The spring semester brings the stressful time when seniors make decisions about the future and what happens after Bluffton. On Nov. 28, this decision became a little easier for senior biology major Casey Clark when she was accepted into the physician assistant program at Marietta (Ohio) College.
After she graduates in May, Clark plans to spend the next 27 months after in the program and will earn a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies upon completion. As of now, she plans to live in an apartment near campus with a roommate set up through Marietta College.
According to Clark, a PA is, by definition 80 percent a doctor. On a day-to-day basis, they treat patients just like a doctor would. Clark wants to be an orthopedic PA, so she would also do casting and treat patients with therapy.
Over the summer, Clark took the GRE and filled out the universal application, a step anyone who wants to go to PA school must complete. She also filled out a separate application for Marietta College. While she was able to complete the applications over the summer, Clark had to work around a busy volleyball schedule for later portions of the process.
“I had a lot of my interviews during volleyball season,” said Clark. “The time management was pretty tough. A lot of the interview dates were on days that we had games, so I had to email them back and see if they had anything else, but they were pretty flexible with me too.”
Clark’s applications were filled with a variety of different experiences in the field. She shadowed PAs in many different settings, including a hospital, orthopedic institute and a family-run healthcare center. She was also a certified nursing assistant for three summers in a nursing home. Clark said she believes these opportunities helped her application stand out, so she would advise others hoping to go to graduate school to focus on such opportunities to strengthen an application.
“[I would tell others to] work hard now,” Clark said. “I know that grades are a big thing, but also personality and the experience that you need to get to make your application look good are important. I know that everyone says that, but even with the experience that I had I would have felt more prepared going into the interviews with more. I know that they were really looking the experience, so do those type of things today, and that’ll prepare you for the future.”
Clark said she feels Bluffton professors have prepared her well for this opportunity. However, she still expects a learning curve to come with the change.
“I know the workload is going to be a lot different than it is now, so just changing my study habits to fit their curriculum I think will be the toughest part,” Clark said.
Overall, Clark said she is most excited about this opportunity because it will help her meet her end goal of becoming a PA, a career that will allow her to help others.
“I’ve always wanted to be in the helping profession,” Clark said. “I think PA is a perfect fit for me, allowing me to be able to treat people and make a difference.”
