I'm applying to PA school at Red Rocks Community College in Denver, here is my personal statement. Any comments would be appreciated.

In mathematics, the shortest distance between two points may be a straight line, but the route that has led me to apply to the Physician Assistant Program at Red Rocks Community College has been neither short nor straight. Instead, it has been a long, winding path.

While majoring in mathematics at Western State College, I applied for an internship at State University of New York at Buffalo for students who wanted to learn about biomedical research. The goal of the program was to integrate the sciences and draw upon other disciplines. I applied to the program hoping I would find a way to incorporate my passion for both biology and math into a future career. Upon acceptance to the program, I worked with Dr. Armando Arroyo who was an Ob/Gyn researching the GnRH neuron.

While the research aspect of the program was amazing, what I found most thrilling was the clinical aspect of Dr. Arroyo’s career. On several occasions, he allowed me to accompany him during his clinical rounds. I completed the internship in awe of what doctors do on a daily basis and the difference they make in the world.

I returned to Colorado with a passion for health care and entered a CNA training program that allowed me to gain valuable experience while completing my bachelor’s degree. I was nervous when I first entered the program, wondering if I would be able to handle all of the personal care duties that are required of a CNA. However, when I actually started working, I found I enjoyed this type of work because it allows me to give of myself to my patients.

As I gained experience working as a CNA, I decided to further my education by taking an EMT-B course. I find emergency medicine to be incredibly rewarding and thrive on the challenges it presents. Now when we have a code blue on the floor, I want to be a part of it and help in any way possible. I love the quick thinking and teamwork required and the knowledge that the critical decisions we make can determine the difference between life and death. I am eager to expand on my medical training so I can increase my knowledge and take on even greater levels of responsibility in patient care.

My winding path has led me to the Physician Assistant Program at RRCC, where I know I will succeed in learning to provide a broad range of health care services. The PA program fits very well with what I have accomplished and what I want to achieve out of life. I know I will be a compassionate, caring, and competent physician assistant and that I will continue to make a difference in people’s lives. After graduation from the Physician Assistant Program, I plan to return to the rural, small town communities I grew up in—where PAs are often the primary care providers—so I can help those who helped me growing up.

I like the idea of your metaphor in the first paragraph but I had to read it twice to understand what you were saying.

A couple of your sentences seemed to run on a little bit too. That's just my opinion though

Otherwise I'd say it was well done :]

could someone please help me with these problems..

1. Identify the hypothesis in the conditional statement.
”If you want to be a doctor, then you have to go to medical school.”

A)You must go to medical school.
B)You must be a doctor.
C)You want to be a doctor.
D)Doctors go to medical school.

2. Identify the conclusion in the conditional statement.
"If you pay $20, then you will receive a yearbook."

A)You will receive a yearbook.
B)You must pay $20.
C)Yearbooks cost $20.
D)You want a yearbook.

3. Which answer choice shows the following statement written as a conditional?
"2x – 8 = 10 means that x = 9."

A)2x – 8 = 10 shows that x must be 9.
B)2x – 8 = 10 is an equation.
C)If 2x – 8 = 10, then x = 9.
D)none of the above are correct

Hypothesis, the part with the IF

Conclusion, the part after the THEN
Note: in many cases, the THEN is not written, but can be inferred.

1. C If you want to be a doctor

2. A, then you will receive a yearbook
3. C It can be written as if 2x-8=10, then x = 9

This is all the debt I owe in life but because of collections late payments, its really lowered my score. I dont know what to attack first. The smaller items, the collection items, the credit card items? I want to do what will help improve the score the most and the fastest, eventually (soon) paying it all off.

dentist$145Collection

verizon$200Collection/ old phone

cardiolo$225Collection/medical

Macy$440Credit card/ active good standing

nextel$450Collection

Cap 1$520Credit card/ active good standing

BOA$920Closed but I still get a statement

Visa$2,135Collection/ so old from it's not top priority

Taxes$5,500Don’t ask/on installment plan

School$18,000On installment plan

Total Debt$28,535

I think you're too far in the hole even for debt consolidation.

Tackling all of that is going to be an issue. Talk to a bankruptcy lawyer. Your credit is going to be worthless by the time you pay all of this off anyway.

I have been blessed/cursed with a very young looking face/voice/physique, etc. Think Reese Witherspoon. Not that I’m complaining, but in my case, it can be a disadvantage. I’m in my mid 20’s, and I still look exactly the same as I did in grade school. In fact, a girl I knew from *Kindergarten* actually picked me out of a crowd in a bar. Let’s just hope I never need to be in witness protection.

That said, here is my challenge: I am a pre-med student who is also getting certified as an LPN so I can work at the university hospital while in school. I am so sick of people asking if I’m still in high school, or making statements like “do they pay these kids to work here?”!!! I’m an intellectual person with good grades and more life experience and skill than many people double my age. I want to be taken seriously and more importantly, be respected without unfair prejudice.

While most of my healthcare co-workers give me a hard time at first, they learn to respect me as they see my work and get to know me.

I just want my patients and soon to be new co-workers (and medical school interviewers) to not automatically assume I’m some young incapable little girl playing dress up in scrubs or a lab coat. I have 20/20 vision, but I’m debating if I should buy a pair of glasses…I’ll try anything at this point!

So this is so long, but I’m desperate and rambling!

Advice please!

P.S. If anyone else has this issue in the workplace, feel free to share your story and how you deal with it. Thanks!

You can try some fashion frames. I'm assuming you're wearing your hair appropriate, and not in a pony-tail or other "youthful" hairdo. Since you carry yourself in a way that earns the respect of your co-workers, then your problem is just the first-impression. If you look really young, you look really young. You can tweak a few things in your appearance, but mostly you have to live with what you have.

I've had the same problem. But now that I'm approaching 50, it's a lot more fun to have people think I'm in my 30's, rather than being 30, and being mistaken for a teenager.

Mostly, you're just going to have to put up with it. Try to smile and not roll your eyes when you get the typical comments. I've found over the years that a simple, friendly "I'm older than I look" is one of the best responses.

I have been on medical leave from work and had to leave school for a few months and I recieved my loan statement in the mail. Who do I get in touch with to see if they can postpone my loan payments?

Call your lender and request a deferral. They should be able to help you through this process.

Would anyone be so kind as to edit a medical school personal statement for me? I've had friends read it and all I get back is "it's choppy, but I don't know how to fix it". I need advice on how to make it flow a little better than it already does.

I will e-mail the essay to whomever is interested. Thanks to anyone who might reply.
Sorry about the delay, I had MCATs on Friday. The paper is only a page and a quarter (984 words). And as for med background, you don't have to have too much, but I would like it if you knew what admissions committees were looking for.

How many pages is it? Also how much medical background knowledge does one need to properly edit it?

Thank you!