Welcome to “Medical Mavericks,” a series from MedPage Today featuring interviews with healthcare professionals working in unconventional fields of health and medicine.
We spoke with Jenn Tran, a physician assistant (PA) student and the lead on the current season of “The Bachelorette,” about taking time off from school to film the hit TV show and her plans for a career in medicine. Tran first appeared on “The Bachelor” during Joey Graziadei’s season, which aired in early 2024, and was then asked to return to the show as the next Bachelorette. In order to do so, she had to put a pause on her PA degree. But she’s nearly finished — Tran has completed 1.5 years of PA school to date and has 1 year to go. She plans to resume her training in January.
In the meantime, Tran is handing out roses on her season of “The Bachelorette,” airing now. No matter if she’s healing hearts in her clinical rotations or on reality TV, she’s in it for the right reasons.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
How did you initially become interested in becoming a PA?
Tran: When I was in high school, my brother was an emergency medical technician (EMT), so he would talk about his experiences all the time, and it just seemed like a really cool thing to do and to be able to help out with. So I joined my local ambulance corps and became an EMT. When I got to college, I wanted to be pre-med. But I eventually realized I didn’t want to go to school for 7 years, and the lifestyle just didn’t really seem like what I wanted.
When I found out about physician assistants, it just seemed more suitable to my lifestyle while still giving me the opportunity to help people, which is what I wanted to do. I just figured it was the best for what I wanted in my future.
After you were accepted to be on “The Bachelor” on Joey’s season and later when you were asked to be the lead on “The Bachelorette,” did you ever think twice about not going on the show because of your enrollment in PA school?
Tran: Yeah, both times — going on “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” — I definitely had to consider PA school at the top of my list of reasons why I wouldn’t be able to go.
The first thing was just being able to communicate with my program and seeing if that was even an option. With these types of graduate school programs, you just don’t know if they allow for sabbaticals and whatnot. Oftentimes it’s very rigorous coursework, so you have to go straight through.
Luckily, my program was very, very willing to work with me and give me a break. They told me I could come back as long as I was communicative as to the timing and what that plan looked like. And it was nice because I’m in my second year of PA school, so it’s my clinical year. Had it been during didactic year I probably wouldn’t have been able to take a break. Basically, I was in the middle of a rotation, and then I went on “The Bachelor,” and then I came back and I did two rotations, and then I was in the middle of another rotation, and then I went on “The Bachelorette.” So, it’s nice that in between the two breaks [from filming], I was able to go back to school for a little bit, and now I’ll be going back in January.
But when I was making those decisions, the things that came to mind were: What is my life going to look like as a provider who’s also in the public eye? How long am I going to be in the public eye for? Is that something that’s going to be uncomfortable with my patients? So, there were definitely things I had to consider career-wise; I just didn’t know how it was going to look.
What was the process for asking your PA school to take time off for filming?
Tran: Every PA school is different. I’ve communicated with my program very well as to what my timeline is going to look like. And for my program, you can take a break if you need to take a break for whatever reason, as long as you submit the required paperwork and your timeline. So yeah, that’s basically what the process looked like at my school.
Do you see your broader social media reach as a result of the show as an opportunity to share health information and fight medical misinformation?
Tran: Yeah, I definitely think there’s an opportunity for that. My biggest pet peeve is when I go online and I see medical misinformation from people who are not qualified. So absolutely — I see that as an opportunity to rectify those mistakes.
How do you think working in the medical field might prepare someone to be on reality TV?
Tran: I actually think about this all the time. I’m not as cranky or as tired or as high maintenance as some other people who are on reality TV. I’ve gotten a lot of comments being like, “You’re just so upbeat all the time and you just go with the flow.” And it’s definitely because I’ve worked so many long hours before — night shifts included — as a nursing assistant when I was getting hours for PA.
So, I know what it’s like to be sleep-deprived, but to still have to put on a brave face for your patients. It’s something I’ve done throughout my life, and I’m so used to in reality TV.
Have you thought about what you might specialize in when you return to PA school?
Tran: So, going off the long hours and being thrown into things all the time, I have been thinking about going into the emergency department. Because I was an EMT too, I’ve seen what that type of care is going to be like, and I was in the middle of an emergency rotation before I left for “The Bachelorette,” and I really loved it. I like being constantly stimulated by something new. So I think that’ll probably be where my career is headed.
What did you take away from your time off from PA school and how can you apply it to your future medical career?
Tran: It’s similar to the time I took off between undergrad and PA school in that it’s a time you’re growing and you’re learning. I always want to better myself as a person in every way possible, and so the gap years or gap months from PA school are a chance for me to better myself as a person. And I think ultimately that makes me a better provider.
More specifically, what I’ve really learned over the past few months is how to be more vulnerable and how to be there for people who may need your sense of nurture. I’m not always the best person in those type of situations because I haven’t really figured out the exact right thing to say and whatnot. So it’s about navigating those vulnerable moments — which I’m going to have so many of with patients later on. And I think that’s the best thing I can take away from these few months off.
But in general, any time you’re taking away from school is a chance to just grow as a person.
Some contestants on “The Bachelor” have switched career paths after opportunities arise from their growing social media platforms. Do you foresee your PA career coinciding with other careers in the future?
Tran: I’m not quite sure yet. I know for sure that I’m going to be a PA — I’m going to graduate and I want to work as a PA because that’s how I feel the most fulfilled. It’s one of my passions in life. I’ll always be a PA in some sense, and whether that’s working part-time or full-time I don’t know, but I definitely will be exploring other avenues as well.
There will be a lot of opportunities coming, and for me I’m just someone who’s very diverse — and my passions and things I want to fulfill in life — and if I have a door open I’m going to try to chase those things too.
Is there anything we didn’t ask about that you feel is important to add?
Tran: I do see a lot of criticism online like, “Oh, she’s a PA student and now she’s going be a reality TV star” or “She’s not coming back to PA school” and all those things. And I think it’s so easy for other people to want to fit people into a box.
But for me, I know where my passions lie and what I’m going to do with my life. And I think it’s OK to follow multiple dreams if you have them and to not take criticism from other people, and to just do what feels best for you.
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