Kyle Peterson , PA-C 

“Russell Sage College has a strong name in the Capital Region, especially in the medical community,” said Physician Assistant Kyle Peterson. “Having that name on my resume gave me so many opportunities.”

For example, he said his status as a student in Sage’s Biology and Pre-med/Pre-PA programs  helped him stand out for a position as a patient care associate at a local hospital — which allowed him to more easily build the patient contact hours required to apply to physician assistant programs. 

He went on to list several more opportunities he found at Sage that helped him build a strong application for his physician assistant graduate program — and to succeed in PA school. 

He traveled to Kenya with Professor Emilly Obuya and two pre-med classmates to research and develop solutions to water sanitation.

“She gave us an opportunity of a lifetime,” he said of the project that combined green chemistry principles, nanotechnology and public health.

“Then Dr. Gray in organic chemistry — his teaching style really prepared me for PA school and I want to highlight that,” Kyle continued. He described Professor Tom Gray as having high expectations for students to prepare outside of class so that class time could be used for interactive problem solving. 

“I have to do a special shout out to Professor Rea,” Kyle added, referring to the director of Sage’s Pre-Med/Pre-PA program. “She’s famous at Sage for mentoring students who are interested in health professions. She gave me the recommendation letter. She put me on to opportunities to become a teaching assistant and tutor — things to make my application to PA school really shine.”

Kyle graduated from the CUNY School of Medicine in 2022 and is now a physician assistant in orthopedic surgery at Harlem Hospital. 

But he’s not sure he is finished with school quite yet — and that’s because of Sage, the faculty who inspired him and how much he enjoyed being a teaching assistant and tutor. 

“I’m thinking about pursuing the Doctor of Medical Science degree that is offered for PAs,” he said, “just to continue teaching anatomy and physiology or clinical-related classes.”