We are proud to announce that Megan McCorkle has been awarded our first-ever Kaplan Test Prep Scholarship worth $2500! Her commitment to excellence was well demonstrated in her essay and we hope that the Kaplan Test Prep Course sets her up for success in the future.
Megan is a current pre-PA student at the University of Alabama graduating this summer. She’s been with ProScribe since the summer of 2014 and is working towards a career as a physician assistant. We recently caught up with Megan and to discuss her experience with ProScribe.
Why are you pursuing a career in healthcare? Future Career Goals?
I have always wanted to pursue medicine, but after my aunt got sick my freshman year of college, I really got to see the different kinds of caregivers and how they helped or worsened the situation. Some people were very cold, business-like and acted like they couldn’t spare her the time of day. Others really listened to her, made her feel validated, and advocated for her.
Seeing how apathy versus compassion impacted her experience was really inspiring. Those who tended to show her the most compassion and care were mid-levels, so after talking with my aunt and dad who are NPs, and several amazing shadowing experiences, I became passionate about becoming a PA. I’ll be graduating this summer with a degree in kinesiology and taking a gap year before applications.
Why did you decide to become a scribe?
I became a scribe because I wanted a job that could give me more healthcare experience. I feel like I gained more practical knowledge about this career path than I could have from any internship or shadowing experience available to me.
What’s the most valuable thing you have learned as a scribe?
I think that scribing has given me a lot of confidence and practical knowledge about the career I want to pursue.
What’s the best piece of advice you would give to aspiring scribes?
I was really timid and nervous to mess up at first, and I think that nervousness really held me back at first. Scribes are a great asset for physicians, and they usually enjoy teaching and helping you understand and learn from the things you chart on, so use that resource to your advantage.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions or make notes about things you want to look up and learn about later. Once I changed my perspective from ‘I have to be perfect; I cannot mess up’ to ‘Learn everything you can from this experience,’ I really feel that I became a better scribe and gained so much confidence in my abilities and in the fact that medicine was the career path for me.
How has your experience as a scribe prepared you for your future?
Having healthcare experience as a scribe makes me more confident in my abilities as a caregiver because I have been able to see the process physicians and mid-levels make from start to finish and have them explain the reasoning behind those decisions- what a certain lab result means, why this test was ordered, what the results of a scan indicates, the importance of doing certain things during a procedure. It is a much more intensive shadowing experience in which I am able to have a direct impact on the process. So I really understand what my role would be and all that goes into the decisions I would make.
How will this scholarship help you achieve those goals?
I entered the contest two days before I switched from pre-med to pre-PA and will be taking the GRE in April. When I hear my score, I’ll have a sense of security that I’ll have a resource to do better on my retake if needed as I’m applying for PA programs.
