Staff Sergeant Kenneth Ferrera

As the son of a Navy Master Diver and the younger brother of a Navy helicopter crewman, Kenneth Ferrera grew up with the military. He knew that at least part of his adult career would involve military service. However, when it was his turn to serve his country the decision he chose took him on a decidedly different path from that of his father’s and his older brother’s.

Kenneth enlisted in the Army as a combat medic, which inspired his younger brother to also enlist in the Army. He spent nearly all of his eleven active duty years in the field, either training for combat or treating wounded soldiers on the battlefield. He quickly rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant and during the first of his two tours in Iraq realized that his passion for helping the sick and injured would be his motivation to become a physician assistant. Building on his training and field experience, Kenneth began school at the University of Maryland the day after separating from the Army working full time in pursuit of a Bachelor’s degree in kinesiology.

Once he graduates, he plans to apply to George Washington University’s Physician Assistant Program. His goal is to honor the soldiers he treated by applying the incredible amount of knowledge, skill and discipline he acquired from the Army and from those experiences in the field to care for military servicemen and women here at home either as a military civilian or by rejoining the military as an Army officer.