P4... It's Finished

If you’re a prospective or current P4 student, you can view my survival guide here.


So there it is. Just minutes ago I submitted my final assignment of Thomas Jefferson University’s Postbaccalaureate Pre-Professional Program. It’s over. It’s done. As has been my custom for three semesters now, I listen to Explosions In The Sky’s “With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept” the night of the end of the semester, which is what I’m listening to as I write this.

Where to even begin? What a strange feeling. And this all comes just one day after I passed the NREMT psychomotor exam, which is by far my greatest accomplishment this semester. But back to P4. Just looking around my desk a year later, I’m in a different house, I have a different computer, the remnants of my first semester still lie about my parent’s basement, which has been my “lab” for most of this year. The seven functional groups sit above me, from hydroxyl to carboxyl, to methyl, names that were foreign to me in Bio I and became like a primary language in Orgo. Large post-it notes are still on the walls, detailing cell communication, the citric acid cycle, and more. And my trusty iPad, my greatest technological tool this entire year is lying right in front of me, having been the canvas to everything I’ve written and drawn this year. Of course my iPad is also where I recorded countless videos that now populate my YouTube channel, which became a stream of consciousness of what I was learning. It’s incredible to look back at the first general chemistry videos that I made. P4 has been one of the wildest rides of my entire life. And I can’t believe it’s over. When it began, I wanted to quit so bad. It was one of the most difficult experiences of my life, getting over the learning curve and shaking off the dust that comes with being a career changer student. Change isn’t easy. But here I am, now with the ability to take on a chapter of entirely new information, make it my own, invent mnemonics, make connections… and learn.

I don’t honestly know what PA School is really going to be like. Learning is such a funny thing. What am I really going to remember about the last 12 months? What truly did enter into my long-term memory? I’m just so incredibly relieved for the bulk of my pre-reqs to be OVER. The grunt work, the grind, to even have half of a PA application is done. I’ve officially brushed up on my sciences.

So what’s next? Well, I’m one NREMT exam away from being a licensed EMT-B. That’s WILD. I didn’t anticipate picking that up this year. My plan is to volunteer as an EMT this summer to both sharpen my skills, but also pick up volunteer hours. Then my plan is to return to the birthplace of my healthcare career, Abington Memorial Hospital, now Abington-Jefferson Health, as a Clinical Associate in the Emergency Trauma Center. That’s where I plan to pick up 1500 patient contact hours. And then, just four weeks from now I start my next class, Anatomy & Physiology which I’ll complete over the summer. So yea, it’s going to be a busy summer. The fall will bring microbiology with the spring bringing statistics and psychology, my final two pre-reqs. That will complete two entire calendar years of nothing but preparation just to apply to school. And you know? That’s fine. My goal is to become a great Physician Assistant Student. That is the goal. I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I plan to apply to: Jefferson Center City, Jefferson East Falls, USciences, PCOM, Drexel, West Chester, and Rutgers. That’s 7 schools, all within driving distance, and all without requiring the GRE! If I somehow find the extra energy and take the GRE, I unlock Arcadia, Salus & Temple. And applications are going to open for my cycle in April of 2022. I have 365 days to prepare my application for Physician Assistant School. Whoa. Applications are open until like January of 2023 though, and then interviews. I wouldn’t start until either pre-fall or fall of 2023. So I am still 2 or more years away from even starting school. But that’s okay with me because I’m on a path and a journey and I am loving every second of it.

So thank you P4. Thank you Dr. Barrows, Dr. Belani, Dr. Jensen, and most importantly Drs. Heine and Byrne. You’ve all shaped me from a business student into a STEM student. And thank you to all of my P4 friends; we were able to make a connection online in the middle of a pandemic. That’s incredible. We’re all moving onto bigger and better things.

Roll the credits. I’ll see you in the next one.