Erin is about to graduate from GW's PA program, so she can finally see the whole thing clearly.

We get into why she chose PA, how different the pace is from undergrad, what it felt like moving from the classroom into clinical year, and what the job search looks like when graduation is close.

What we talk about:

• Why Erin chose PA and how she landed at George Washington
• How the pace of PA school compares to undergrad
• Moving from didactic year into rotations
• The parts of training that surprised her most
• Starting a job search before you've even graduated
• Why staying flexible matters so much in this field

Resources:

PA Program Map: https://www.thepaplatform.com/pa-platform-map

Free application timeline: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-application-timeline

One-on-one pre-PA counseling: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/pre-pa-counseling

Welcome to episode 33 and get ready for this awesome interview with Erin Rachel from Stethoscope and Sparkle.

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.

Alright, you guys, happy Friday.

First of all, thank you so much for listening.

And I am Savannah.

I am, I am a dermatology pa,.

The host of this Pre PA Club podcast and the creator of the PA platform.

If you're new, if you're not new, you've heard that before.

I just want to say that I had a really hard time with that intro.

Trying to say Stethoscope and Sparkle really quickly did not go well, but I got it.

I think so anyway, I'm really excited about today's interview.

I have said it in the past, but I just love being able to connect with other people in the physician assistant realm, whether it's students or PAs or whatever.

So a while back I, I guess I, me and Erin were following each other.

She goes by Erin Rachel on Instagram and she's a PA student who is about to graduate.

Like within a month she'll be a pa.

So that was really awesome and fun.

To talk about, but it's so cool getting to actually talk to these people that I see pictures of all the time and feeling like I get to actually know them and then hopefully meet them one day at a conference or something and it's just so fun.

So anyway, we had a really great time talking in our interview about her journey to PA school, through PA school and now finding a job because that's the next step once you become a pa.

So I'm really excited.

I think you're gonna really like this interview and make sure that you follow Erin.

She has both a blog at stethoscopeandsparkle.com and an Instagram, so I'll put those in the description so you can find them.

She's also in our Pre PA Club Facebook group and pops in to answer questions and so, yeah, a great resource for you to know about and also just an awesome, really funny person.

She's great.

So really down to earth.

I'm really excited for you to hear this.

All right, here we go.

Okay, so my name is Erin.

On social media I go by Erin Rachel and I am currently a second year student.

On my last rotation before graduation from PA school, I currently go to the George Washington University.

Before PA school, I was a CNA for like two years and I Run.

I'm the person behind the blog Stethoscope and sparkle.

Awesome.

Where did you go to undergrad?

I went to the University of Florida for undergrad and I got my patient contact hours as a CNA at the University of Florida's hospital, which is US Health Shams.

Okay, cool.

Going into college, were you pre PA or did that come later?

So I have been pre pa since I was like 16.

I had shoulder surgery in high school and mainly saw my orthopedic PA who I thought was like the most fabulous person in the world.

And he was really responsive at answering all of the questions that I had, which was quite a few of them.

And I just thought it seems like a really good profession.

My mom is an NP and she has never had anything but good things to say about pa.

So I knew that I wanted to be a PA going into undergrad.

Interesting.

So why not?

Why PA and not np?

So this is always an interesting.

I get asked this question probably.

Well, you have a different perspective than somebody else.

So my mom is an old fashioned np.

And what I mean by that is she worked first as a CNA in high school and then her hospital paid for her to get her rn, her associate's degree in nursing, and then went back to school and got her bsn, and then finally went back to school and got her master's.

So by this point, I think she had done like 15 years of ICU nursing before she went back to get her master's in nursing.

And she is a fellow firm believer that to be a good nurse practitioner, it's more helpful to have some of that floor nursing experience.

And she, you know, really instilled that in me at a young age.

So I knew that if I wanted to do the NP route, then I would be going back to school later.

And that's not necessarily something that I wanted to do.

Okay, gotcha.

