Wayne State Recipient of the Lara Rutan Scholarship 2018

 
 Patrick Wharton
Hi! I’m Patrick. I am currently completing my second year of PA School at Wayne State. I am very lucky to be in this program and I appreciate the opportunities I have gained over the past few years.

I was born on the Westside of Detroit. I originally lived in the same house as my mom did growing up. My mom was a teacher and she knew many families in the neighborhood. The neighborhood had begun to have increasing criminal activity including robberies and shootings. My mom received a call one Saturday morning from an older brother of one of her students telling her to get out of the house because the local gang was heading through our street robbing house by house. She took me, (I was only 2 at the time) and we left the house for the afternoon. When we returned, we found out that the gang got to our next door neighbor’s house, the 4 year old boy found his parents’ handgun and pointed it at the gang members who then left the house. After that day, my parents decided we should move to the suburbs. I became interested in healthcare when I was young and my brother was diagnosed with neuroblastoma.
 
I remember the day he was diagnosed, I was at home with my dad and sister when my mom was at the Rose Cancer Center at Beaumont with my brother who was about 15 months old at the time. When my dad heard that my brother was diagnosed with the rare type of cancer, neuroblastoma, he cried. That was the only time I ever saw my dad cry. I remembered going with my brother to the hospital for his tests and chemo sessions, and I became interested in going into healthcare. I volunteered at various hospitals in high school and college and continued to be interested in healthcare.

I graduated from Michigan State and decided to pursue becoming a Physician Assistant. I worked as a Medical Technologist for a year and then decided to join the Army. I felt that I could do more with life than what I was currently doing. Joining the Army was a way to travel, gain discipline, have fun and do so sustainable. Joining the Army was one of the best decisions I have made in my life. I deployed to Iraq as soon as I completed Medical Service Corps Officer Training, about one year after joining the Army. I was blessed to be there with some incredible Soldiers who I will always remember. My main job in Iraq was review the information we had on where attacks were happening along our main supply routes and develop safe routes for our logistical convoys to travel every night. I received my EMT-Basic while in Iraq and served on a team who would transport injured Soldiers and civilians from aircraft into the hospital. One story from my time in Iraq was that I was on the way to our Easter Sunday Church Service and was running about 10 minutes late. I arrived to the chapel, walked in and the service had just started. I was wondering why the service was starting late, because church never started late. The first words the pastor said were, “Thank you God for keeping us safe from that mortar.” A mortar had hit just outside of the chapel and everyone had to get into the bunkers until the “all clear” announcement was made. We were mortared and rocketed nearly everyday, but luckily the Soldiers of my Convoy Support Team stayed safe throughout our whole deployment. I am truly grateful for my Active Duty Service Time and I am currently serving in the Michigan National Guard Medical Detachment.

After my Active Duty service in the Army, I completed my B.S. in Nursing degree and worked as a Nurse in a Surgical Intensive Care Unit. I am truly blessed and lucky to have the opportunity to serve patients as a Physician Assistant. I am grateful to the staff, faculty and supporters of the Wayne State Physician Assistant Program who are making my goal of becoming a Physician Assistant a reality.
 

 

 

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