Frank Veres

Sci-Tech writing

Interviews

March 17, 2011

The purpose of this project is to interview two professionals who are

well established in our field of study or major. The info being required for

this report are purpose of the services, population served, agency structure,

responsibilities of professional and their perception of work. Since I am

studying to be a physician assistant, I interviewed two physician assistants

from two different places of work.

The first physician assistant I interviewed was Ryan Szenderski from

Family Medicine in Sylvania. The setting was more like a doctor’s office for

kids. The atmosphere in the building was very relaxing and welcoming. He

studied and received his undergraduate degree from the University of

Toledo. He then went on to the University of Toledo Medical School where he

received his graduate degree to become a physician assistant. Since he has

graduated he has been working in the field for 4 years. To become a

practicing physician assistant you need to take a board exam. If you pass

that you get your licensing certification. Every six years you need to be re-

certified. A physician assistant’s responsibilities include anything a M.D. or

O.D. can do. His agency is privately owned and serves to a population of

couple thousand patients. His agency’s purpose or mission is the prompt of

health and well being and serves to everyone from newborns to the elderly.

The services provided by the agency range from sick calls to physical exams

and more. The agency is funded by insurance, being reimbursed by the

insurance companies. As for his perception of work, he loves it and couldn’t

see himself doing anything else. He also mentioned that he became a

physician assistant and didn’t go on to be a doctor (M.D.) because a

physician assistant has more set hours and doesn’t need to be on call all the

time or as flexible with their schedules as a M.D. would be.

My second interview was with Ryan Roth who is also a physician

assistant. Ryan works at the Toledo Care Center attached to the Promedica

Urgent Care Center on Secor Rd. The setting was like your typical hospital.

He received his undergraduate degree from Bowling Green State University.

He then went on to the University of Toledo Medical College where he

received his graduate degree. He is a fully licensed physician assistant and

has been recently re-certified. Ryan has been a physician assistant for seven

years almost eight since graduating in 2003. His responsibilities include

almost anything a M.D. can do. He specializes in orthopedics and see about

100-150 patients a week. His agency’s purpose is to promote well-being of

patients. The practice is privately owned and has many services to offer to

patients. The agency is a multi-purpose practice where they offer many

services ranging from routine check-ups to surgery. It’s self insured with

several of the physicians owning a share of the agency. Ryan told me he

really enjoys coming to work every day and getting the satisfaction of

knowing he is helping people get better.

Some similarities between the two interviews were that they both

attended the University of Toledo Medical College. I think this shows that

U.T. has a strong medical program because my second interview with Ryan

Roth, he attended BGSU. Both of their practices are privately owned and are

reimbursed through insurance. Both of the agencies offer many services to

their patients. One difference is that Ryan Roth specializes in orthopedics

where Ryan Szenderski is a more general physician assistant.

My impressions of Ryan Szenderski were that he was young, but very

professional and took his job very seriously. Also, you could tell that he enjoy

his job and had nothing but good things to say about becoming a physician

assistant.

My impressions of Ryan Roth were that he too was a young physician

assistant. He too, like Ryan Szenderski enjoys coming to work every day and

takes it very seriously. Reflecting back on meeting him makes me want to

become a physician assistant even more and maybe even specialize in

orthopedics like him.

This was a great learning experience for me. I feel like I understand

better what a physician assistant does on a daily basis and how much work

goes into it. Even though it is a lot of work, it’s very rewarding and satisfying

knowing that you are making a difference in people’s lives and getting them

better. Being a physician assistant is a normal 9-5 job, working in a hospital

or clinic setting. You meet with patient’s non-stop daily, making getting the

interviews in their tight schedule really tough. The benefits of becoming a

physician assistant is that you have set working hours unlike a doctor. Also,

the pay is nice and you get the benefit of feeling good helping people get

better. The only con of becoming a physician assistant is the schooling;

going to school for seven years, but it’s worth it in the end. Overall I really

enjoyed interviewing these two professionals and gained a lot of knowledge

from them, convincing me even more that I want to pursue becoming a

physician assistant in six years.