By Aesha Acevedo, Health Professions Peer Ambassador
Beginning my college journey, I knew I needed and wanted to gain more clinical experience to further ensure that being in the medical field was for me. I had never doubted myself in knowing that I wanted to be in this field on the clinical side of things, but I wanted to continue exploring my passions in new ways.
In high school I had some experiences both in the classroom and through outside volunteering that led me to seek out this field. Those included being in an MRT [medical response technician]/EMR [emergency medical responder] class with practical exams, an honors anatomy and physiology course partnered with Yale School of Medicine students with cadaver exposure, and volunteering at Yale New Haven Hospital for a year working with various ages. I enjoyed doing all those things and yearned to do the same in college.
In the fall of 2019, I was a freshman in college (what a long time ago that was!). I was anxious but excited to start my new journey in finding extracurricular activities that would get me the clinical exposure that I needed, but it was hard, especially with the outbreak of COVID-19. I had plans to shadow my pediatrician and my parents’ doctors, but because of the pandemic, two years were taken away from me.
In March 2022 I was scrolling through the Pre-Medical and Pre-Dental Advising Office weekly newsletter and saw a flyer for a Personal Care Assistant (PCA) position available. I was shocked in a good way. I didn’t know what I had to do specifically for this type of position, but I was so happy that I finally got the chance to see something that didn’t need a certification or experience before applying to the position.
It’s now been seven months since my interview with J, my patient, and five months since I started working with him. It’s been quite an experience and I’ve learned so much about what it takes to provide quality care to another human being. There are some slow days when I don’t do anything beyond transporting him back and forth from the bed to the chair, toilet, shower, and so on, or making him food. But there are days when I also bring him to run his errands, like going to the gym, doctor appointments, outings with his friends, or just going for a walk outside. Although I’ve only known J for a few months, he’s been able to teach me a lot more about being a PCA than I would have expected in such a short amount of time.
Although there may be times that you doubt yourself or your ability to find new experiences, have hope. It was a random day in March when I found this PCA position and there are many others just like it within the community. I hope that this blog post reaffirms that it’s never too late to start something and it’s good to keep an open mind. If I never reached out to J, how would I have known that I like what I’m doing now? PCAs play a critical role in helping others perform tasks that they may need extra assistance with, so I encourage you to explore this role as an option for you.
Aesha is a molecular and cell biology major and a campus change student. Click here to learn more about and connect with Aesha.