Second Year Transformational Experience Program (STEP)

At the end of my freshman year, I began the process of choosing a STEP cohort, which was the group of students that I then met with once a week, every week, during the first semester of my sophomore year. We were lead by an experienced faculty member who helped us develop our projects. My independent project fell under the category of leadership. For my project, I am taking a phlebotomy class during the summer of 2019 to learn the proper way to safely draw blood, and furthermore, to enhance my exposure to the medical field. This experience will be incredibly valuable, because at the end of the course, there is a 40 hour externship that allows me to be in a hospital or clinic, getting patient exposure. This project will allow me to grow in my career field, without the financial burden, as OSU has funded this project. The process of writing the grant proposal was extremely involved, as the size of the grant lead to a severe vetting process. However, I am grateful for the experience, as I hope to one day be writing research grant proposals.

I have included my abstract below as well as a link to my full proposal.

Project Abstract:

The STEP project that I intend to complete falls under the category of leadership, and includes participating in a phlebotomy certification course. The course has a seven-week program offered by the Ohio School of Phlebotomy beginning June 17th , 2019 and concluding August 5th, 2019. Through this program, I will be exposed to clinical techniques in a highly structured setting with a 40-hour externship during the final week. The capstone of my project will be my sitting for the Phlebotomy Certification Exam, which will permit me to practice phlebotomy and related practices in a professional setting. This experience will be transformative in that I currently have an aversion to working around blood, but my desired career path is to be a medical professional practicing emergency medicine, so the process will be a means of easing a transition and ensuring that I am prepared for and accustomed to the environment in which I want to work, well before I reach that point in my career. This opportunity will greatly enhance my experience as an Ohio State student by allowing me to explore my interests outside of the classroom, and the skills I gain from this will only further assist me as I continue to learn and grow in my undergraduate course study in biological sciences with a pre-medicine designation.

STEP Signature Project- Wison.3763

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