Describe your involvement with this organization

I am a volunteer Undergraduate Research Assistant in the Emergency Department at Nationwide Childrens Hospital. I am responsible for screening the children as they enter the emergency room, and deterring if they are eligible for any of the current research studies in the ER. If they are, I approach the child and their family, and introduce the research study to them. If they agree to the study, I enroll the family, and complete any necessary surveys/tests required in the ER.

Describe what you gained as a result of this experience.

As a result of this experience, I am much more comfortable in patient rooms, and approaching the child and their family. In the future, I will be working in health care, and it is critical that health care professionals have the ability to confidently work with patients and their families. In addition, I also learned a lot about respect. The clientele at Nationwide Childrens is extremely diverse, and not every family finds research a valuable aspect of healthcare. Additionally, many families do not speak English and practice different religions, and it takes a while to become comfortable with approaching these families. For example, a subject of the Islamic religion requires that women not look men in the eyes. This is difficult because moms will bring their children in, and if the physician is a male, it can cause problems. Additionally, with the language barrier, it is extremely hard to confirm whether the family understood everything the physician communicated. This is where the translators come into play; they are such an important member of the medical team. All of these examples are ways that I grew as a person, I grew to be a more well rounded and open minded person.

Describe positive changes to the community as a result of your service experience.

Research is an incredible aspect of health care. The studies that we conduct will help children all around the world, and I am so excited when I get the opportunity to enroll a new child into a study. Research saves lives, and even though I am such a small member of the research team, I still feel so honored to have role. Additionally, because of the amount of diversity at the hospital, I can apply my conversational skills at the hospital to the library that I volunteer at in a community of Columbus. The families library are almost 100% from Africa, and the others are from Mexico. Because of the experience at the hospital, I was able to effectively communicate with the children and families at the library.

Describe a person with whom you interacted that made a strong impression on you, positive or negative.

I am an Undergraduate Research Assistant, and my bosses have the titles of Research Assistants, and their boss is the Research Coordinator. The Research Coordinator (RC) is the most outgoing, friendly, and passionate person I have ever met. She is incredible with children, and also is getting the opportunity to attend PA school this summer. She inspires me to work my hardest, because it all works out in the long run. When at the research lab, she is always looking for more “kiddos” to enroll, and she gets so excited with every enrollment we get. This is kind of attitude I hope to have in the future; to love my job, and to look forward to coming to work everyday. She is inspiring me to work my hardest through school, because PA school is at the end of the tunnel, and there is just some hard work in between.

Because of this service experience, I am a more well rounded, open minded, and mature person that sees diversity in the health care industry in a whole new light.

Why did you select this individual to interview?

I am a Health Sciences major on track to become a Physician’s Assistant. I emailed the coordinator of the Pre-PA club at OSU, who put me in contact with some PA’s that I could possibly interview. I selected Donni Harris because she works in transplant surgery, which is an area of medicine that I find fascinating. Additionally, I appreciated that she has switched career fields. This meant that she found that the PA career path was the right way to go, and that she had made mistakes along the way. It made her  relatable, especially because I am nervous about future bumps down the road.

Describe the major responsibilities associated with their current role.

Donni works in transplant surgery, so she works with a physician that has a focus in transplant surgery as well. Donni’s role mostly involves the preparation, rounds, and check-up, not necessarily the action during the surgery, however she can be present during the surgery if she chooses to be. Additionally, she is a teaching PA, meaning the new PA’s that just graduated will work with her for a period of time before becoming independent.

Discuss how the person prepared for this role, and if they provided you with any advice as what you might be able to do to prepare for a similar career.

Donni was originally a respiratory therapist. She worked in that field for 5 years before deciding that she wanted a different career. She debated heavily between PA school and medical school, which is similar to my situation right now. She looked at costs, options, limitations, and length of schooling, and decided that PA school was more feasible, and very clearly stated that it was the right decision. This was great to hear for me. Donni also talked very highly about the ability of PA’s to raise a family, and have a personal life outside of work, which is something that I value. We discussed the important aspects of applying to PA school, and the best way to prepare for the interviews. Overall, I really enjoyed talking to her and it definitely helped confirm my career path.

Summarize any insights from the interview that might be helpful in your academic or career preparation.

Donni talked about not stressing about which school I attend. Any accredited PA school is fine, so it doesn’t matter whether I attend Duke University or Cleveland Community College. She also talked about the importance of patient care hours, and if I need to, to take a gap year. PA schools would rather see quality applications that are complete and not rushed.