Alumni Offer Advice to Prospective Nurses and Physician Assistants

Tiffany Andrade ’13, Samantha Otis ’14, and Rori Dawes ’00 recently returned to Hamilton to speak to students as part of a Career Center event called “Connect to Careers in Nursing and Physician Assistant.” The question and answer style event, moderated by two members of the Career Center’s Health Connect Team, Tessa Lavin ’20 and Elaine Yip ’21, gave the panelists a chance to shed light on their own careers as nurses and physician assistants and allowed students interested in similar careers to ask them questions.

Andrade and Otis, both physician assistants, and Dawes, a registered nurse, detailed their own journeys at Hamilton College and post-graduate programs, and explained how they ended up in their current positions. The panelists all agreed that their love for working with patients is what first led them to pursue a career as a nurse or physician assistant (PA) instead of other jobs in the healthcare field. They explained that the most enjoyable part of their jobs was being able to spend time with patients and forming relationships with them. This level of patient involvement, they told students, wouldn’t be possible if they pursued a career as a doctor.

The panelists emphasized that when picking the correct nursing or PA program it is important to pick one that is a good fit for you. They explained that while PA and nursing school is no walk in the park, it is very much doable. Otis added “If you can make it through Hamilton then you can make it through PA school.” All of the alumni panelists credited the strong writing curriculum and liberal arts foundation that Hamilton provides students as a reason for their success in their post graduate studies. The panelists ended the discussion by encouraging students to take advantage of all the career resources available at Hamilton. Andrade emphasized that, “Hamilton has a strong alumni network that not a lot of other schools have,” and encouraged students to “work with the school and your advisors to shape what you want your experience at Hamilton to be.”