Service Project 2016-2017

I was very excited to be given the opportunity to volunteer at the Wexner Medical Center this year. In high school, I volunteered monthly at a local hospital and knew I wanted to continue this in college. I was assigned to be a student assistant in the endoscopy department and volunteered for 3 hours every week fall semester. My responsibilities included changing linens, cleaning patient rooms, and assisting in other miscellaneous tasks. The staff and patients showed great gratitude for my assistance and I gained greater understanding for need and appreciated for volunteered. While volunteering provided me with a foundation for the operations of a hospital, I would like to become more involved directly with the patients. Many years of hospital volunteering has inspired me to obtain a certificate as a state tested nursing assistant and I hope to become more of an integral part of the hospital team upon certification.

Professional Interview

To fulfill the academic enrichment requirement, I interviewed a family friend, Megan, who is a physician assistant at OrthoNeuro in Westerville. She works in the orthopedic surgery department which involves clinical visits with patients as well as being first assist in the operating room. She was the perfect person to talk to as I plan on attending a physician assistant graduate program and would like to specialize in orthopedics. We discussed her day to day work life as well as her experiences applying to PA school. I found it to be extremely helpful to talk to a young professional because it wasn’t very long ago that she was going through the entire process herself. Megan also told me about her experiences abroad as a physician assistant. She went to Bolivia and the Dominican Republic to provide services to many impoverished communities. This is another opportunity within the profession that I never knew was possible and would love to be involved in. I plan on shadowing Megan in the fall and look forward to hearing more about her experiences and information about the profession.