Year 5 PA Student Experience

As a Year 5 intern PA student, I was placed at the Law Mu Thaw local clinic in K5 for my internship. On average, we see more than 20 patients each day. Most of the cases we encounter are pregnancy-related, and over the past three weeks, we delivered four babies.

One of the most valuable things I’ve learned from this internship is the passion and commitment of the people working at the clinic. Even though they haven't received formal, high-quality healthcare training and don’t earn a salary, their compassion, sacrifice, and dedication deeply inspired me. They’ve strengthened my desire to serve my people with the higher-quality healthcare I’m learning through the Earth Mission PA program.

There are many differences between local clinics like Law Mu Thaw and Rain Tree Clinic, especially in terms of medical equipment and medicine availability. At Rain Tree, we have the tools and resources we need to diagnose and treat various conditions. But in local clinics, you have to make decisions based on what’s available. It’s all about using your critical thinking skills. Because of this, most of the cases we can manage are related to pregnancy.

This experience made me a different person. At Rain Tree Clinic, I have my instructors, doctors, and senior PAs to guide me. If I come across complicated cases, I can discuss with them and learn from their decisions. But in local clinics, we’re seen as coming from a higher-quality healthcare training background, so the staff here rely on us a lot. I felt the weight of responsibility for every patient we saw. I also found myself studying more during my internship to make sure I could give the best care possible.

One case that stood out to me happened a few days ago. An elderly woman came in with blood in her urine. We treated her with what we had, based on her signs and symptoms, but she wasn’t getting better. I reached out to one of the doctors at Rain Tree Clinic online, and he suggested it could be a bladder stone. Since we didn’t have the equipment to confirm the diagnosis or treat her properly, we decided to refer her to Rain Tree Clinic.

This internship changed me, both in how I think and how I carry responsibility as a future PA.

By Naw Lah Khu Wah

Year 5 Physician Associate Student, Earth Mission