{"id":8139,"date":"2016-03-01T09:48:29","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T17:48:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/medex\/?p=8139"},"modified":"2016-03-01T09:48:29","modified_gmt":"2016-03-01T17:48:29","slug":"seeking-a-broader-scope-of-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/familymedicine.uw.edu\/test\/seeking-a-broader-scope-of-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeking A Broader Scope Of Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Celeste Richardson \u2013 Seattle Class 48<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

When we sit down with Celeste Richardson, she opens the conversation with, \u201cI’m probably not your typical PA student.\u201d We soon learn she\u2019s referring to a rather circuitous path to the physician assistant profession, but one that\u2019s rich with life experience. All in all, that\u2019s not bad preparation for someone drawn to working with underserved populations.<\/p>\n

At the time of our visit with Celeste, she\u2019s almost finished with her 4-month family medicine preceptorship at Virginia Garcia Beaverton Clinic, outside of Portland, OR. This is home for Celeste, in more ways than one. She\u2019s raised two boys in Southeast Portland and, prior to entering the MEDEX physician assistant training program, she shadowed at Virginia Garcia to gain a better understanding of the PA role.<\/p>\n

\u201cVirginia Garcia works with migrant and seasonal farm workers, but we have lots of refugees and immigrants from all over the world. There are patients from Mexico, Columbia, Guatemala, Somalia, Iraq, China, Vietnam and Korea, just to name a few. It’s wonderful.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here, Celeste betrays her earlier years of international travel and living overseas. It\u2019s this curiosity about other cultures that makes Celeste so valuable as a caregiver. \u201cI really connect with our patients and enjoy listening to their stories and hearing what brought them to the States,\u201d she says. \u201cI’m learning Arabic, and the patients really appreciate me trying even if just a few words to greet them in their own language.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Now back to that circuitous path.<\/p>\n

Celeste graduated \u201cmany years ago\u201d with a combined degree in biology and psychology, and a plan to go for a master\u2019s degree in genetic counseling. \u201cBut life changes,\u201d she explains. \u201cI fell in love. I moved to England, and I traveled for many years.\u201d Eventually she returned to the States, got married, had kids and went to massage school. \u201cAnd so I was a massage therapist for 17 years as my kids grew up.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the time her boys were growing up, Celeste got divorced. As a single mom, massage therapy wasn’t enough to pay the bills. That’s when she started tutoring anatomy and physiology at a local community college. \u201cI was working four jobs,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s when I decided I needed to go back to school to make a living.\u201d<\/p>\n

At first, Celeste again considered getting her master\u2019s degree in genetic counseling. But her work as a massage therapist exposed her to people\u2019s health conditions. \u201cI wanted a broader scope of practice,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd I wanted to help people manage their health, especially people who have barriers to care.\u201d At that time she was considering nursing school, or becoming a nurse practitioner. Then a PT friend suggested the physician assistant profession. \u201cI had never thought of that,\u201d she says. She did the research, and started attending a community college to fulfill her prerequisites. \u201cAnd since my bachelor’s degree was so long ago, I had to redo all my anatomy and physiology.\u201d<\/p>\n

A<\/span>s a massage therapist,<\/span><\/strong> Celeste had carved out a unique niche. She had her own practice, and was associated with a chiropractor, and worked with a geriatric population. \u201cI was travelling all over,\u201d she says. \u201cI was going to assisted living homes and memory care homes around the Portland area, giving geriatric massage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Clackamas<\/a>As preparation for her new career direction, Celeste set out to gain wider exposure to the clinical environment by volunteering at a free clinic in Oregon City. She started out helping with a medical scribe program, assisting the providers by writing chart notes. In time, the facility\u2014the Clackamas Volunteers in Medicine Founders Clinic\u2014hired Celeste as their volunteer coordinator.<\/p>\n

By her own admission, there was a lot going on for Celeste. She was raising two high school age boys, working four jobs, fulfilling academic prerequisites, volunteering, and applying to PA school. It was then that she learned how competitive PA programs are in today\u2019s market.<\/p>\n