“Pockets” was one of the first patients I treated as a street-based EMT. Our friendship started off on the right foot – literally - when I treated his right foot for a fungal infection. For patients with diabetes like Pockets, a simple fungus can easily become a critical infection, like MRSA, and a life-or-death matter.

Orgullosamente Latina!

Embrace Your Journey

Physician Assistant (PA) school is a journey filled with countless moments of joy, expansion of knowledge, perseverance, growth, exhaustion, reflection, and the occasional unexpected trial. It will also push you to heights you never thought possible.

I was sitting at my desk at Duke University Hospital when I received probably the most awaited email of my life – Offer of Admission, Duke Physician Assistant (PA) Program. The outpatient abdominal transplant team surrounded me, the people who had inspired me to learn, grow, and take this giant leap.  

“Unprecedented times.” A phrase we’ve become all too familiar with in recent days. It peppered email inboxes and public broadcasts alike. Covid’s arrival to the US found me finishing up my career as a critical care nurse and preparing for Duke.

June 23rd, 2021 was a regular day for some, but for me, it was a day full of bliss and excitement! It was the last day of my didactic year and I could officially say had made it to clinicals!

“You’re just a nurse.” A statement made by a colleague, forever stained in my memory. “You’re just a nurse.” As if to assume my chosen undergraduate degree placed a glass ceiling on my knowledge and expertise in regards to the healthcare of my patient.

Relaxing on my much-awaited spring break after completing two semesters of pre-clinical year, I am still in a state of disbelief that I am part of Duke University’s Physician Assistant (PA) program. If anyone had told me a few years ago that I would become a PA student at Duke University, I would have thought the person was making fun of me. It is a surreal journey that has brought me to this stage of my life. I think sharing my journey would be helpful to at least a few like me who would never dare to dream of this.