Year 2

It is hard to believe that another year has passed and I am reflecting on my second year at Ohio State.  It feels like just the other day I was at the HSS Welcome Day getting to know some of my new peers.  As I read the goals I set for myself last year, I am proud to say that I was able to accomplish them.  Being a peer mentor in Health Science Scholars was a great way to keep me involved as a second year.  Being able to share similar experiences with the incoming class was a great way to connect and hopefully made their first year less overwhelming.  Another big accomplishment I had this year was being nominated as the secretary of Future Buckeye Physician Assistant Club.  This position has given me the chance to have a leadership role and allow my voice to be heard in the club.  I hope to continue this role in the future and maybe even run for a higher executive position next year.  Also, I had two leadership positions within my sorority.  They included being on the academic scholarship committee and being on the recruitment committee.  Both of these roles helped me gain more confidence in being a leader by organizing a chapter of almost 200 individuals.

Just like last year, I still enjoy volunteering and serving in the community.  Some of the ways I did this during the past year included Sandwich Saturday, making cards for children at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, making meal packages for the hurricane victims, and more.  Furthermore, my sorority allowed me to get involved by helping raise over $3,000 in just twelve hours for Feeding America and Meals on Wheels.  We plan to continue to serve in the community this following year and I look forward to continuing to have the opportunity to help the community I live in.

As for my goals for the upcoming summer and fall semester, I hope to land a job in one of the local hospitals.  Being on the physician assistant track, it is very important to gain this patient care experience.  I hope to be able to continue this job into the fall semester as well so that I can stay connected at the hospital and better prepare me for a future in the medical field.

Buck-i-Serv: York River State Park

One requirement for second-year Health Science Scholar students is to participate in a 40-hour service project.  For my project, I chose to go on a Buck-i-Serv trip to Virginia.  Our service project took place at York River State Park for one week in the beginning of May.  During our project, we completed a number of service activities which included building a split wood fence, building a small beach for canoes and boats, clearing and repairing trails, mulching, and much more. This was a great opportunity because it allowed me the opportunity to help people in a way that people don’t always think about.  Most students that are on the pre-medicine track think that they only can volunteer in the hospital.  While this is great, I feel as though I still made an impact on the lives of many people by completing this project.  One way is that prior to us fixing the trails, those with disabilities would not have been able to easily assess the trails in the park.  Another way is that the park would not be able to function without the fence we built.  The fence that was there was falling apart, and if we did not build the new one it would have been a safety hazard for the visitors.  Furthermore, we had the opportunity to network with some of the local alumni as well.  Lastly, this was a great experience because on our day off, we visited Williamsburg and Yorktown.  Overall, Buck-i-Serv is a wonderful way to get involved in the Buckeye community while helping communities outside of Ohio.  Below I have included some of the pictures taken during our trip including the split wood fence, clearing the trails, and our group.

 

 

 

 

 

Interview with a Physician Assistant

Over the past year, I had the opportunity to meet several physician assistants.  In addition, I also had the chance to shadow and interview Megan, a physician assistant at Dublin Methodist Hospital.  She works in the Emergency Department there and I really enjoyed shadowing her and getting to know more about the career.  The first thing I learned during my time with Megan was how important it is to obtain as many direct patient care hours as possible prior to applying to PA school.  Since this interview, I have been looking and applying for several jobs to start collecting my hours.  Next, we talked about what classes are needed for PA school.  She remembers that it was confusing at times deciding what classes to take since each PA school has different requirements; however, she did recommend to try to take as many as possible so that I will have more options when it comes time to apply.  Furthermore, she talked about life as a PA in the Emergency Department.  Since she just recently graduated from PA school, Megan loves this path because she likes how there is always a lot going on.  With that being said, she also told me that the nice thing about being a physician assistant is that you can easily change to a different specialization if you feel that will fit better into your life.  This was the first time I had heard of this, and it made me even more excited to pursue this career.  At the end of the interview, I also asked her how many schools she recommended applying to.  She said that the average is usually twelve schools and that it is never too early to start narrowing down which ones you think you want to apply to.  Since this interview, I have made a spreadsheet of all the PA schools I am interested in as well as what courses are required for each so that I know I have a strong application.  Lastly, this time with Megan was great because in addition to the interview, I also got to see a couple patients with her.  I have always had an interest in the Emergency Department and this was a wonderful opportunity to see what life is like in this career path.

