| Course | PA 626 Clinical Clerkship: Elective I |
|---|---|
| Week | 2 |
| Paper type | Elective request memo |
| Length | About 420 words, 4 pages |
| Format | Memo with APA 7 citations |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PA 626 Week 2
Memorandum
To: Clinical year director
From: PA student
Date: October 5, 2026
Re: Elective I request: outpatient nephrology, four weeks, and what it adds to the eight clerkships already completed
The Absence, as a Class of Work
Longitudinal care of chronic kidney disease: staging, slowing progression, adjusting medications for kidney function and preparing patients for kidney replacement. My encounter log across eight clerkships shows 14 patients with chronic kidney disease, all seen once, all for something else.
The Evidence Behind It
Encounter log: 14 chronic kidney disease patients, 0 with more than one visit in my presence. Summative practice exam: renal system 53 percent, with misses on dosing at reduced kidney function and on glomerular disease. Remediation closed the dosing item on a question set, but not in practice.
The pattern is consistent across settings. In family medicine the kidney was a lab value to flag; in internal medicine it was a number to trend for three days; in the emergency department it was a reason to hold contrast. None of those settings asked me what the patient's kidneys would look like in two years, which is the question this clinic asks every day.
The Joining Sentence
The exam shows I could not apply kidney function to a drug decision; the log shows I have never had to apply it to a patient I would see again.
Why Description Is Wasted
I do not describe what nephrologists do. The director knows. What matters is what this clinic offers that my eight blocks did not.
Expected Activity, Honestly Scaled
About 12 patients a clinic day, four days a week, roughly 190 encounters over four weeks, most of them return visits in stages 3 to 5. I expect to see about 6 new referrals a week. I will not perform procedures; dialysis access and biopsies are done elsewhere.
The numbers come from the clinic manager's report of last quarter's schedule, not from a guess, and I have allowed for the four clinic days I will lose to the program's call-back day and a holiday.
Not a Career Document
This is not a statement that I intend to work in nephrology. It is a request to close a gap that any generalist will meet daily, since chronic kidney disease is common in primary care and its management is organized around the filtration and albuminuria grid (Stevens et al., 2024).
Where the Memo Points Next
Week 3 objectives will be built from this gap and scaled to the clinic's caseload.
References
Stevens, P. E., Ahmed, S. B., Carrero, J. J., Foster, B., Francis, A., Hall, R. K., Herrington, W. G., Hill, G., Inker, L. A., Kazancıoğlu, R., Lamb, E., Lin, P., Madero, M., McIntyre, N., Morrow, K., Roberts, G., Sabanayagam, D., Schaeffner, E., Shlipak, M., . . . Levin, A. (2024). KDIGO 2024 clinical practice guideline for the evaluation and management of chronic kidney disease. Kidney International, 105(4S), S117-S314. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kint.2023.10.018
What the PA 626 Week 2 assignment asks for
The second week asks for an elective rationale memo of about a page, most of it about you. State the absence first, as a class of work, and support it with your own records, such as an encounter log or exam data. Write one sentence that joins the evidence to the request. Do not spend space describing the specialty. Scale the expected activity honestly: patients per day, days per week and what you will not do. Say plainly that the memo is not a career document if it is not. End by pointing to what comes next. If your section wants the memo addressed to a named person, the structure does not change. If you chose the service for a reason you cannot put in writing, give the reason you can defend.
Inside the PA 626 Week 2 example
The memo is addressed to the clinical year director on October 5, 2026. The absence is longitudinal chronic kidney disease care, with 14 logged patients seen once each for something else. The evidence section adds a 53 percent renal subscore and the remediation that closed the dosing item only on a question set. A single sentence joins exam and log. A short section explains leaving out a description of nephrology. Activity is scaled to about 12 patients a day, four days a week, roughly 190 encounters, with six new referrals a week and no procedures. A section separates the request from career plans and cites Stevens et al. (2024). The memo points to the week 3 objectives.
PA 626 Week 2 rubric: what full points look like
The memo earns its marks by staying about the writer. A rationale that describes the specialty's appeal, without the writer's gap or evidence, falls well short. Credit follows the absence stated as a class of work, evidence from logs or exams and a sentence that ties them to the request. An honest scale of expected activity, including what the student will not do, is weighed seriously because inflated expectations undermine the plan. Keeping career claims out unless they are true is noticed. Memo format and a pointer to the next step are expected. A source, if used, should be cited in APA form.
Common PA 626 Week 2 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Elective memos commonly read like personal statements, built around enthusiasm rather than a gap. Another weak spot is expected activity described as "extensive exposure" with no numbers. Some memos also promise procedures the service does not offer. If your situation differs, send your log counts, any exam data and the service you want; we would state the absence as a class of work, attach your evidence, join it to the request in one sentence, scale the activity honestly and point to the objectives. If your section wants the memo addressed to a named person, it would be, with the same content.
Get a PA-626 Week 2 example written to your instructions
Send the memo instructions and any header your section supplies, plus the blocks you have already finished, and a custom PA-626 Week 2 rationale memo comes back written to them inside 24-48h, the first one free. Revisions are included if the classroom wording turns out to differ.
More PA 626 papers and MPAS samples
- PA 626 Week 1: Elective Gap Post
- PA 626 Week 3: Self-set Objectives Draft
- PA 626 Week 4: Specialty Vocabulary Brief
- PA 626 Week 5: Subspecialty Clinic Note
- PA 626 Week 6: Consult Question Brief
- PA 626 Week 7: Directed Reading Brief
- PA 626 Week 8: Unmet Objective Memo
- PA 624 Week 2: Next Best Option Memo
- PA 648 Week 2: Remediation Contract
- PA 622 Week 2: Inpatient Intake Note
- PA 650 Week 2: Question Narrowing Exercise
PA 626 Week 2 questions, answered
Is this the same as the personal statement I already wrote?
No, and a reused statement is where this assignment most often comes apart. A personal statement argues a person toward a profession and is read by strangers deciding about a future. This memo argues one service against one gap in one schedule, is read by faculty who already know both, and is finished the day the block ends. The evidence in it is your own block record, not your history.
My section wants the memo addressed to a named person. Does that change it?
It changes the register and not the argument. A memo written to a named reader drops the throat-clearing, states the request in its first two lines, and keeps its supporting detail beneath. Send the header fields your classroom supplies along with the instructions, and the sample comes back in that shape, with the graded join sitting exactly where it did before.
What if I picked the service for a reason I cannot put in writing?
Most writers have one, and the memo does not require confession. The assignment asks for a defensible reason, not the whole reason, so the work is finding the true statement among several rather than inventing one. A location, a schedule or a known supervisor can all sit behind an argument that stands on the gap, provided the gap is real and the service actually meets it.
Where can I find a free PA 626 Week 2 sample paper?
A complete PA 626 Week 2 elective rationale memo requesting outpatient nephrology, backed by log and exam data, is on this page.
How much activity does the PA 626 Week 2 sample expect?
About 12 patients a day over four clinic days a week, roughly 190 encounters in four weeks, with no procedures.