Even if not required by all programs, volunteering and shadowing are often strongly encouraged for your PA school applications. Here's a quick little run-down of how I chose and completed by volunteer hours and shadowing experiences:
Shadowing
I have the lucky experience to have worked in a hospital as a dietitian prior to going back to PA school. What this meant for me was making all sorts of good connections over the years with APPs and doctors. It's much easier after you've had the opportunity to built some rapport to ask for shadowing experiences. Plus, coordinating the ability to shadow was super easy when I was already an employee of the institution I was shadowing in. Here's who I shadowed:
All of these shadows were full day experiences, and I gave each person a personalized thank-you note with a small gift card to show my appreciation.
Volunteering
Admittedly, with a job and pre-requisite classes and shadowing experiences on my calendar, I wasn't thrilled about the idea of making time for volunteering, too. But I do appreciate how important it is to give back to the community and to seize any opportunity to learn.
Like I said earlier, I think palliative medicine is so important. The hospital I worked for at the time was connected with a hospice facility that was actually quite close to my house. Again, an easier transition since I already worked for the same facility. After a large amount of training, I was ready to start volunteering!
I talked with families and patients, grabbed snacks or beverages for the patients, freshened up floral arrangements for each room, sat with agitated patients, and read to those who were no longer as alert. This experience definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone and reminded me about how important simple compassion can be during these hard times.
Make the most of these experiences
Yes, these opportunities are great learning experiences, but let's not forget we're trying to get into PA school here! My best tips is to write down what you saw and learned right after each experience because these could be very valuable notes when it comes time to write your essays or practice interviewing.
These opportunities are ripe with little anecdotes that will add color and depth to your essays or interviews. Instead of talking in general about volunteering, discussing a specific interaction you had with a provider or patient will leave a more lasting impression.
These things are hard to remember in detail afterwards, so write it down!
Check out my other Pre-PA Story posts about all my pre-requisite courses and how my career journey went from copywriter to PA student.
Shadowing
I have the lucky experience to have worked in a hospital as a dietitian prior to going back to PA school. What this meant for me was making all sorts of good connections over the years with APPs and doctors. It's much easier after you've had the opportunity to built some rapport to ask for shadowing experiences. Plus, coordinating the ability to shadow was super easy when I was already an employee of the institution I was shadowing in. Here's who I shadowed:
- An internal medicine nurse practitioner - we worked closely together so we already had a great working relationship; plus, she also ended up writing a letter of recommendation for me!
- An abdominal transplant physician assistant - this was actually a hook-up from another dietitian friend of mine, since I didn't often work with abdominal transplant patients
- A cardiology physician assistant - we met through a mutual admiration for Dr. Esselstyn during a Grand Rounds presentation and exchanged numbers to swap photos; it was probably a little bold to ask to shadow but she was so accommodating!
- A heart failure palliative care nurse practitioner - I think palliative medicine is so, so important, and this was a great opportunity to see this side of medicine
All of these shadows were full day experiences, and I gave each person a personalized thank-you note with a small gift card to show my appreciation.
Volunteering
Admittedly, with a job and pre-requisite classes and shadowing experiences on my calendar, I wasn't thrilled about the idea of making time for volunteering, too. But I do appreciate how important it is to give back to the community and to seize any opportunity to learn.
Like I said earlier, I think palliative medicine is so important. The hospital I worked for at the time was connected with a hospice facility that was actually quite close to my house. Again, an easier transition since I already worked for the same facility. After a large amount of training, I was ready to start volunteering!
I talked with families and patients, grabbed snacks or beverages for the patients, freshened up floral arrangements for each room, sat with agitated patients, and read to those who were no longer as alert. This experience definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone and reminded me about how important simple compassion can be during these hard times.
Make the most of these experiences
Yes, these opportunities are great learning experiences, but let's not forget we're trying to get into PA school here! My best tips is to write down what you saw and learned right after each experience because these could be very valuable notes when it comes time to write your essays or practice interviewing.
These opportunities are ripe with little anecdotes that will add color and depth to your essays or interviews. Instead of talking in general about volunteering, discussing a specific interaction you had with a provider or patient will leave a more lasting impression.
These things are hard to remember in detail afterwards, so write it down!
Check out my other Pre-PA Story posts about all my pre-requisite courses and how my career journey went from copywriter to PA student.
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