Cierra spent five years in human resources before going back to medicine.

Medicine was her first love. She talked herself out of it, built a career somewhere else, and then couldn't stop thinking about it. If that sounds familiar, this episode is for you.

The logistics are the hard part and she doesn't sugarcoat them. She knocked out prerequisites while working full time. She volunteered. She scribed. Nights, weekends, whatever fit. Career changers don't get a clean runway - you build the new thing while the old one is still running.

What I'd add is that HR gave her skills most applicants don't have. Difficult conversations. Reading people. Handling conflict without escalating it. Those transfer directly to patient care, and she knows how to say so.

What we cover:

• Leaving HR to go back to medicine after five years
• Fitting prereqs around a full-time job
• Getting healthcare experience through volunteering and scribing
• Translating non-clinical skills into something admissions values
• Handling doubt from yourself and from other people
• What she'd do differently if she started over

Resources:

Free Resume Download: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-resume-download

Free PA School Application Timeline: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-application-timeline

CASPA GPA Calculator: https://www.thepaplatform.com/pa-school-caspa-gpa-calculator

Pre-PA Counseling: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/pre-pa-counseling

Mentioned in this episode:

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All right, we have a guest on Today, Sierra, who is a great interview.

For anyone who is a non traditional student or thinking about changing careers into becoming a PA and getting into medicine, you're really, really going to enjoy this one.

Welcome to the Pre PA Club Podcast.

If you want to learn how to become a physician assistant, you're in the right place.

I'm your host, Savannah Perry.

Let's get to it.

All right, raise your hand if you're in the middle of your didactic year of PA school and raise your other hand if you are still struggling to figure out how to study.

That was me about this time.

This was probably my roughest semester, that second semester where we were getting into Clin Med and it was just hard to try to figure out how to learn everything and actually learn it.

Like you're learning things that are going to be relevant to the patients you're seeing.

It's not like chemistry where you can forget it.

So that's where this week's sponsor of the podcast comes in.

Picmonic.

Y' all have heard me talk about them before and I've shared on social media some of their videos, but I think finding a resource that you enjoy using that makes sense for you and your learning style is important and the quicker you do that in PA school, the less stressful it will be.

It'll still be stressful, but just less so.

Picmonic combines videos that have stories with characters and these really cool little images and pictures to help you recall this information when it comes to test day so you can learn about whatever you're in during Clin Med or during Didactic.

Go to Picmonic, review that topic, solidify the knowledge, test yourself.

So they have thousands of built in rapid review multiple choice quizzes to make sure you understand it.

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So you really need to solidify that information.

You can't just memorize it and forget it.

So we'll put some links in the description for more information on Picmonic.

If you want to check it out, see if it's a good option for you, give it a try.

I think the videos are great and I've used them during my pantry, especially for some of these topics that I have not studied in so long.

I did not do great on cardiology the first time and I didn't do great on endocrinology the second time.

So those have been my focus.

But if you have any questions feel free to reach out and I'm happy to point you in the right direction.

Use the code the PA platform for 20% off at checkout.

Welcome to the Prepea Club Podcast.

I'm your host Savannah.

Thank you for joining me in today's episode where we have an interview with Sierra.

This is a good one because I feel like the ones the interviews where we talk about changing careers are very appealing because so many people and listeners like you guys are in the same position.

So Sierra is really, really cool.

She is a Colorado native.

She started her career in HR and then after being out of school for 5 years decided to get into medicine.

And at the time that we recorded this she was about to start her PA program.

So we talk about non traditional students, what her experience was like and get into all of that.

She is on TikTok if you can find her at Paudent Sierra Sierra is C I E R R A and then on Instagram at Sierra Pennel.

Just look in the description for the spelling but we'll have all that linked for you and we'll tag her in our social media media as well.

And we're always very grateful to anyone who is willing to come on the podcast and share their experience.

So I think you'll really like this one and like the insights that you get from Sierra.

So we're about to get into that.

A few things just to know mappedcon the hotel block is closing next week so if you are in or near Baltimore, come out to MAPCON.

It is the weekend of October, October 6th through 8th.

Most stuff is happening on Saturday so even if you want to just come up for the day Saturday we'll be doing meetups and there are a lot of pre PA sessions as well as just other general pre health sessions that I think will be really, really helpful.

