T here were times in nearly every student’s life when a decision had to be made. It all came down to one question: What am I going to do with the rest of my life? For some, the answer came when Harding introduced the Physicians Assistant (PA) graduate program. It was the opportunity many students had been waiting for. The PA program was a 26-month graduate studies program.The first year of the program was mainly in-class teaching.The second year of the program was the clinical portion. The second year of the program was broken up into 6-week segments. Each of these segments focused on a different type of medical practice. The students were able to spend their various weeks focusing on general medicine, the emergency room and the operating room. The clinical practice allowed the students to receive hands-on experience for their future careers. Many students involved in the program did not start their college career intending to be a physicians assistant. Graduate student Laura Bullington came to Harding as an undergraduate studying athletic training.When she learned that a PA program was coming to Harding, she began spending time learning more about the profession. “Looking into it, I found out that [PA’s] can do what a doctor does,” Bullington said. “It makes me excited.I love helping people,and I love being around people.The human body is fascinating. It was heaven-sent.” Bullington was in her first year of the PA program which she started last June. One of the major classes she took her first year was clinical medicine which taught all the systems of the body. “Basically the school takes your life for two years, but it’s a good thing in the end,” Bullington said. PA student Shelby Beamon was another student that was involved with the PA program. He went through the application process, the interviews and the pre-requisites to get into the program. Once accepted, Beamon said he enjoyed the classes he was taking, especially his clinical skills course.This class taught skills such as intubation, which was the process of inserting a tube into a patients airway, and giving shots. “Those classes are fun because we actually get to do a majority of the things we learn on each other or on high tech models,” Beamon said. The classes consumed a large part of the day, but these students were dedicated to succeeding in this program. Lance Kemper was a member of the first graduating class of the PA program.He originally graduated fromHarding with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 2000. He then got a job working as a life and disability insurance agent. Kemper knew that his job was not what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. After taking some pre-requisite classes to prepare for dental, pharmacy or medical school, he learned about the PA profession and then later learned about Harding’s program. “I made it through a very intense 26 months and in July graduated from the Harding University Physicians Assistant program, and after passing the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE), I was hired by Searcy Medical Center to work with Drs. Blickenstaff and McCoy in orthopedic surgery, my field of choice,” Kemper said. Kemper said he was lucky to have the nights and weekends off to spend time with his wife and daughter. He got to assist in surgery two to three mornings a week. “I believe that this was my calling,”Kemper said. “I’m so thankful that God has guided me into such an exciting and fulfilling career.” [Michelle Greer] Expanding Opportunities PA graduate program offers students a new direction 122 [people]
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