About Me
EXERCISE SCIENCE/ 2024
My name is Jennifer McManus, and I am currently a senior at the University of South Carolina majoring in Exercise Science with a minor in Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior. I am originally from northern New Jersey, but after my first year of college, my parents moved down to Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. I have been involved in many organizations that have shaped my time at Carolina including the Association of Pre-Physician Assistant Students (APPAS), University Ambassadors, Delta Zeta Sorority, and Personal Touch Volunteering at PRISMA Parkridge Hospital. The experiences I have had over my 4 years at USC have allowed me to pursue Graduation with Leadership Distinction in the Professional and Civic Engagement pathway.
I will be graduating in May of 2024 with a plan to attend graduate school to become a Physician Assistant (PA). I first discovered the PA profession when I was a junior in High School and had to interview someone in a profession that we were interested in. My teacher knew I was interested in healthcare, but that I was not sure what type of provider I wanted to be, and suggested I interview a PA. I did just that and interviewed a local PA which then led to a shadowing opportunity and allowed me to see another side of healthcare I didn’t know was there previously. |
While taking classes at the University with the goal of attending PA school, I was able to connect with faculty and peers with similar goals and passion for healthcare. There were a few quotes that I heard along the way in classes and beyond the classroom experiences that stuck with me and will continue to affect me after graduation. It was these quotes that I used for each of my Key Insights to guide my reflection.
The first quote is “Half of You are Below Average” which was used by my professor to emphasize the importance of reflection on employability in future careers. The second was “Zip Code Care” which I learned in relation to the Social Determinants of Health which are pillars to providing adequate healthcare to all types of people. The last is “Healthcare for Most” which is often used in the United States as a play on the popular “Healthcare for All” universal healthcare model to emphasize the fact that the US does not currently have healthcare available to all citizens. It was this quote that drove the ethical discussions in my classes when discussing the current healthcare in the US. I believe all of these quotes hold importance for my future career and highlight ideas that will make me a more compassionate, knowledgeable, and trusted provider when I enter the workforce as a PA.
My leadership section is steeped in an issue that is currently growing in the United States: the Opioid epidemic and overdoses. Using my key insights to guide a proposed solution for the issue, I was able to create a realistic intervention plan. The skill of problem-solving and creating program planning demonstrated in this section is vital in being a successful future practitioner.
The first quote is “Half of You are Below Average” which was used by my professor to emphasize the importance of reflection on employability in future careers. The second was “Zip Code Care” which I learned in relation to the Social Determinants of Health which are pillars to providing adequate healthcare to all types of people. The last is “Healthcare for Most” which is often used in the United States as a play on the popular “Healthcare for All” universal healthcare model to emphasize the fact that the US does not currently have healthcare available to all citizens. It was this quote that drove the ethical discussions in my classes when discussing the current healthcare in the US. I believe all of these quotes hold importance for my future career and highlight ideas that will make me a more compassionate, knowledgeable, and trusted provider when I enter the workforce as a PA.
My leadership section is steeped in an issue that is currently growing in the United States: the Opioid epidemic and overdoses. Using my key insights to guide a proposed solution for the issue, I was able to create a realistic intervention plan. The skill of problem-solving and creating program planning demonstrated in this section is vital in being a successful future practitioner.