{"id":13502,"date":"2019-04-02T08:51:50","date_gmt":"2019-04-02T15:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/medex\/?p=13502"},"modified":"2019-04-02T08:51:50","modified_gmt":"2019-04-02T15:51:50","slug":"you-cant-train-character","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/familymedicine.uw.edu\/test\/you-cant-train-character\/","title":{"rendered":"You Can’t Train Character"},"content":{"rendered":"

M<\/span>atthew Grisso claims<\/span><\/strong> that medicine came to him by accident.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was volunteering with the Newberry Springs Fire Department<\/em> and they told me I had to get my EMT certification to keep working with them,\u201d Matt tells us. So, he got his certification and discovered that there were far more medical calls than there were fires.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn reality, very few things burn, so I just started chasing down the EMT pathway,\u201d he says. Over the space of two years, Matt migrated from EMT to paramedic, working in many different areas of the paramedic field, from the 9-1-1 system to a tactical based paramedic in the penitentiary system. Later, he parlayed these skills into a job with the cardiology section at a Southern California-based VA hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll along the way, I was just trying to improve,\u201d says Matt. \u201cIt got to the point where it was time to move to the next step. And that’s what this is.\u201d<\/p>\n

[smartslider3 slider=207]<\/div>\n

\u201cT<\/span>his\u201d is two years in the MEDEX Northwest<\/span><\/strong> physician assistant program at UW Medicine, where Matthew is currently in his clinical year as part of Spokane Class 21. We catch up with him at his monthlong ER rotation under Colin Croshaw, DO at Multicare Deaconess Hospital<\/em> in central Spokane.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been a great rotation, one of my favorites,\u201d Matt adds. \u201cSince my background was as a paramedic, I wasn’t highly concerned with this rotation. But coming in here working with the PA team and the docs has been even better than I expected. They really take the time to push me beyond what I know.\u201d<\/p>\n

The path to MEDEX was initiated by an on-the-job injury. While working in 2008 as a paramedic in a federal penitentiary, Matt got involved in an altercation with an inmate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat did not end very well for me,\u201d he adds. Matt was significantly injured. Surgery and other rehabilitative treatments resulted from this incident.<\/p>\n

Because of the injury, his Federal employer would not release Matt back to work. He came away with a permanent injury to his left shoulder that would hamper his ability to lift patients for the rest of his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey told me to start looking for other work since I couldn’t go back to the prison.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt was next hired by the Department of Veterans Affairs<\/em> in Loma Linda, California. \u201cI worked in cardiology for about eight years, doing everything from EKGs to stress testing,\u201d he says. Matt ended up becoming a supervisor of the cardiology section. \u201cEventually I realized administration isn’t as much fun as I thought.\u201d<\/p>\n

The time was right for Matt to reconsider his future.<\/p>\n

A<\/span>t the penitentiary<\/span><\/strong>, he had worked side-by-side with physician assistants who pushed him to continue his medical education in that direction. Matt decided to apply to PA school.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took me a few years to finish up the prerequisites and get to where I was going,\u201d he tells us. \u201cBut that was the route that eventually got me to MEDEX.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt\u2019s PA education was covered through the VA Health Professional Scholarship Program<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
In 2018 Matt received the Richard A. Smith Student Scholarship. Here he is congratulated by MEDEX faculty Keren Wick, Ph.D.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re paying for my school and, in return, I signed a two-year contract to work with them post-graduation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The connection to veterans runs deep with Matt. Although not a veteran himself, Matt comes from a family with strong military veteran traditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried to enlist in the military when I was younger, but they wouldn’t take me because of a previous injury. I couldn’t make it through their physical screening.\u201d At age 18, this was a big change for Matt. He had always thought of the military as part of his future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always had this connection,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd if I couldn’t serve directly within the forces, there had to be another way I could give back.\u201d<\/p>\n

It all came together around the VA system.<\/p>\n

While working for the VA hospital in Loma Linda, Matt discovered the right fit. \u201cI loved it,\u201d he says. \u201cIt’s a great patient population.\u201d<\/p>\n

[smartslider3 slider=209]<\/div>\n

M<\/span>att was kayaking professionally<\/span><\/strong> at the time and saw the need for access to recreational programs for his VA patients. He opened a chapter of Heroes on the Water<\/em>, a disabled veteran\u2019s charity. \u201cWe took guys out and did recreational therapy, kayaking, fishing in the Pacific Ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Diego is a huge military hub and there are significant traumatic brain injury issues among the veteran population.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Matt Grisso, MEDEX Spokane Class 21<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s all these returning wounded military with non-visible injuries, and it seemed like this approach could help,\u201d Matt says. \u201cI mean, I personally have some demons that I wrestle with. A day on the water would help those demons quiet down. It\u2019s so simple, right? Get out and release yourself to the ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the water, nothing else matters in that moment other than what you’re doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou’re able to let go of the horrors you saw that day at work, whatever that might have been\u2014in the ambulance or on the battlefield. It just seemed that it would also work for the veteran population.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt brought Heroes on the Water<\/em> to San Diego, and the chapter quickly grew to become the largest in the nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re the flagship,\u201d he says proudly.<\/p>\n

Matt ran the chapter for five years before handing it off to his number two in charge once he was accepted into MEDEX.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s still down there and running strong. Plus, there\u2019s a chapter of Heroes on the Water<\/em> here in Washington, too.\u201d<\/p>\n