Why I'm becoming a physician assistant

I was contacted by a woman who is planning to become a physician assistant herself, and she asked me why I was doing so. I shared the following answer with her:

I'm not exactly sure how I decided on being a PA... I think I finally had one of those "Aha!" moments last fall. When I was in high school, I had considered being a doctor (I was fascinated even as a kid with the human body). But then I got interested in computers and just sort of followed that path by default. I was successful, but I wasn't really happy with my job. I always liked my co-workers (and the money :-) but knew that it wasn't quite my passion.

In 2003 I participated in some personal development seminars and then began coaching them which helped me begin to move toward a career that was more people-focused. An ex of mine had switched from being a stock broker to being a nurse, and that inspired me to make my own shift. And my partner Victor gave me a lot of support last year to follow my heart.

I think I was slow to make the big move and completely change industries because of the thought that "I was too old" to do so. Once I let go of that, it suddenly felt pretty natural to go into healthcare. (I do still find myself telling people that I'm becoming a physician assistant because I'm too old to go to med school, lol!)

In any case, I am really happy with my decision. I've got five classes this fall--four of them have labs--so it's going to be a busy few months. But my goal is to have my pre-reqs wrapped up by December.