That makes sense.

It's nice that you have that personal insight into the process a little bit more.

What was your major at Florida?

So I was a health science major, which is kind of like a useless bachelor's degree.

It's actually, it was like specifically designed at Florida for people who wanted to be like pre pt, pre ot, pre PA and pre medicine.

So it let us fill in all of our like prerequisite classes and then we were taking also like the US healthcare system, stuff like that.

Okay, interesting.

So you mentioned you worked as a cna.

Was that something you did before going to college or while you were in school or after?

What was kind of your Process in school from starting undergrad to applying to getting into PA school.

So I got my CNA license in the state of Florida during my second year of undergrad.

My mom was basically like, if you want to do medicine, you need to do this because we need to start getting you exposure.

Because she's a smart, wonderful woman.

And so that's summer between second and third year.

I started, like randomly applying to CNA positions at Shams, even though most of them required, like, experience.

And I had no experience and ended up getting a phone call.

And the woman was like, hey, do you want this job?

So I took my job.

It was a full time position.

So I worked 312 shifts.

And she was like, oh, don't worry.

Like later on you can cut down if you have to.

Never cut down.

So I worked full time and went to undergrad full time.

That is impressive.

That's one of the things that when I applied, you needed experience, but not quite as much as you need now to be competitive.

And so I just worked for a summer full time.

Had plans to take a year off if I needed to, to work.

But yeah, you guys who like, work and go to school and take all these ridiculous classes, I just, I don't know how, how you make that work.

Good job.

I would say that I haven't slept in a couple of years.

Okay.

My, like, sleep.

My time for sleep has definitely decreased.

But I was lucky enough that like three 12s.

I did it Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

And my college only had class Monday through Thursday.

Okay, so that worked out.

Yeah, so it worked out pretty much the way I did.

It was Monday through Thursday.

I only focused on school.

Like, that's when I did all of my studying and like, stuff like that.

And then Friday, Saturday, Sunday, I went to work, came home, ate dinner, went to bed, woke up and did it again the next day.

Wow.

Yeah, the one time I had like twelves in a row was on my ER rotation.

And they'll wear you out.

Like, that is basically like, by the time you get home, you want to eat and sleep and.

Yeah, yeah, impressive.

But it was a great experience.

Mainly because I did med surg for a while and then switched to pediatrics.

So I kind of got to experience, like two different things.

And just the people I worked with are, hands down some of the most, like, amazing individuals ever.

And they were very encouraging and pretty much anything, anytime anything interesting went on, they were like, oh, go grab this person because she really wants to learn.

And so that was helpful.

Yeah, that's really nice.

So did you apply to PA School while you were still in undergrad?

Yes.

So I applied the CASPA cycle that opened my third year, kind of thinking, maybe I'll get in, maybe I won't.

But at this point, like, I had 2,000 hours, so I was like, I might as well apply.

So then I did interviews during my last year of undergrad, which was challenging because it was flying to places and, like, the stress of interviews.

And I was also finishing classes, and then I ended up starting PA school 31 days after I graduated from undergrad.

Okay, so you went straight in.

Yeah, we had very similar paths.

I applied about the same time, did interviews during fall semester, luckily, didn't have to fly anywhere, but did have to reschedule some tests, which my professors did not love.

Yep.

And then I graduated in December, so I had a little bit of a break about four months and then went straight in because otherwise it would have been.

Literally, I would have graduated on Friday and started on Monday.

Oh, my goodness.

Luckily, I was able to take a couple online classes to graduate early.

Yeah, that sounds like it was smart of you to do.

Yeah, that would have been not very fun.

So thinking back on when you applied, which was a little while ago now, what did you find most difficult about the whole process?

So I'm going to be completely honest.

I feel like I knew nothing when I applied.

Like, I didn't go on any of, like, the PA Forum.

I wasn't in any of the Facebook groups.

It was just, like, me as, like, a little single person and then one of my best friends and then another girl that we knew.

