Pre-Physician Assistant Club Prepares Students for Life After ESU

The Pre-Physician Assistant Club meets every Tuesday at 2:00 PM in Moore Biology Building, room 215. Photo Courtesy / Kimberly Arendt
The Pre-Physician Assistant Club meets every Tuesday at 2:00 PM in Moore Biology Building, room 215. Photo Courtesy / Kimberly Arendt
The Pre-Physician Assistant Club meets every Tuesday at 2:00 PM in Moore Biology Building, room 215.
Photo Courtesy / Kimberly Arendt

By Rebecca Jasulevicz
Managing Editor

Are you interested in a career where you can help others in a hospital, clinic, or physician’s office? The Pre-Physician Assistant Club can help prepare you for a career as a physician assistant — or see if this career would be a good fit for you.

Physician assistants provide diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventative healthcare services. They are able to examine patients, diagnose injuries and illnesses, and provide treatments under the guidance of a physician.

The club is currently looking for new members, and students of all majors are welcome to join.

Kimberly Arendt, president of the Pre-Physician Assistant Club, said, “I think many people think that the Pre-Physician Assistant Club is exclusively for the people majoring in biology with a pre-physician assistant concentration. While this focus of study is true for a majority of our members, we have a few people who are a part of the club that are majoring in other sciences, psychology, and business.”

She continued, “Even people who are undeclared, or are thinking about switching majors, are more than welcome to join to see if a career as a physician assistant is something they’d like to do.”

The club aims to help its members prepare for careers as physician assistants, and so many of its events focus on guiding students through the application process for graduate schools or discussing opportunities related to the field. This could include anything from publicizing possible internships to helping members procure work in a clinical setting.

According to Arendt, “The purpose of the Pre-Physician Assistant Club is to ultimately prepare our club members to enter the graduate and professional world, but we are not limited to that. Our club is able to provide members with a support system. The club offers opportunities for underclassmen to gain insight from the upperclassmen about what to expect from undergraduate course work, and to have help with regards to gaining many hours of volunteer work and clinical experience.”

In the fall, the club hosted a panel of DeSales University graduate students. These students provided guidance and information about what students interested in becoming physician assistants should expect from graduate school.

However, this is not the only event that members of the PrePhysician Assistant Club have the opportunity to participate in.

Arendt said, “Every so often, a variety of members attend the medical mission to Costa Rica. We have also visited a variety of graduate school open houses, participated in bake sales and various events for homecoming, assisted with setting up for the Pennsylvania Academy of Science, and have done all sorts of walks to raise awareness for certain cancers and research.”

The club has several events planned for this semester. They will take a field trip to a medical museum in April, and plan to participate in many on-campus activities throughout the remainder of the semester, such as making blood donations to the American Red Cross and other charitable events.

“Students should join the Pre-Physician Assistant Club because our club offers a wide range of opportunities. Whether it’s a casual meeting where we collectively enjoy a general discussion of our experiences, concerns, and tips with each other, or where we work on setting up opportunities and getting prepared for graduate school, we are always focused on creating success for our club members while also having a lot of fun,” said Arendt.

Interested students should attend one of the club’s meetings, which occur every Tuesday at 2:00 PM in Moore Biology Building, room 215.

Email Rebecca at:
rjasulev@live.esu.edu