Kyla Rienhart

Pre-PA Mentor

Biology B.S , Psych minor | Cal Poly SLO

Hi I’m Kyla! I’m currently in my second year of Physician Assistant school and have been doing

clinical rotations in Chicago. Throughout my final few semesters, I’ll be preparing for the

certification exam and planning my move back to California, where I hope to start my career as

a PA-C!

Before PA school, I graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2017 with a degree in Biology

and a minor in Psychology. To gain the required experience to apply to PA school, I became a

certified medical assistant and completed most of my healthcare hours working in geriatrics,

serving a designated medically underserved population. I also volunteered for the Crisis Text

Line as a crisis counselor.

Although I’m nearing the end of my pre-health journey, it hasn’t always been easy. When I was

in high school and starting college, I wasn’t sure what career I wanted to pursue. I knew I was

interested in healthcare, but I didn’t fully understand all the options available. It wasn’t until the

end of my second year of college that I discovered the Physician Assistant (PA) profession. By

the time I realized this was the path for me, I felt like I was already behind and I remember how

overwhelming it felt trying to figure out the next steps to reach this goal.

As a mentor, I hope to inspire students by showing that you don’t need to be perfect to succeed

in this field. Everyone’s path is unique, and through my own experiences, I hope others can

learn from my journey and feel empowered to keep moving forward toward their goals. I’m

excited to be a resource for students who want to learn more about PAs, need help navigating

the path to applications, or are simply looking for guidance on their healthcare journey

regardless of the field!