Maria Ahmad is a senior in the University of Pittsburgh Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation Science program, an upper division program in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS). After graduating this spring, Ahmad plans to apply to graduate school to become a physician assistant (PA).
Read on to learn more about Ahmad’s experience in the Rehabilitation Science program and how it is preparing her for her career as a PA.
Choosing Rehabilitation Science
I found the Rehabilitation Science program when I toured Pitt during Admitted Students’ Day. In November of my first year, I went to an SHRS open house and fell in love with Rehabilitation Science. The program stood out to me because of the students! There were several student volunteers that shared their experiences and I could tell they genuinely loved the program and supported their classmates. I knew this was the environment I wanted to be a part of. As a full circle moment, I was able to participate as a Rehabilitation Science student volunteer for the open house this past fall.
I strongly considered the SHRS Emergency Medicine program or staying in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences to be a biology major before choosing rehabilitation science. I decided against staying in Dietrich because I knew I wanted to be part of a smaller program that provided closer relationships with peers and faculty. Pitt is such a big school and being within SHRS helps it feel small! It was important to me to know my professors and classmates personally.
Rehabilitation Science Curriculum
The Rehabilitation Science curriculum provided me with many of the prerequisite courses I needed to take for PA school, as well as the flexibility to take courses outside of Rehabiliation Science to finish any additional courses I needed. I also met so many faculty that have been so helpful on my path to graduate school. Between personal statement advice, shadowing and letters of recommendation, I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish everything that I have without their help.
Additionally, I am shocked that I enjoyed Human Anatomy as much as I did! As an undergraduate pre-health student, anatomy was one of the most daunting courses that we were required to take. The material was so dense and important, and all of us as pre-health students really wanted to grasp the information and succeed.
But the Rehabilitation Science anatomy course is famously known by Pitt students as being great! It is taught by Karthik Hariharan and is well loved across the board by Rehabilitation Science students. His teaching style is incredibly engaging, using real-world examples of injuries and conditions we will see when we go on to become health care professionals. This, combined with his detailed lectures and a supplemental cadaver lab, made the course so incredibly amazing! I learned so much and feel confident in my anatomy knowledge even a year after taking the course.
Disability Studies Certificate
I am pursuing the Disability Studies certificate through the College of General Studies. I really wanted to supplement my health science degree with a social science that is relevant to the populations I will be working with. The certificate is great because it is interdisciplinary and requires you to take six courses in a minimum of three different schools. This really diversified my knowledge and made me a more well-rounded individual, while providing me with knowledge about disability.
Two of the Rehabilitation Science courses I have taken at SHRS to contribute to my certificate are Psychology and Sociology of Disability, and Practical Issues in Disability. The first course was taught by Matt Berwick and discussed social rhetoric surrounding disability. That class was really unique and beneficial to my understanding of what it means to be a health care professional treating people with vastly different circumstances.
Practical Issues in Disability was taught by Dr. David Thompson and focused on age-related disability and disease progression. It was really eye-opening to learn about how many degenerative diseases exist, and to what extent they impact quality of life. Because of this course, I really began to reflect on what I can do to help patients achieve the goals they have, whether that is maximum comfort, mobility or independence. Dr. Thompson is a very passionate and fun professor who wants you to succeed, and this played a huge role in my excitement for his course.
Making Connections
In addition to the amazing faculty I’ve worked with since being admitted, another person I want to mention is Amy Evans, the senior Rehabilitation Science academic advisor. She meets with every single Rehabiliation Science student every semester to touch base on not only your academic plan, but also your career progress and social wellbeing. I am so grateful to her for being such a great supporter as I have grown throughout my time at Pitt. My personal favorite conversations with Amy are the ones we spend discussing travel—Amy has been everywhere!
Some other great faculty include Bridget Deasy, who teaches several Rehabilitation Science courses, including Research Methodology, the course I now assist with! She is so knowledgeable and kind to all of her students—she truly wants us to succeed.
Patient Care Experience
Since I am pursuing PA school, I have worked several different patient care jobs to contribute to my Patient Care Experience hours. The first few years of college I worked as a resident aide at Vincentian Schenley Gardens Assisted Living facility, where I helped residents take care of their daily living activities. I am also an EMT, so I work both back home during breaks in Illinois for a private basic life support ambulance system, and during the school year for the City of Pittsburgh.
Additionally, I am a medical assistant at Endeavor Health Immediate Care back home. I also volunteer with the Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh, an organization bringing community members of various ages and abilities together with the common goal of meeting new people. I also volunteer with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in fundraising walks and educational outreach.
I have done most of my shadowing with UPMC, where I’ve shadowed PAs in family medicine, surgery, oncology, palliative care and multiple sclerosis/neuroimmunology. All of these were through the UPMC Job Shadowing program, an opportunity free for all Pitt students!
Additionally, last May I participated in the Physician Assistant Advancing Development (PAAD) program run by the Physician Assistant Studies Department. This is a one-week all expenses paid program designed to help undergraduates on their path to PA school. The program connected all 15 participants to SHRS faculty, UPMC shadowing, resources for personal statement writing and other amazing opportunities.
Outside of gaining experience for PA school, the flexibility of the Rehabilitation Science program has allowed me to pursue my personal interests over the last three years. Last summer, I studied abroad in Panama through a Panther recognized program! This is just one of many study abroad opportunities available to Pitt students.
