After dropping out of a physician assistant program in North Carolina following three grueling semesters, James Moore, then 28, found himself working third shift at a warehouse.
He had long dreamed of a career in medicine, but the coursework had proven more difficult than expected. Moore thought the door to that future had closed.
âI remember the sadness on my motherâs face,â he said. âAnd then my father told me, âItâs OK to hit rock bottom. You just canât stay there.ââ
So, he started again.
Moore enrolled in a masterâs degree program in physiology â a subject that had once been his greatest academic challenge. He didnât just get through it â Moore graduated with a 3.8 GPA.
When he applied to physician assistant schools again, he felt ready.
Nine years after leaving his first physician assistant program, Moore walked across the stage on May 20 as a member of Rutgers School of Health Professionsâ class of 2025, receiving his Master of Science in Physician Assistant.
âThis program is definitely hard, but I buckled down and focused,â he said. âI didnât get a whole lot of sleep â just a whole lot of praying and a whole lot of studying. I kept persevering.â
“His journey reflects the very purpose of our holistic admissions process: to identify individuals with the drive, compassion, and strength to make a lasting impact in the lives of their patients.”
âMatthew McQuillan,
Chair, Department of Physician Assistant Studies and Practice
Moore, now 37, had graduated in 2010 from a North Carolina university with a degree in biology, but his grades werenât strong enough for medical school. He returned to community college to retake science courses, then completed upper-level university classes before his first attempt at physician assistant school in 2016. To better prepare himself to try again, he sought his physiology degree and became a certified nursing assistant.
Still, he was surprised when Rutgers â now ranked No. 3 in physician assistant programs nationwide by U.S. News & World Report â offered him a spot in its program beginning in fall 2022.
âI was speechless,â Moore said. âI thought, âHow did someone like me get accepted?â I figured there were plenty of stronger applicants.â
But the admissions team saw something more. âWe read your story and got to know you,â one member told him. âYouâre a testament to what can happen when people keep working, even when things donât go their way.â
Matthew McQuillan, chair of the Department of Physician Assistant Studies and Practice, said Moore impressed everyone in the program with his grit and determination to succeed.
âHis story makes us especially proud to count him among our inspiring graduates.â
His parents were at convocation â his mother in tears again, this time with pride. Mooreâs next goal: pass the certifying exam and find a job in primary care back home in North Carolina.
All through school, he repeated one message to himself: âDonât go back without that degree.â
And he didnât.