Tons of networking and I'm very excited to meet some of you.

So come say hi.

Don't be scared of me.

Sometimes when I go places people are scared of me.

Don't be scared.

Just come say hey and it will be a good time.

And so we'll get to that.

If you've checked out our pre PA AI, make sure to let me know what you think.

Send me a message on social media, show me what it's doing for you and I would love to hear your feedback on that.

All right, we'll get into our interview with Sierra and if you are planning on doing a mock interview I will say our weekend and night availability is going quickly.

So make sure you see schedule ideally like one to three weeks before your real interview and let us know if you ever can't find a spot for that.

Use the code Future PA for a discount on scheduling and we would love to help you out.

All of that information is on the PA platform.com and you can message us on social media too at the PA platform or at physician assistant on TikTok.

All right, so I'm Sierra, I'm from Colorado and I kind of went to undergrad at csu, which is just my state university here.

Bounced around a little bit with the majors and had some academic struggles during that time.

Just couldn't really make a decision I feel like ended up with a business degree which was super great in the long run for learning.

I had some of the greatest coworkers, some great experiences working in hr.

I worked for every a city municipality, so city government for almost four years.

And kind of during the pandemic when we started to kind of have too much time to sit around and think about our life decisions and whatnot, I decided I wanted to go back into medicine, which was my initial love during college.

And so I was like, oh am I crazy to think that this is possible to be able to go back and do this and get all the experience and prerequisites done.

Other than that I have, I bought my first home last year and we're converting it to an Airbnb.

So working on house projects and renovations is something that I love to do now that I'm learning about.

And I'm a spin instructor also.

So those are a couple things that I kind of do outside of medicine that I really enjoy.

Also fun.

Yeah, that's funny.

We have an Airbnb and I've like thought I would love to teach spin but for now ride my peloton in my basement and pretend it's kind of.

A unconventional like it will hopefully help pay for pay down some loans and pay for school.

So it's kind of an unconventional way I think to pay for grad school, but hopefully it will be helpful down the road.

Yeah, sure.

No, I mean, yeah.

Gotta look at different stuff, get creative.

So you said your first love was medicine but you ended up in business?

Yeah.

Was that just you know, self doubt, convenience what kind of got you on that path?

Yeah, I feel like I walked into college probably not being I was really interested in a lot of different things and medicine being one of those things.

So I started on kind of a pre health track, just taking, you know, early bio classes, some anatomy and I started to get into the self doubt when it came to chemistry, which I know is like a super common struggle that a lot of students have struggles with chemistry.

But I felt like it was like an individual experience at the time and that I was the only one that was like struggling with that and that that kind of negated my ability to be successful in medicine because I think one of the kind of toxic medical academia things is that saying like if you can't be successful in every single class, then you can't be successful overall throughout high school, med school, whatever it may be.

And I kind of let that get to me and I decided, well like I'm interested in some other things, I'm having a little bit of doubt.

Let's go take an economics class, let's take like a political science class.

So I took a bunch of different things and then ended up being like undeclared and like seeking different majors for like a year almost up until my senior year.

And then kind of landed in taking some business classes and I was like, okay, I'm tired of not being able to make a decision and I need something that's kind of going to be able to get me a job.

And I took probably the realistic approach of just let me get this degree that I know I will be able to get a job with and ended up actually being pretty interested in some of my HR classes.

And that's the route I decided to take with my emphasis in business school and was able to get a job right out of school with the city of Denver and work through there for work in HR for a little period of time.

But yeah, it came down to some just not being ready I felt like to make that decision and I feel like a lot of students go through that.

Like now thinking back, I'm like, should I have taken some years off maybe before school, But I wouldn't go back and change anything in my story because I feel like it's made for a very unique set of skills.

I feel like that now I get to bring into PA school that I can help my classmates with things and they'll be able to help me with some things that I won't know as much about.

So I feel like it all worked out.

But yeah, there was definitely some 18 year old Sierra like self doubt.

Yeah, no, I think that is super common, especially with chemistry which you like never will use as a P.A.

But you know, it's one of those big hurdles early on that trips a lot of people up and.

