PA FOUNDATION - PA Student Awardee Shares Their Scholarship Experience
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In April, I applied for the PA Foundation Scholarship along with two other friends during our Psychiatry rotation. Fingers crossed, we all submitted our best shots, hoping that one of us would receive a coveted award from the PA Foundation up to $2,000. As we all know, a Master's in Physician Assistant Studies is a pretty hefty financial endeavor and any amount helps towards reducing the debt burden.
Last week we heard back from the award committee and we were SO EXCITED to find out that one of us had received the award! ASD - the brightest student in our year no competition and a truly beautiful soul to boot! - was one of 37 students who was awarded a PA Foundation scholarship (out of 630 applicants!). They have graciously agreed to share an excerpt from their "What do you hope to do as a PA" essay! Additionally, ASD answers some questions about the application process and how they felt after receiving the award.
Overall, the PA Foundation Scholarship application is relatively straightforward! For the application, you will fill out demographics information, a detailed financial need statement, and submit two essays. For 2018, the prompts are listed below! Your program director will also need to confirm that you currently attend a PA program.
1. In 500 words or less, please describe your involvement in relevant volunteer and/or community service activities. Do not include mentoring, shadowing and/or paid activities. Why did you choose these particular activities, and what do they mean to you? *
2. Please provide an essay (maximum 500 words) concerning your decision to become a PA and what you expect to accomplish as a PA, including any specific clinical interest areas you may have. What do you hope to do as a PA? *
“The wedding ceremony took place, and it took another year before I saw F again. When I laid my eyes on her, she was thin and frail, barely smiling and joking like she used too. As we started to catch up, I couldn’t help but notice that she had a visible “bump.” Over the next few days, I learned that her pregnancy was complicated by a lack of proper nutrition and prenatal care. F was due in a week and she was seeing a doctor for the first time. She was pale, her veins barely noticeable; she carried the baby, but it looked as though the baby was leeching the life out of her.
One night, I woke up and found my mother with red eyes, like she had been crying. All I remember are the words “gave birth… complication,” and in the wake of the night, just like that, at fifteen years young, F was gone.
In the next few years, I came to realize that this reality – lack of preventative healthcare, access to basic services, essential medications – was the norm in my village. In Niger, a gravid woman must bring sterile gloves in her own birth bag, because even the top hospital can’t afford to offer them to every patient. There, healthcare was a privilege rather than a basic right.
[...]
F, and then later A, are just two of the many women I know whose stories drove me to join the medical field as an aspiring OB/GYN PA. Whether in a developing nation in Africa or the inner cities of New York City, there’s a strong need for quality prenatal care and preventative education. I want to help young women attain the knowledge to better take care of themselves and make their own informed choices. As a PA, I intend to change lives and most likely, even save some.”
Q: So CONGRATS on receiving a PA Foundation Scholarship! How are you feeling and what advice would you give future PA students interested in applying for these scholarships?
A: Thank you so much. I am currently in my pediatrics clerkship and it was a slow clinic day until I read that email. It made my day and gave me lots of energy. I was in disbelief and had to read the email twice to make sure it did say that I have won. Then, I just texted V who was the reason I applied and won. Some advice I would give future/current PA students and myself is to:
Always explore opportunities that come our way.
Take risks and allow yourself to fail. It is okay and promotes growth.
Apply early and every year while you are in school, it is never too much money.
Your essay should be personal and relatable. Just pick one event in your life that triggered a positive change in your life or affected you deeply.
Find friends/family to guide you and support you during the process.
You always feel better if you have tried and failed than not trying at all.
Q: That's really great pieces of advice and I would agree with all of them! What is one piece of advice you would give to PA or Pre-PA students who are worried about the cost of attending PA school?
A: If you have made the decision to take out loans for PA school (like I have done), just put the thought of "How am I going to pay this back?" aside while you are in school (didactic year at least). It is one more thing on your plate that is already overflowing. I don’t think you have space for more stressors.
You have made a great decision for yourself and loved ones by pursuing a career - focus on that first. The one thing that you can do to lessen the burden is to be mindful of your spending habits, just take what is indispensable. And there are so many options available for how to pay back loans. Your job can have loan repayment programs, there are federal loan repayment programs, and lastly, with a decent job you can pay off your loans.
