Hometown: Cedar Falls, Iowa

Undergrad: Iowa State University, nutritional science

First-year physician associate (PA) student Brooke Burnett's journey to the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine was not linear, but her passion for helping people started young. Her dad, Brian Burnett (95MD), is a family medicine doctor in her hometown and works as a member of the medical team for University of Northern Iowa wrestling; her mom is a teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing. Witnessing both her parents work in careers they are passionate about motivated Burnett to find the same thing for herself.

"I'm so lucky because both of my parents are doing exactly what they're meant to be doing," Burnett says. "Seeing how my dad helped people was really inspiring for me. I didn't know that I wanted to go into medicine, but I knew that I wanted to help people in a meaningful way, the same way that my dad does.”

For a long time, Burnett was unsure which career path would be the best fit for her. She had interests across many topics, pursuing her certified nursing assistant (CNA) credential in high school and earning a Bachelor of Science in nutritional science and a minor in religious studies from Iowa State University. She quips that she enjoyed learning about "what people eat and who people pray to."

Things started to fall into place when research for a class project led to her stumble upon a clinical trial performed at the University of Iowa that showed that adding high-dose, intravenous vitamin C to chemotherapy doubles the overall survival of patients with late-stage metastatic pancreatic cancer.

"I realized that everything is connected," Burnett says. "It showed me how we can combine the two schools of thought — nutritional science and medicine. I felt like I found something, a calling of sorts, but was having trouble identifying what that calling was."

During her junior year of college, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Burnett worked on the front lines, serving as a patient care tech in the COVID-19 unit at a hospital in Waterloo. The experience made her realize the “calling” she was searching for was a career in health care.

After graduating from Iowa State University, Burnett worked in cancer clinical trials at UI Health Care. She was passionate about the research but especially enjoyed getting to know the patients and their stories. This led her to the lab of Michael Tansey, MD, a clinical professor of pediatric endocrinology and diabetes, where she researched Type 1 diabetes. She loved the research, but interacting with the children Tansey was treating made her feel increasingly drawn to direct patient care.

Though she hadn’t directly planned it, Burnett soon realized she had all the prerequisites to apply to the Carver College of Medicine’s PA program.

She submitted her application but was wait-listed for the first year.

"When I thought about it, I only ever pictured myself as a Carver College of Medicine-educated clinician," Burnett says. "If you are sick in this region, you can find answers at the University of Iowa. And I wanted that expertise in my back pocket when I'm helping people both in or outside of Iowa."

She had faith and applied again the following year. This time, Burnett was accepted.

"I am so grateful for everything that's happened in my life, good and bad, to get me to where I am," Burnett says. "It makes it that much more meaningful to be here now."

Only a few months into her time at Carver, Burnett knows she's where she belongs. Whatever specialty she lands in, she will prioritize keeping a positive outlook every day.

"I think your legacy is the impact that you have on people every day,” Burnett says. “And wherever I am, I want to have a net positive impact. I am passionate about advocating for patients. I don't know what that looks like in the future, but I know I want to be there for people."

Note: Effective July 1, Iowa law changed the professional title of "physician assistant" to "physician associate” to better reflect the important role PAs play on today's health care teams. Iowa is the fourth state to enact this change, and this year's incoming class of PA students is the first to start their training under the new name.