Academic Enrichment

Even since deciding to come to Ohio State, I always knew that I had an interest in the medical field.  However, the more I looked into the different paths that one can take, I decided that I was more interested in following the PA track.  In order to gain more knowledge and advice on what I need to do to follow this path, I talked with a second-year in HSS to see what her recommendations were and what she has done so far to prepare to apply for PA school.  First, I started off by just asking her why she is interested in becoming a PA.  Her response was very similar to my thought process in the way that she has always been interested in the medical field, but when she looked more closely at the difference in medical careers she decided that a PA is more fitting.  Some reasons included that it is a more stable lifestyle and that a PA can do almost all of the same tasks as a physician.  Next, I asked a few questions pertaining to what clubs and volunteer opportunities she has taken advantage.  She said that she is involved in MedLife, Pre-Med Club, AED Fraternity, and volunteers at the Wexner Center and at a local elementary school.  I look forward to looking into more medical related clubs and volunteer opportunities next year at the Involvement Fair.  In addition, she also shared that she has been in a few psychology research projects.  However, her one piece of advice was to make sure you are interested in the type of research because it is very time consuming and will not be as rewarding if you are not interested in it.

After asking these questions, we then talked about future plans to continue to prepare for PA school.  She said that her next goal is to get her STNA/CNA certification over the summer and begin getting hours once this is complete.  Furthermore, she said that when it does come time to apply for PA school, she hopes to apply to between five to ten of them.  Lastly, I asked her if she had any final advice for me.  She said to be sure to not slack off freshman year because PA school is highly competitive and it is important to maintain a high GPA.  She also recommended that I try to take medical terminology if I have time in my schedule because a lot of PA schools require it and the class will be very helpful if you play to have a career in the medical field.

Overall, I am really glad I had the opportunity to interview a second-year HSS member and I look forward to thinking about her advice as I continue on my path of hopefully one day being a physician’s assistant.

Year 1

It doesn’t seem possible that my first year at Ohio State and in HSS is coming to an end.  Since starting school in August, I have seen a lot of growth as an individual.  Prior to coming to Ohio State, I had a core group of friends that did everything together.  While I still have these close friends that I see every break and occasionally go visit, I have also had the chance to meet many new amazing friends. Many of these friends were made in the beginning of first semester during HSS Day and during short conversations in Park-Stradley.  My friendships with these people continued to grow as we found out that we were in many of the same classes.  Another part of this year that helped me develop and meet more people was joining Alpha Gamma Delta.  In just a few short months, this sorority has given me connections with upperclassmen that can recommend which classes to take together, allowed me to be a part of raising over $3,000 for Diabetes Education and Awareness, and has given me a place where I know I can grow as a leader.

In addition to making new friends, I have been able to continue volunteering, something that I have always joined doing.  Whether it was making blankets and pillows for Nationwide Children’s Hospital or pretending to be a victim of a bombing to help train medical students at Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, every opportunity taught me how important it is to continue to serve others.  I plan to continue to do serve as much as possible and look for new organizations and groups of people that I can help.

Lastly, my goals for next year in HSS are to continue to stay involved and hopefully be a peer mentor for the incoming first-years.  I know how important it is to make connections with people from the beginning, therefore, I hope that as a peer mentor I will be able to make my first-years comfortable with Ohio State in order to make meeting friends within HSS a little easier.  I also hope during my second year in HSS that I will be able to find more organizations to serve especially where I can get more personally interactions with the individuals I am serving.

