Well that’s a lot to unpack, isn’t it? In the midst of a global pandemic, a massive election, high unemployment rates, a plummeting stock market, a hire-for-murder scandal involving cool cats and kittens, and a unique dating method involving pods … I quit my job. I quit my job at the blossoming age of 24 and I couldn’t be more excited and scared about it.
As a child, I remember sitting in front of the TV with my eyes glued to the screen, watching Strange ER and Untold Stories of the ER for hours on end. The rapidly changing world of medicine, surgery, helping people, changing lives, and saving lives captivated me. I wanted to be part of it all. I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a doctor. I carried that drive into the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at my high school. I focused intently on all of the sciences available - Chemistry, Biology, and Physics. Using these courses to attain college credit and make myself marketable to colleges, I knew what I wanted and where I wanted to go. I had a mission, a dream, a passion.
But then it all faded away. I felt it all slip away as I struggled in Chemistry. Although I excelled in Biology and Physics, I felt helpless in Chemistry. I asked for help, I used my resources, and did all of the right things, but concepts were not clicking and my teacher was not encouraging. No such thing as a stupid question? With my teacher, I felt like every question I had was stupid. And then I let it get to me. I let the intrusive thoughts break through my thick skin and consume me. If I couldn’t even handle high school Chemistry, what made me think I could handle college-level Chemistry? What made me think I could handle medical school? So I did what I could with what I had, passed high school Chemistry, and gave up my dream. Senior year of high school, I applied to colleges, and aborted the mission.
College orientation day at the University of Kansas came, and I had to choose my major. I knew I didn’t want to be in school forever, so changing my major more than once would not be an option. My brother has a Bachelor and Masters degrees in accounting, so I had a spiritual talk with my mom about whether that field would be something I could be good at. We decided that accounting was the path I would follow. It was then that I declared my majors... Accounting and Finance. But I couldn’t stop there, I had to add a concentration in Information Systems Technology. That lasted a couple of years, until I found myself on the University of Kansas Medical Center campus for a fundraising event.
They always say that when you visit colleges, a majority of the time you’ll know that the school is right for you just by stepping foot on campus. When I arrived at the medical center, I felt that. I felt like I had to be there. I felt that magical feeling. Despite the doubt of not being good enough to be in medicine, I knew I belonged there. So I talked to all of my friends, family, and supporters, and decided that I needed to change course. But I couldn’t let go of the work I already started. I made the decision to continue the Accounting route, while also pursuing a pre-med track to apply to medical school.
Fast forward to Junior year, I was at a crossroad. Business. Medicine. Business or Medicine? Business and medicine? I got to the point where I felt like I was running out of time, and I didn’t want to spend more time in school than I needed to. Money was getting tighter, so I felt like I needed to get out into the workforce as soon as possible in order to build up my savings, pay off loans, and avoid any additional tuition fees. So I applied to an accounting internship that year and decided to let fate take its course. I figured that if I was offered the internship, then I was meant to follow the Accounting/Finance side. If I wasn’t, then I would continue pursuing my true passion of medicine. In due time, I accepted the internship and this same thought process continued - if I was offered a full-time position with the company after the internship, then I would accept my fate. If not, then I would accept another year of science classes and MCAT studying.
So I accepted my fate and graduated with an Accounting and Finance degree from the University of Kansas. I accepted a leadership development rotational program - 2 years, moving every year and then applying to a more permanent location. The first location I found myself, out of all places, was Providence, Rhode Island. Little did I know, I wouldn’t be spending much time there as the position required me to travel every 2 weeks per month. I did enjoy my time in this role, as I travelled all around to incredible destinations like Spain, Germany, Amsterdam, South Korea, and Singapore. It was a valuable experience that taught me a whole array of skills and cultures, including how to work with various personalities while also battling various language barriers in order to work towards a common goal. While the role did have its busy periods, there were down times in which I decided to fill the time to pursue my CPA, and ultimately plan to pursue a Master’s in Data Analytics, in the hopes of propelling myself further into the world of accounting.
After the year was up, I found myself in Fort Worth, TX for my second rotation. It was here that the boiling thoughts in the back of my head finally came to the surface. I remember breaking down at work, calling my mom, and telling her that I just couldn’t do it anymore. I didn’t like finance/accounting, it wasn’t personally fulfilling to me. I couldn’t imagine myself doing it for the rest of my life, and I couldn’t think of anything else other than realizing that I made a truly terrible mistake. It was then that I truly realized that I should’ve stayed in school and fueled my passion for medicine.
Shortly after the emotional incident, I began to make a plan. I created a timeline and a list of baby steps I needed to accomplish to leave my job to begin school again. After facing countless hurdles, I finally was enrolled in school to begin in the Fall of 2020. By the middle of August 2020, my rotational program had been completed. Although I had accepted a full-time position to stay at that specific business unit, I knew it was time to say goodbye. Throughout my time with the company, I met some amazing people who have helped me more than I can explain. I definitely do not take any of my experiences there for granted. I learned so much and have formed such incredible relationships in my time in finance and accounting, many of which I still maintain. And despite realizing what a mistake I had made, I would not trade these years for anything. In a way, I needed to take the wrong path in order to guide myself to the right path.
Most students take a gap year after undergrad to gain more patient care hours, volunteer hours, or to increase their GPA. I happened to use my gap years in another industry. In that time I’ve lived, failed, grown, and found my way in order to focus on what really matters. Also in that time, I’ve found that medical school isn’t for me. In that time, I’ve found that being a PA would be a better fit for me. So here I am, an untraditional student, currently taking prerequisites to apply to my dream PA school at Baylor University, while trying to figure it out as I go.
The biggest challenge was figuring out how to pay to survive. Luckily I had a well-paying job that enabled me to rack up a decent amount of savings for the time being. I knew that I had to balance a job with going back to school to pay for rent and food. I was a scribe for a couple months before the overnight shifts broke me down. Again, that was a spectacular experience and I learned a lot in such a short amount of time. It really was a crash course in medicine, but for the sake of my grades and mental/physical health, I also had to leave that job. Now, I am an Optometric Technician working for a mobile vision company that travels to nursing homes in the DFW metroplex, helping patients care for their eyesight. This job is rewarding and gives me great patient interaction, which is exactly what I’ve been looking for. The only obstacle is that it is a full-time position, and I still am currently taking 9 credit hours this semester, so it really forces me to manage my time well.
Ultimately, no matter how winding the road is to my final goal, I’m here along for the ride. Every experience I’ve had has gotten me to where I am today, and I’m trying to absorb every little bit of it to grow. Sure, it would have been a tad easier staying in school to finish out my pre-med classes back then, but I’m convinced now that life has taken me here because I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t ready for medical school, the healthcare world, and everything that came with it. But now more than ever, with my passion refueled, I know I am. I am ready. I am ready to make an impact in this world. And I will do so, by being a confident PA-C one day.
- By Olivia Tran
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