And so I didn't have, like, some of the added stress of, like, comparing myself to other people, which I think was good.

But at the same time, like, I didn't apply as early as people say that you should.

I, you know, didn't have some of the people who, you know, now we recommend write letter of recommendations.

Write my letter of recommendations.

So I think that was the hardest part is just I was so clueless, like, I didn't know anything.

Well, yeah, and I think over the past couple years, there's been a lot more information available.

But, I mean, there's still probably a lack of information out there, too.

Right.

And then I would say that the other hardest part about applying was the waiting.

I had so much anxiety waiting for interviews, then waiting to hear from interviews, just, like, that whole process.

Especially because, like, my best friend was going through the process at the same time, and she got a lot of interviews, like, right off the bat.

And I Didn't hear back until much later.

So, like, I was constantly, like, calling my mom, going, like, what is happening?

So that probably is actually the worst part.

How many schools did you apply to?

I applied to 12.

Yeah, I applied to 12 initially.

And then when I didn't start hearing back from schools, I applied to an additional three programs because I was, like, stressing out.

What were the results of that as far as interview invites.

So I think I got seven interviews, got wait listed at a couple places, and then got three acceptances.

Okay, so you had some choices.

Yes.

When you came time to choose which program to go to, what played into your decision?

That's something people ask about a lot as far as what you should look for in a program.

And I feel like it's a very personal decision.

What were your kind of must haves?

So I definitely agree with you.

I think it's very personal, obviously.

So I only apply to programs that had accreditation, so weren't on provisional, because I was very worried about that.

And I only applied to programs that had, like, a successful pants pass rate and programs in cities that I felt that I could live in.

And I feel like those are, like, the top three things that you should kind of think about when applying.

When it came down to deciding, I ended up choosing GW because it was outside of my comfort zone.

I thought that being at a program in a very metropolitan area, which is the opposite of where I come from, being in a program that, you know, was such a hub of people from different cultures and ethnicities, would also be, like, very interesting because I thought it would make for, like, the best kind of learning experience.

And, like, ultimately I can say that that was, like, a very smart choice on my end because, like, I have seen patients who.

There is no way that I would have ever seen them had I gone to a school in Florida.

Okay.

Just because their conditions and their life experiences are so different than the conditions and, you know, experiences that you do get in Florida.

Interesting.

Okay, so getting to PA school, which you had to move for PA school.

How is that?

So my mom and I, along with my cat, drove in a u haul for 17 hours.

It went very well.

Actually, the worst part was that, like, some.

I think it was Tropical Storm Debbie had flooded the highway in South Carolina, and so we had to detour.

And then when we ended up staying in a hotel, it was, like, a hotel that did not allow pets.

So we, like, put my cat in a duffel bag and, like, snuck her into the hotel.

But other than that, it, like, went very well, you know, it was definitely an interesting experience, moving.

And I have learned that I do not believe that DC is the right place for me to live for the rest of my life, but it was a great experience.

Yeah.

A short term experience.

Yes, short term.

How did you handle being in PA school and being far away from family, friends?

Was that difficult at times or made it work?

So it was definitely very challenging.

I am fortunate in the fact that I have no significant other, which I think is a huge, you know, just additional stress for some people.

Doing the long distance is very hard.

So I talk on the phone to my mom every day.

It's just what I do.

Typically when I walked home from class, I would call my mom and we would talk about my day and stuff like that.

And then she was fortunate in the fact that she was able to come visit me a couple times, which was very nice.

Other than that, basically my friends are all in the medical field or want to be, so they understood that, like, for two years I was going to be kind of absent, which was nice.

Okay, so you're really understanding what in PA school.

So you've done didactic year, you're in clinical year now what once you got to PA school was the most surprising or difficult thing for you,.

Jumping in.

So people always say that PA school is trying to take a sip out of a fire hose.

I thought they were totally full of it.

I did not think it was going to be that hard.

I did good in undergrad.

