Cayla Allard

Quinnipiac Physician Assistant Program, Class of 2016

I was born and raised in Chicopee, Massachusetts, just outside of Springfield. I attended Framingham State University and graduated in 2012 with a B.S. in Biology, Pre-Professional Studies. During my undergrad, my advisor and I formed a club called Aspiring Health Professionals in order to raise student awareness about resources for becoming a health professional. During my time in the club, I developed an interest in becoming a physician assistant. After graduation, I worked as a pharmacy technician in Springfield, Massachusetts for several months before joining a small family practice on the clinical team. Within a year, I worked my way up to Clinical Manager, where I assisted in minor procedures. I really enjoyed the practice’s approach to healthcare, which was to care for both the physical and mental well-being of patients in a domestic, homey environment.

I was immediately drawn to the Urban Service Track’s mission, a mission similar to that of the Quinnipiac medical program: to increase access to quality health care through both the education doctors and patients and the development of relations between doctors and their communities. I believe it’s important for health care to be accessible to anyone, which I believe can be accomplished by applying the sort of community and health care knowledge UST provides. I look forward to using both the skills I learned at Quinnipiac and the skills I will learn at UST in order to become a caring, effective physician’s assistant.