Service Engagement

Over the course of my first year as a member of the Health Science Scholars Program, I have had numerous opportunities to serve on campus, for local organizations, and in neighboring suburbs.  One of my first service opportunities through HSS was volunteering with the Garden of Hope.  This is a local garden that grows fresh produce for patients that have cancer.  Having access to fresh produce is very important to these patients and many times it is hard for them to get the fruits and vegetables they need to better their health while they are going through treatment.  In addition, I also volunteered to help make blankets and pillows for the children with cancer at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.  Being able to help children battling cancer is something very near to my heart and therefore I really enjoyed being able to spend time with new friends helping a great cause.  Furthermore, I also spent a total of eight hours serving the homeless in Columbus by making sandwiches at a local church.  This has been a long-term service organization that I am involved in, and I plan to continue to volunteer my service with them as much as possible.  One of my favorite service opportunities with HSS was going to a local retirement home on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to help several of the residents.  My job during this time was to help organize one of the resident’s rooms.  I really enjoyed helping her clean her room as well as talk to her and get to know her better.  Lastly, my final service experience for my first year in HSS was to help with a simulation exercise at the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

My most memorable experience of service during my first year was being a victim of a bombing in the simulation exercise.  This was an experience that not many people get to do and it was really interesting seeing how much planning needs to go into preparing for a city-wide disaster.  Another reason this was very memorable to me is because I got to interact with medical school students as they were learning what to do in the case of a bombing.  Being able to be a part of them learning how to act in this situation and hear all of their knowledge on how to treat each patient based on their injuries made me excited as I thought about my goals for a future in the medical field.  I also gain more networking connections as I was able to interact with doctors in the central Ohio area as well as having the opportunity to meet the Dean of the medical school.  Lastly, this opportunity gave me insight as to what my role will be this summer as I get o intern with OhioHealth in their simulation laboratory.

Overall, this first year of service has given me the chance to serve several different organizations and groups of people, and I look forward to continuing to serve more in the future.

This is a picture of our “injuries” from the simulation volunteer experience.

 

About Me

IMG_7206  Hello!  My name is Katie Boehmer and I am a first-year student from Dublin, Ohio.  I am majoring in Biology and am in the Health Sciences Scholars Program.  I plan to enter either medical school or PA school after my time at Ohio State.  I am a graduate of Dublin Coffman High School where I was the captain of the girls’ golf team and involved in Student Council, Key Club, Freshman Mentor Program, and Peer Collaboration.  Through these programs, I was able to help many people not only at Coffman High School but also in the Dublin community.  In addition, I worked at Allstate Insurance all four years of high school.  This taught me a lot about time management, organization, and the importance of communication.  I look forward to getting involved in several organizations on campus such as Pre-Med Club, Younglife, and more.  Outside of the classroom, I enjoy golfing, spending time outdoors, and hanging out with friends.  I look forward to my time on campus and all of the opportunities offered at Ohio State!

Career

After one semester at The Ohio State University and attending the weekly Health Science Scholars class, I can confidently say that I know what I need to do over the course of the next several years in order to reach my goal of obtaining a major in biology. Some of the oimg_2842pportunities I had during this course included learning more about undergraduate research, something that will be very important since I plan to pursue a career in the medical field, how to be professional when giving a presentation, and how to write a resume that will impress future employers. Furthermore, during this course, I learned the importance of reaching out and finding internships, volunteer opportunities, and research so that I can achieve my future goal of becoming a physician assistant. In the spring of 2016, I had the opportunity to do an internship at a local hospital where I had the opportunity to shadow a physician assistant for some of my experience. After seeing how valuable this experience was and talking with others in HSS, I was able to obtain anothimageser
internship in the simulation laboratory at another local hospital. I look forward to this experience and being able to spend more time in the medical field setting.

Another valuable topic that I learned during this course is the importance of staying healthy as well as balancing academics, my social life, and extracurricular activities. I plan to continue to maintain this balance by working ahead on assignments when I can, staying organized by writing out all of my assignments for the month, and by joining Greek life. This will not only give me the opportunity to meet new people and build my network with upperclassmen, but it will also allow me to focus on a philanthropy that is important to me. Overall, I look forward to another semester at The Ohio State University and I cannot wait to see what opportunities come my way and how I will grow from these experiences.img_8220