Sara Abbas ’23 recently received the news she had been working toward for years: She had passed the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE). Just weeks prior, she had celebrated her graduation from the University of Minnesota Rochester’s (UMR) 3+2 Physician Assistant (PA) program. Now, with a fellowship in transplant medicine at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville on the horizon, Abbas is stepping into the career she once only imagined as a high school student in Coon Rapids, Minnesota.
Reflecting on the personal qualities that have shaped her path, Abbas says, “I think at the center of it all, I’m just a curious person.” That curiosity was sparked the moment she learned about UMR’s accelerated PA program, an educational collaboration with Mayo Clinic. “It was honestly a very easy choice,” she says. “I wanted to know how to diagnose and how to treat. PA was just a perfect mix. Nothing else could have fit me better.”
Her time at UMR confirmed that decision. “I loved my three years there,” Abbas says. “What made UMR so great was the community — my classmates, the collaborative environment and the faculty I got to work with and learn from.” Serving as a teaching assistant was a special highlight. “Even when I’m helping teach, I’m still learning.”
UMR also created room for educational adventures that changed her life. Abbas spent a semester in the Twin Cities studying biochemistry and genetics. She spent another in London, completing her Capstone with training at the Royal London Hospital and Queen Mary University of London. “Those were opportunities I never would have had without UMR’s flexibility and willingness to secure those experiences for me.”
The road to becoming a PA was rigorous. “PA school was really, really hard — as it should be,” Abbas says with a smile. She leaned on the steady encouragement of her mom, dad and younger sister. That support, she explains, was a continuation of what her parents had always modeled. They immigrated from Bangladesh in 1994, and they showed Abbas that education and determination would carry her far.
“Family is everything,” she reflects. “My main motivator is still my family.” Accompanying her mother and sister as they’ve navigated their own health conditions has had a significant influence on Abbas. “I’m a strong believer that if someone comes to you for help, there’s always something you can do to make someone feel better. That’s my primary goal.”
The most powerful confirmation of her vocational path came during her second year of PA school when she spent a family medicine rotation in rural St. James, Minnesota. “I’ve never felt more loved in my life, and that was just so good for my soul,” she recalls. Patient interactions there reminded her why she had chosen this profession. “Seeing that impact, it makes you motivated to keep going, to keep learning.”
Abbas is now pursuing transplant medicine, a field that allows her to journey with patients over time. “In the transplant setting, you can be in the clinic and also in the hospital. If I see you in the hospital, I’ll follow up with you in the clinic. I can actually make sure that what I did helped.”
For her, this sense of continuity is important and has deepened her sense of purpose. “When you wake up and you realize your calling, it is like no other feeling. It’s a puzzle; you finally fit. And that’s the feeling I get with transplant.”
As she prepares to begin her fellowship in Jacksonville, Abbas is guided by the same hopeful, determined optimism that has fueled her for the last five years. She is poised to take the next wise step in becoming the health care provider she has long aspired to be — one who serves with compassion, care and curiosity and who is committed to making a meaningful difference in the lives of her patients.
Written by Emily Carson
Read more stories from the Fall 2025 Alumni Magazine: The Kettle.