I chose to interview Robert Donohue.  Robert Donohue is a Cardiothoracic physician’s assistant at INOVA Cardiovascular Institute.  Mr. Donohue has a Bachelor’s degree in biology, and attended PA school, and received his certification there.  Originally, Mr. Donohue had no idea what a physician’s assistant even was!  He had his heart set on med school for the longest time, but he was starting to have some second thoughts.  “Do I really want to go to school for four more years?” he thought. He was unsure if the serious time commitment was for him.  His mother, seeing his concern, introduced him to a physician’s assistant that she worked with, and Mr. Donohue chose to shadow her.  He was hooked from that first day.  He immediately stopped filling out medical school applications.  He had found his calling.

     Luckily for Mr. Donohue, directly after completing a two year PA program, he immediately found a job that agreed to train him on all that he would need to know.  A day in the life of Mr. Donohue is sure a busy one!  He works in the OR, which means he is constantly operating and assisting a surgeon in any heart and lung surgeries.  From aordic surgeries to transplants, Mr. Donohue is there!  Mr. Donohue loves his job, saying that his favorite part is”getting to work with my hands.”  He also truly cherishes the patient interractions he gets to have, as that is another huge aspect of the job.  Mr. Donohue said that he found it extremely shocking the first time he was responsible for cutting out someone’s heart and having to replace it.  It definitely took a lot of getting used to, that’s for certain.

While Mr. Donohue loves what he does, not all aspects are fun and games.  The hardest part of his job, in his opinion is “keeping my composure and staying focused in a situation where things are going crazy.  Especially when someone is dying and you must operate and stay focused.”  Thankfully, Mr. Donohue gave me some great advice to start my journey.  He told me to experience as much as possible.  Shadow as many people as possible, and try out as many new things and opportunities as you can, especially in the beginning. Last but not least, make sure to watch patient staff interactions and really learn from them!