I was very smart, yada, yada, yada.

The biggest thing was just the shock in we would go through an entire semester worth of material for my undergrad classes in two weeks and then take a test on it.

And that was just such a culture shock to my system.

I was so surprised by it.

And then additionally, this is, like, very specific to me.

I.

Like, extremely.

I'm extremely challenged by taking tests on an iPad.

It's really, really hard for me.

That's interesting.

So I am like the kind of person who, when I hand back my test, it's literally filled with like random notes.

I like, underline, highlight, cross things out, like draw pictures.

You can't do any of that on an iPad.

Literally the only function we had was to X out an answer choice.

And that was very hard for me to get used to and definitely, like, impacted my grades on exams because I wasn't able to do the same kind of thought process that I had done in undergrad.

So that was between the amount of knowledge that we had to learn and taking the test Was like, the biggest shock for me in PA school.

Interesting.

Yeah, we.

Ours are on the computer, but I think we still could take notes and,.

Like, have a little note sheet, you.

Know, because I'm kind of a writer.

Like, I need to write things out and all that, too, so.

Interesting.

Yeah.

So how.

How is clinical year compared to didactic year?

I can't even stress how much better it is.

Okay, good.

So much better.

I was initially very worried because I was like, I just sat in a classroom for one year.

I learned all of this knowledge.

How am I ever going to be able to apply it to a clinical situation?

Like, how am I ever going to be able to remember all of it?

And I've been pleasantly surprised at how much I do remember, which is nice.

And then additionally, I think that just seeing a patient and interacting with them and, like, being able to put, like, tangible experience to this, like, weird little sentence that you're reading in a book has been so helpful.

So, yeah, it's been like, a thousand times better than didactic here.

Okay, good.

Is there anything specific about GW that you think is interesting or cool or that people would want to know about if they were interested in the program?

So I would just.

I would say that the biggest thing, I think, for gw, so there's actually two.

I would say that our faculty is very interesting.

Quite a few of them are, like, very very involved in the PA profession, and there's a lot of advocacy, which is very interesting.

And then additionally, I just think that our clinical year experience is so unlike other places.

You know, we do rotations in D.C. and in Baltimore, which are both very, like, interesting cities.

And then there are also, like, quite a few sites that are, like, spread out through the DMV area.

And I haven't heard of, like, anyone having a horrible experience, you know, So I think that's very impressive as a whole.

Yeah, just good quality sites.

That's awesome.

Is there anything, looking back, since you're towards the end of your PA school journey, is there anything, looking back, that you think you could have done differently that would have prepared you better?

So, honestly, I don't think that there's anything that could have prepared me better because I. I don't think that there's any way to really prepare for PA school until you get there, because it's just such a different experience than any of the learning that you've had before.

Maybe if I had to, like, really sit down, I. I guess I would say I wish that going into it, I had listened more to Those people who told me that it was going to be like, taking a sip out of a fire hose and maybe been, like, smarter about some of my studying the first few weeks.

Okay, so what would you say to somebody.

And you probably get this question too, like, oh, I got into PA school.

What can I do?

Should I study anatomy?

Should I try to learn pharmacology?

What should I be studying?

So I tell every single person, don't study anything.

Me too.

I tell everybody, relax.

Spend time with your family.

Spend time with your friends.

Like, catch up on sleep.

Do that thing that you really want to do, because you're not going to do it in PA school.

I mean, there are definitely.

I have classmates who, like, have gone out on the weekends and, like, done things like that.

That was not the experience that I had.

I did a lot of studying and, you know, I tried to, like, study anatomy before PA school and study, like, medical terminology, and I wasn't studying the right things.

Like, I didn't study the things that I needed to know for PA school.

So I think it's better just to, like, enjoy your time that you have, you know, celebrate.

Yeah, I agree.

That is also my advice.

So being that you're now kind of at the end and studying for your boards and all of that stuff, do you have any thoughts for after school?