Yeah, I mean it's.

And at my school, it was 100 a weed out class.

Like they knew that we knew that it was just survival, not really learning.

And I've even wondered now.

I like said this to my husband one day and he's like, you're crazy.

I was like, maybe I should go back and you know, take general chemistry again or take organic again.

And I think I, you know, this time could actually learn it and do a lot better and I wouldn't be focused so much on just passing the test and being so stressed out.

Which, yeah, that is crazy.

Like nobody but.

But it's like in the moment you.

It's hard to get your mindset out of that.

Like, I just have to get through this versus I need to learn this and maybe I'll enjoy it or understand it.

So, yeah, very hard.

It's not like I failed the class either.

It was like I was so hard on myself.

And I think a lot of pre health students are, if you get, you know, know, below a certain grade that you're seeking, then you're like, well, like, I can either retake this and try again or like I did, I was pretty doubtful of myself and my abilities at that time that I completely nixed the entire idea.

And then I ended up taking biochemistry later on it like now out of college.

That really helped reassure, like, okay, I can do this.

It's a different type of chemistry.

It's not so much the jud Chem, but like, that was a nice like, okay, like reassurance of my abilities at that time.

So thinking about.

So you said you worked, I think for five years after getting done with undergrad.

At what point in those five years did you kind of start thinking like, maybe like, I want to go back, I want to go pa. Did you know about pa?

Like, what was kind of your process?

I think when I've.

I've talked to other people who have kind of switched careers or made that decision, sometimes it takes a little while to, to make it and like make the commitment and make the changes and like go for it.

And then some people are like, no, I'm doing this tomorrow, I'm just going to do it.

What was your kind of path?

Totally.

I feel like I knew about, I heard about PA like early on in college and really loved the idea of it and even started like gearing my classes towards that and then of course went a different direction.

But when I got out of school school, I felt like there was always this thing in the back of my mind that I wanted to go back to grad school, that that would be like my redeeming.

Like, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna get this degree that I know I can get a job with.

I can kind of get settled, know myself a little bit more and then think about going back to grad school.

And again, I then started to think about, okay, I love science, I know that I love science.

And I was trying to compromise with my career I had already chosen.

And I'm like, okay, let's do psychology.

You can do organizational psychology.

It's kind of in the science field, you'll get that taste of science, but it'll still be like in this business realm because you made that decision at.

I was trying to keep myself to this decision that I made at 20, 22 years old and not allow myself to fully go towards the thing that I knew I really wanted to do, which was medicine.

And it's just, it's a scary like decision to think about.

They always say like, yes, go back earlier on in your life because it's like they like going to be quote, unquote easier because you're already in that school mode.

And as you get out, there's this sunk cost effect that like, oh, I've already put so much time and effort into this career and it's too late for me.

All the lies we tell ourselves.

And I, you know, believed some of those for a little bit.

And then I was like, I just cannot deny myself this ability to try while I still, while I want to go do this right now.

So I really started to think about, okay, what are the hurdles I need to get over in order to make this happen while I continue to work this full time job.

Because I had worked as a CNA in college, but that license had expired and now I have a salary.

And so I'm not thinking about like going back into like early or entry level healthcare.

Position is not really going to be financially an option at this moment.

So I feel like that's a hurdle that a lot of people think about, like if they're wanting to change.

And then how do I get the prerequisites when I'm kind of tied up nine to five, Monday through Friday?

So I thought, I just sat with that thought for a long time.

I'm like, is this crazy?

Is this like to think that I can go and do this and still kind of work this full time?

Job until I'm able to kind of step away.

And I just started like I took as a couple classes a semester.

That's about as much as I could handle per semester with a job.

And then was able to just start volunteering in a hospital on my free time, which counts as healthcare experience.

And I. I think a lot of that's a really good tip for prepas that are in a similar situation that you don't necessarily need to go into something that you have to go get like a license for.

You can volunteer on the weekends and evenings whenever you have free time, and it counts as hours and you're getting exposure to a healthcare environment that way.

So that's kind of how I started to build traction on that.

And then I was like, I'm gonna apply because I, like, I'm.

I have most of the prerequisites.

I did have quite a few from early college and then taking the ones that I had missed later on.

But it was.

