Our guest today is Andrea Benedict, Physician Assistant, creator of the YouTube channel, Life as a PA, and founder of MEDTakeovers. This very busy professional earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Delaware in neuroscience, and went straight to the Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania's Physician Assistant program. She has wide ranging experience as a PA, from family medicine to acute leukemia, and currently works in a Pediatric ICU.

Can you tell us a little about yourself? Your background and where you grew up? [1:49]

I grew up in Pennsylvania. I went to college in Delaware, and then set sights on med school or PA school. I started my professional career bouncing around the country, soaking it all in.

How did you decide to become a physician assistant? [2:31]

It’s an interesting story, and all revolves around being busted for cheating. Initially I was on the med school track, preparing for the MCAT. In my organic chemistry class I and 50 other students had the “great” idea to make changes to our tests before submitting them for a regrade. We were found out, and because of this the committee at my school that wrote letters of recommendation wouldn’t write me a letter. At that point, I had no plan B, so I had to open my eyes to other professions. When I found out about the Physician Assistant profession I realized it was exactly what I wanted to do, and am glad about the outcome.

Think back on when you applied to PA school, what was the most difficult part of the application process for you? [4:31]

The minutiae - like how and where to put volunteer experience, how to classify things. If you put information in the wrong spot maybe you don’t get accepted – it’s stressful. Essay creation and writing is also not my forte.

What did you like about Lockhaven, which you attended to become a PA? [5:29]

I loved that it was close to my hometown. PA school was so overwhelming that having mom two hours away was comforting. In particular, though, Lockhaven’s priority is its students, not the program or money. They’ll bend over backwards to accommodate a personal issue. I feel like education generally is more sterile now, and Lockhaven has a friendly, warm, welcoming faculty with student’s best interests at heart. 

What would you have liked to change? [6:51]

I feel like students nowadays have so many amazing things at their fingertips (sim labs, models, ultrasounds) that weren’t there when I was there, and that would have been nice to have access to. In the grand scheme of things, though, there were no negatives that came out of it. I didn’t lack anything, and everything I needed was available to me.

What have you been doing since you became a PA? Can you walk us through it? [8:02]

I graduated PA school in 2008. I moved to Salt Lake City to do a rotation - Lockhaven allows you to go anywhere in the country for a rotation. I took a job in a family practice with focus on integrative medicine and some cosmetic procedures as well. I did that for seven months, but it was too slow-paced for me. I set my sights on higher acuity, and got a job in bone marrow transplant for four years. At that point I felt like picking a place on the map to move to and chose Austin with focused efforts on finding an ICU job, which I have been doing for six years.

I’ve watched a few of your videos. Why do you like being a PA?