Is that something you've, like, start looking for jobs, know where you're gonna be?

So I do know where I'm gonna be.

I do have a position.

I'm not yet sharing what that position is.

I'm waiting.

I am fortunate, though, that my position does not start immediately after school.

I'm going to relax, work out, because I have not worked out as much as I should for PA school and, like, spend time with my mom and honestly, sleep.

I'm looking forward to sleeping.

And then eventually, at some undisclosed point, I will start my job, and then I'll go back into being an adult and being a functional member of society.

It's good to have a little break.

Did you find it difficult to find a job?

Yes, I did.

Okay.

I chose not to do any rotations in Florida because it.

So Florida, you need a car to get anywhere.

There's no public transportation.

And I would have had to, like, drive my car down and then drive my car back to D.C. and, like, that would have been more stress and, like, trying to set something up.

I wanted to go with, like, a site that was predetermined, you know, that the school had already done all of the groundwork for.

So I didn't really have any in for, like, a job in Florida.

And then additionally, the field that I.

The few fields that I applied for were all fields that were like, we want one to two years of experience.

I have no experience.

You know, I try to, you know, include in my cover letter, I'm a new grad.

You know, I'm very moldable and shapeable.

Like, I.

You will be able to, you know, build me into the person that you want in your practice because I don't have any bad habits, per se, that I learned at other places.

So I definitely found it more challenging to find a job because I was trying to go back to Florida, and the fields that I wanted were fields that needed experience.

How early did you start looking and applying?

So I have been.

I like to refer to it as creeping.

I've been creeping on job sites since August.

Okay.

You know, because if I found that golden job, like the golden goose, I was going to apply and hope that they would be willing to wait for me, because why not?

You know?

And I also went into PA School knowing what I wanted to do, and then suffered a crisis of faith and decided that I did not want to do that and then decided that I wanted to do something else, and then just, you know, had another crisis and changed again.

So I've been looking for a long time at jobs, and I started actively applying in January, I would say, so I graduate in May.

My goal was to take the pants, you know, two to three weeks after graduation, which is pretty typical for most people, I feel like, and then hopefully get started.

And I felt like applying in January while was still very early.

Hopefully not too early.

Yeah, I did a very similar thing.

I graduated in August, so I started looking in January, started applying kind of February, March, and then was able to kind of have a job secured by my last couple rotations.

So the jobs, they're out there, but you do have to put in some legwork to kind of get them.

Yeah.

And you definitely have to be willing to compromise.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So.

And I think that's something that, like, some of my classmates haven't reached the point where, like, they're willing to compromise yet, while as others reach that point very early.

So.

Yeah, no, I. Yeah.

And I wanted to start right after or right.

As soon as possible.

So that was kind of my mindset, too.

Thinking about rotations, have you had a favorite or was there any that you thought you would hate that you ended up not hating?

So I absolutely thought that I would hate women's health.

Okay.

I, you know, Grew up in a conservative family.

I feel very uncomfortable with some of the topics that you discuss in women's health.

I thought it was, like, the most magical experience in the world.

You know, I did labor and delivery first, which was very interesting.

You know, I teared up and, like, had emotions every single time a baby was born.

And I saw many, many, many of them be born, you know, and then even outpatient.

Like, I just thought it was so interesting because, you know, women's health, especially, like, screening for cervical cancers is one of the easiest, most preventable cancers out there, you know, and is a very significant one.

And for me, it was so interesting to, like, actually be able to, like, impact something as big as cancer.

And then additionally, like, there are just.

I still feel, like, so many struggles for women in, like, the ability to make their own decisions when it comes to some of those things that I thought it was, like.

It was a very growing experience for me.

I learned a lot, you know, both as a provider and, like, as a human being, which was pretty cool.

Cool.

Yeah.

I had similar sentiments in thinking I wasn't gonna like, OB gyn, and then I ended up really liking it.

That's one field that you get to see a little bit of, I think, no matter where you are.