I always went in with the mindset of like, this might take time, this.

And I think that's important.

Like, I may have to reapply.

This may take a while.

And I think that's important that.

To walk in with just like, know that it might take some time and that is okay.

Yeah.

When you're making this transition, were you.

Able to take your prereqs or your rest of your classes in person or did you do online?

I did it online.

UC Berkeley Extension has like a million classes, I'm sure.

I think that's what like quite a lot of students use that online program.

And I did take some that were like how to set, I guess, face to face time online with your professors.

Face to face lectures and then some.

It was just recorded lectures so I could do it on my own time just figuring out what would overworked with my schedule that semester.

And I did take one Saturday class, which was like kind of a pain at times, but it was, um, honestly one of my favorite classes that I took and it was so worth it.

It was like three hours on a Saturday, which, like, then you can't really go do a ton of stuff.

But it was helpful.

Okay, cool.

Yeah, I've heard a lot about the UC Berkeley.

That one comes up a lot when people are looking for online classes and prereqs and all of that.

So when it came time when you decide like, yeah, I'm gonna apply, did you have a specific school in mind or were you kind of looking at different programs?

What were your crit for figuring out where you wanted to apply?

I think I just.

I started with thinking about what was my limiting factor in my application.

I started with thinking about, okay, I have, at the time I applied, about 500 hours.

That was kind of my goal that I wanted to reach.

I wanted to be able to apply to schools with that, but people could do the same thing.

If you want to reach 250 hours, 100 hours, there are schools that have those numbers of hours.

So I knew that was my limiting factor in my application.

And so I would go through on, like, PA School finder and, you know, research the different program criteria of, hey, what can I match my prerequisites to with, like, schools that have this hour requirement?

And I kind of built this list.

Was actually able to apply to three.

Three of the four in my home state, which was great, but kind of applied as broadly as I could, too.

I was trying to be really open to the idea of, if I get into school here, that's fine.

Like, I. I really wanted to cast a wide net, so I applied to 10 overall, which ended up making for a lot of supplementals to do, but it was.

I casted a wide.

As wide of a net as I could with the limitations on my application that I could.

So.

So it was good.

Yeah.

I felt like 10 was a good number.

I felt good with that, and it gave me a good hopeful that I would get at least, you know, one to two interview invites.

I ended up getting one, and.

Yeah, okay, so you got one interview invite and one acceptance.

One interview invite.

I was waitlisted, and then my acceptance came shortly after the new year, so I still had, like, plenty of time to get ready, which was super nice because I heard the horror stories of people finding out, like, two weeks before it does happen.

Yes.

Every year.

Okay, cool.

So in your application process, I mean, was there anything that you found helpful or looking back, especially as somebody who was in a career changing, having to do all this stuff, Is there anything you wish you did differently.

In the sense of the timeline that I had, having one career and now going into another, I.

There's probably a moment, like, a while ago, I probably would have been like, oh, I should have just stuck it out.

I should have retaken chemistry.

Done.

You know, I could, woulda, coulda, shoulda, that sort of thing.

But then I got to a point, like, there is really so much value in the experiences that everybody brings to PA School, no matter what background you come from.

And I really started to get a little bit more confident about the fact that I was Bringing in a unique like, background that maybe a lot of like people in my class will not have and then I can help them and vice versa.

I started to going back, I would probably.

It's like I put so much effort into personal statement making sure everything was ready to go for that April 28th or whatever it was.

Started inputting everything in Caspa and I think I would have liked to have spent more time focusing on these supplementals.

I don't think I went in knowing just how much time that process would take for me.

And.

And of course you can't really know those until you're in the Casper and able to see under your programs, but make sure that you do take a good amount of time to devote to those.

Because I had a goal of like an early June submittal and because I was getting ready to go on vacation, it was my birthday.

I kind of just had it in my mind like I'm going to get.

But then I'm sitting there like right before we're about to leave, like still typing away the supplemental, trying to get these done.

And so there's probably a couple in there I could have like edited so much better.

But at that point I was like, nope, just getting this out the door, like wanting like mentally.

I've checked out, so let's get this done.

They can be very extensive.

Which people?

I.

That is when people are like, I'm going to apply to 25 programs.

