my role as an RD, and I was hungry for more.

To be entirely honest, I don’t think I had a clue what a physician assistant was before that job. But when I saw advanced practice providers (APPs) in the hospital, I thought they had a really cool role -- lots of patient interaction, the ability to participate in or do awesome procedures, lots of autonomy. That all looked great! We can talk later about why I chose to be a PA over an NP at a later time, but the important thing was that I realized this was the next step I wanted to take.

So here I am. Sitting in my teeny tiny studio (where I should be studying!), right at the cusp of this amazing new adventure.

With this blog, I am hoping for a few things:

Give myself a much needed creative outlet. The writer inside me is still alive and well!
Share my story of being a PA-S, getting into school, my applications and interviews. While my story may not be applicable to everyone, I hope you’ll learn something from it.
Write about challenges that lots of people deal with: time management, finances and budget, and other general lifestyle topics.

In essence, while everyone may not love or get a lot out of every blog post (heck, I may end up with no readers at all!), I hope there’s a little something here for everyone.

Be well,
Olivia

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OJ the PA

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