So even if, like, being in Durham, I deal with some of these issues.

So it's interesting how things cross over a little bit.

Yeah, they definitely do.

They definitely do.

So switching gears a little bit, what inspired you to start Stethoscope and Sparkle, like, your blog and your Instagram and just sharing.

So this is a funny story because it kind of shows, like, how much of a dweeb I am.

I was on the phone with my mom.

I had gotten into PA school, and she's like, I think you need a hobby.

You need some sort of outlet during PA school so you don't get overly stressed.

Because I don't want you to call me every day freaking out about something.

I was like, okay.

And she was like, so you need to think of something creative.

I am, like, the least creative person in the world.

I genuinely have no idea how the name Stethoscope and Sparkle appeared in my brain.

And I sat down and was like, I'm gonna start a blog.

And I literally, in two hours, like, started my blog, knew nothing about it.

And I was like, you know what?

My mom will read it.

Maybe, like, my best friend Katie will read it, and it will be something, like, I can just ramble about things on the Internet.

It will be totally fine.

And I was like, okay, well, what do I have to ramble about?

And decided, you know what?

I felt like I knew nothing when I applied to PA school.

I didn't know any of these things that you were supposed to know.

So I'm going to talk about PA school, and that's how my blog got started.

That's awesome.

Again, impressive that you've been able to do that during school.

So.

It's definitely.

It's definitely been a challenge, you know, because I have to, like, remind myself to do things.

And then sometimes I would be like, I don't want to study.

I'm just going to do this instead of.

So I had to find a happy middle ground, and that took a while to find.

Well, you're doing a good job.

Hopefully you'll continue once you're.

I'm hoping it will get easier to continue.

Oh, it will.

Well, I remember.

So I.

After graduation and once I started working, there were about six months where I was honestly exhausted.

Just my brain was so tired from trying to learn every day and pick up everything.

So I would come home and if I sat down, I wasn't getting up.

Like, I would fall asleep on the couch.

So that was about six months.

And then after that was when I was like, all right, I'm good now.

What's next?

And I started my blog.

So, yeah, give your.

Give yourself some grace at the beginning because it can be a little intense, but it's fun, too, when you're actually doing it.

It's just a lot.

Yeah.

And I definitely can say that, like, I'm very happy that I decided to make it geared towards pre PAs, because I have gotten, like, so many people who have been like, wow, like, you have really inspired me.

Like, you've been so helpful and, like, I never thought anyone was gonna read it.

So, like, to me, it makes me feel like I'm actually giving back, which is why I wanted to go into medicine in the whole place, you know, is to give back and, like, help others and, you know, hopefully make, like, the whole experience of life somewhat easier.

So, you know, it's interesting.

Well, you're doing a good job.

And I'll link to all of your stuff in the description so everybody can follow along with you and check out your blog and your Instagram and find out about your job in the near future.

Yes, very soon.

Near future.

Like, 30 days.

Yeah.

That's exciting.

Oh, so exciting.

Well, you'll do great.

I don't know about you guys, but.

I think Erin is going to be an awesome pa and I can't wait to see where she ends up and I guess we'll have to wait on social media to see what her announcement is as far as her upcoming job once she graduates and hear what she has to say about boards passing the pants.

I know she's gonna pass and all.

That, so I hope you enjoyed that.

FYI, Casper opens next week, so if you don't know that it's important and.

So yeah, be on top of things.

But if you have questions, feel free to email me, message me on Instagram.

You can follow me at the PA platform.

There are some giveaways right now going away for the PA School Interview Guide.

So if you're applying this cycle, make sure you're following me and I will give you the heads up for everyone doing a giveaway.

There are going to be a lot of them, so make sure you're following.

Get on the newsletter.

All these links are in the description, but I want to make sure you're.

As prepared as possible and that I.

Can help you in whatever way I can.

So have a good weekend.

Try not to stress about PA stuff and we'll see you next week.

Bye.

Sa.