Yeah, okay, well, when they each require five one page essays.

Yeah,.

It can be a little, it can be a little bit much.

When you did your work, know that you were pursuing this or is that something you kind of like didn't approach at the time?

Yeah, I didn't let on for a little while.

I felt like I was living a little bit of like a Hannah Montana life where like I go to my HR job and then I come home and study biochemistry class.

So I did that for a while until I was really down the road of like, okay, I'm.

I'm really doing this.

And I'm having still conversations with my boss about like, what are our goals for the next year?

What is your career ambitions in hr?

And I'm like, actually this is what I'm going to be doing.

And I'm super lucky that they were all very supportive of just wanting me to be happy.

And I just asked for better, like co workers, better bosses who were really open to that with me.

And I kind of worked through a transition with them helping, you know, get somebody on board for my role.

And was able to be a part of that as well.

So it was, for me, a very seamless, like, transition.

But, yeah, I did, you know, not let on for a little while of what I was doing.

Yeah, yeah.

The questions that would come in would be like, oh, what, why are you taking biochemistry?

It's a new hobby.

Yeah, no, that's.

That, because that's what I've.

I've had a few people on who are like, teachers and things, and they kind of were like, yeah, we just waited a little bit.

Yeah.

So what now that you, you know, you got accepted off the wait list, have had some time to prepare, have you still been working?

Like, what have you been doing to get ready for PA School, if anything?

Yeah, for a couple months I still worked because my job had.

My big job had been going back.

They were transitioning back to the office, and it was clear I was not joining them.

I worked for a family friend's business, just doing, like, office stuff for them, helping out for a couple months.

That was after finding out I had been accepted.

So I was like, yeah, let me just help you.

I could, like, make binders and send emails.

You know, like, I did that for a little bit and then was able to now take, like, this last month off completely.

And I'm kind of getting my house set up to be an Airbnb.

So really, that has been a big distraction in as far as not getting nerves about school.

I really feel like I've been focused on doing that stuff.

I will play around on the, like, complete Anatomy app.

It's like just.

Yeah, just an app that you can kind of walk through the body systems and bringing back some of that anatomy language.

But really, I'm not.

I'm trying to stay away from.

Because that's what everyone also keeps saying is, like, just stay away.

You'll.

From the.

From the books.

You'll be okay.

You'll have plenty of time.

So I'm trying to go by that a little bit and not get so in the weeds.

Yeah, yeah, it's.

It's just hard to prepare.

The only time.

The only thing I've told people is, yeah, reviewing anatomy just to, like, you said, like, kind of get your brain back in that mode.

And then.

Because most programs do start with anatomy and then asking the class ahead of you, like, hey, is there anything you wish that you did?

Because sometimes they'll just depending like, our class.

You had to take a med term quiz.

It wasn't super hard, but if you passed, you could take the grade that you got on the test as your medterm grade.

If you didn't pass, you had to actually take the class.

And so, like, that was a nice incentive to review that a little bit.

I found some, like, online flashcards or whatever just to, like, make sure that I wouldn't have that extra class in the summer so then I could focus on my other classes.

Yeah.

Oh, I just have less to do.

So that was the one thing that they, like, told our class was like, hey, make sure, you know, you really try to pass that test because it'll make your life easier.

So it was nice to have that guidance a little bit beforehand.

So, yeah.

Yeah, I guess.

Yeah, I took.

So I took med term last fall, and then I have been doing.

I had been doing a little bit of scribing.

I've stopped that now.

Prescribing is also really helpful for bringing in that med term.

Oh, yeah.

Another thing you don't typically have to get a license for in a lot of states.

I know maybe some do, but that was another thing that I did to get hours as well.

And that was really helpful because I actually got to be in more with patients, and that.

That definitely helped my med term.

Bringing back just those basic body planes and all of those stuff definitely helps.

I think that was.

I think scribing has been very underrated until more recently, like, because so many schools at the beginning were like, we're not accepting scribing.

It's not good experience.

But it's such good experience.

Like, it.

Yeah.

I mean, I was a CNA before PA school, and you said you had done some CNA stuff in college, too.

And, like, as a cna, I guess you maybe, like, I might have written a progress note occasionally, but I wasn't written writing, like, a full note the way that you are when you're describing.

