Students One-on-One
Jess Reuter
Why did you choose to become a PA?
I decided that I wanted to be a PA during my sophomore year of college. I had started pre-med, but after hearing about the PA profession from a family member, I decided to go this route instead. I loved that a PA gets to do so much of the work that a doctor does and that they could write their own prescriptions. One of the main things that I loved about the PA profession is that PAs have a much more set schedule and the time demands are not as great as a doctor’s. I eventually want to have a family, and I knew I would able to do this and practice medicine if I chose to become a PA.
In what field(s) of medicine are you interested in working?
Right now I’m considering either orthopedics or working in the ER. I would love to get into surgery too, but I want to see how my rotations go before I decide on anything.
Shh, don’t tell them, but my favorite professor is…
I have a few, but Mr. Harmon is probably my favorite. He’s really nice and laid back, and always explains things to us in terms we can understand. Mr. Harmon is always willing to stay after class to explain and discuss things with us we didn’t get into in class. The whole MUSC faculty is great though. They are all genuinely interested in us and want to make sure that we’re happy with the program and how it’s being run. Coming from a big school, I think this is just so awesome because you don’t always get that when you have thousands of students in your class!
When you get away from school, what do you do for fun and/or burn off stress?
During the week, I try to take out my stresses from school by going for a run outside in the beautiful Charleston weather or going to the gym. The MUSC wellness center offers a lot of great exercise classes and equipment that you can use to release some steam after a rough day of studying. On the weekends, I love going to the beach or for a bike ride in one of the county parks or around town to get some fresh air and give my brain a little bit of a break. If exercising isn’t a good stress release for you, Charleston also has a ton of places to go shopping, see movies or grab some good food and relax.
The song that best describes my life as a PA student is…
Scrubbin…I can’t even explain it, you just have to check it out for yourself. (And I can’t take credit for this, Kemper found this video for us a long time ago and it’s awesome!)
Any advice to give prospective students?
You will hear this a million times while you’re here, but I think one of the most important things you can do is be flexible! They love to change things around on us, and you have to just learn to go with the flow or you’ll go crazy. Also, it is so important to keep your life balanced while you’re here. Make sure you always make time for yourself and what’s important to you. Studying is a big part of our lives, but it’s not everything. If you keep a healthy balance in your life between work and play while you’re at MUSC, you’ll do great (and be able to keep your sanity)!
