Emmalie (Drake) McCarthy ’19, G’21, Found Her Purpose as a Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care PA
By Judith Kelliher
As Emmalie (Drake) McCarthy ’19, G’21, cares for the most vulnerable patients as a pediatric cardiac critical care physician assistant at Boston Children’s Hospital, she credits the academic rigor and available resources during her Springfield College education in helping her succeed in this profession.
While completing the Health Science - Pre-Physician Assistant program (and eventually the Physician Assistant Studies master’s program), she reflected that it was intense and rigorous to maintain the standard asked of students. As a working professional, she feels like it made her prepared and ready compared to other new graduate physician assistants.
“Being at an institution that helps push you to be a better student and person challenged me to prioritize what is important to me to continue to develop as a professional,” she said. “The high standard that students are held to in order to maintain professionalism and grow as an independent provider were excellent.”
Initially, McCarthy chose the six-year track of Health Science to Physician Assistant Studies because she wanted to pursue a career in health care—and to give back to others. During high school, she was exposed to the PA profession by shadowing a PA that was arranged by the career specialist at her school. This allowed her to see firsthand what a PA does on a day-to-day basis. From there, McCarthy applied to the six-year program.
“The benefit of the Health Science degree is that you get the basic requirements for pursuing a career in health care that can be transferable to other professional programs. I would 110% recommend completing the Physician Assistant program through a track that links the undergraduate and graduate programs,” McCarthy said. “There is not a day that I regret my decision to complete the Physician Assistant track through Springfield College. Having the continuity of the program at the same institution was very helpful while completing a high intensity program.”
While balancing the academic rigor of the Physician Assistant Studies program, she was also a four-year member of the field hockey team as a goalkeeper. She states, “I loved being a part of this team and am so grateful I had this experience. Having field hockey throughout my undergraduate career helped me to stay organized, stay active, and have a feeling of belonging.”
At Boston Children’s Hospital, McCarthy works 13-hour shifts, three days a week. But depending on unit needs and shifts needing to be filled, this may fluctuate. In a way, she is like a “jack of all trades” as she works days, nights, weekends, and holidays. A typical day starts with understanding the anatomy, physiology, and active problems of her patients for the day, and reviewing all the objective data from the last 24 hours. McCarthy and her team then have medical rounds, which on average involves 10 patients. The unit has a total of 44 beds, and often can be relatively full. After rounds, the team helps with any acute issues that arise with their patients, manages consultant communication for the patients, and ensures the plans are executed and that they are achieving daily treatment goals they established at rounds. They also admit any post-procedural or general admissions, and transfer or discharge any patients on or off their team.
“The biggest challenge is that since there are so many specialists and these patients are medically complex, there are a lot of opinions and decisions that are made. Our job is to help consolidate and streamline all of this information to establish the best plan of care for the patient,” McCarthy said.
So far, McCarthy’s career has had a large impact on her work-life balance. When she initially started as a new graduate PA in the ICU, it was a big adjustment to balancing rotating and long shifts.
“Transitioning to pediatrics, I wanted to shift my career in a way that I felt that I had more purpose and greater meaning. I have felt much more reward with my current position and have felt supported to grow as a provider by my colleagues,” she said.
As McCarthy looks to the future of the PA profession, she believes there is room for it to grow. She encourages other Springfield College PA graduates to continue to educate society and the health care profession about the roles, responsibilities, capabilities of PAs.
“There is a void that needs to be filled and can be done by PAs. I think through Springfield College, we are prepared to better society and the world around us,” she said.
Another bright spot in McCarthy’s life is her recent marriage to Ray McCarthy, who is also a Springfield College graduate (19’, G’21), from the Physician Assistant Studies program, and was also a four-year member of the lacrosse team.
Help us share more stories like this! We’re proud to celebrate the accomplishments of our alumni. If you or someone you know would make a great feature, please reach out to marketing@springfield.edu.