And that's what you have to do as a pa. Like, you have to be able to document really, really well.

So having that skill before PA school, I think is so valuable.

Yeah, no, I'm super glad that I did that.

I feel a little bit.

I do feel, like, a bit more confident now having that experience as opposed to, like, the volunteering is awesome.

And I was in an er, so I was like.

But it was like, I'm grabbing blankets, I'm grabbing water for the patients.

I'm not necessarily in, like, understanding what's going on with them every time and writing notes and so.

But that was kind of my end to be able to get into the scribing.

So it's still, like, I'M very thankful for all of, all of that experience.

It's all.

And it like the volunteering too.

Like you get to see, not have the pressure to be involved in a way.

Like you get to kind of just observe what's going on, which is great.

You also get to work with like the cleaning staff and like understand the other roles in the hospital.

And I think that that's very important as well.

Just seeing how everybody kind of plays a part in patient care, truly.

Yeah.

No, I agree for, for sure.

Where do you see yourself ending up?

Is there a certain area that you feel more strongly about or kind of just gonna see how it goes?

I feel like I'm, I'm going in, trying to go in super open minded about.

There's a part of me that I think back to my anatomy days and I loved the heart, but I've heard that it's one of those things that in face school you either learn to love that module or you hate it or kind of one of those.

Excited to see how I end up on that side of, of things.

There's a part of me that's quite interested in surgery and just seeing if I like that more tactical side of things.

But I also think about, and maybe it's just like now being a little bit older, I've had an experience to work like a 9 to 5 and I, I do enjoy that schedule.

So thinking about work, life balance, I'm like what kind of schedule do I want and what kind of specialties might offer more of that like consistent schedule as opposed to something maybe like ER that might not have.

So I'm kind of all over the place.

Well, and that's, I mean that's the beauty of rotations is because you get to see all of that, like figure out what you like, what you don't like and about the specialty, about the patients you see, I mean all of that and it's so helpful.

So I have full faith you'll figure it out.

Well, thank you so much for sharing your experience and I know this will be super helpful to others who are maybe trying to like jump off the ledge but aren't quite there yet.

They can see the others have done it and survived.

So it is possible.

Absolutely, yes, very sure.

All right, I'll cut us there.

But yeah, no, that's.

I think it's very interesting because I like in another world would have loved to have a business major and my sister was a business major with an HR focus.

Okay.

It's just funny like how different we are and she has like, in medicine, whatever, but I'm always like, what do you do?

Like on a, like on a daily basis, what do you do?

Know what I do.

And like in medicine we do and you know, but like, what do you do?

And I don't know.

Very interested in just sending emails back and forth.

Pretty much she's like, I email and have meetings, but like, if I go shopping, I go shopping.

Like, she works from home too, so she's super flexible.

And like I'm like, do you work?

Like sometimes I don't know if you work, but she does and it's just funny.

So.

Yeah.

But I think it'll be like, like you'll be going in with like fresh, like all fresh and ready to go and kind of not like going straight from undergrad.

You're a little bit like burnout, like you're still in school mode, but it's just a bit big switch from undergrad to grad school.

And so I think having that like mindset of like having a full time job and understanding that will be more beneficial for just the schedule.

What school are you going to?

Rocky Mountain University.

Yeah.

Is it a smaller class or.

No, it's about 50.

Okay.

And I do know there's one other person when everyone has been sending like their bios and stuff, one person with like a finance background.

So I do know that like there are other students out there.

It's just like the resources that are out there, we all like, you just feel kind of more like it's just you, you know.

Yeah, no, we.

We had one girl who was an accounting major, like had literally just been an accountant and decided to do medicine.

And then we had another girl who, she was a math major and she had done insurance.

Oh, okay.

Like not health insurance, but like selling car and house insurance and stuff.

And so they were very interesting and they just, you know, again decided like,.

Really understand like, like that insurance side of things too.

I bet that's really helpful because I know that.

Yeah, I mean that's what's.

And like you said, I think in it, like that's the beauty of PA school is like everybody brings something different to the table and can help each other out.

So it's a nice mix to have everybody in there.

Yeah.

Well, enjoy your time before you start.