Personal Narrative: A Career As An Administrative Assistant

Hard work and empathy were instilled in me at a young age and ultimately have guided my life decisions. I always knew I wanted a career doing something that involved helping people and left me feeling that I made a difference in their lives. I finished my undergraduate degree in Nutrition, but in the end lacked passion for the profession. Following a personal experience with an Occupational Therapist, I was able to see the positive outcome she had on my grandfathers recovery which lead me to pursue my career in occupational therapy.

The career I became interested in is a Physician’s Assistant, or a few people call them PAs. I became interested in this job in my sophomore year of high school. It all started when I attended the STEM fair after school one day. STEM fair is only offered to students who are in either the biomedical Stem academy or the engineer academy. At this fair, students tour around to different classrooms to acquire information on different careers. I attended the Physician’s Assistant one, where there was an actual PA to give information on what PAs achieve. For example, PAs examine patients for diseases, injuries and illnesses.

As a registered chairside dental assistant at Dental Specialty Clinic, I was the lead dental assistant and my job included to assist doctor with oral procedures and lead our dental team. Our goal was to organize the clinic in a manner so that patients were given proper care within time limit. My role was to keep track of time and our team so that planned patients were given care from the scheduled time.

I was a Behavioral Health Administrator at a Health Plan for a couple of years. My role included educating primary care providers on integrating care through collaboration and coordination with behavioral health providers. I worked with Kognito to provide training for primary care provides on behavioral health and substance abuse screening and interventions in primary care settings. I purchased the training for primary care providers and posted the training on the provider portal of the website. I also partnered with Psych Net to utilize their motivational interviewing video training to training primary care providers contracted with our health plan.

In the Fall of 2014 I became an RA, Resident Assistant, a position longed for since I entered as a student at Landmark College, a college for students with learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorders. I went into the job aspiring to help other students and build upon the close knit and friendly community that was already in place. My job was to ensure the safety and security of all residents, refer students to appropriate services on campus, and run and plan programs alongside two other RA’s and a Resident Dean.

During my freshman year, my Residential Assistant pulled me aside and expressed to me that I have the potential to be a great RA. Before I was told that, I did not really pay much attention to the position and what RAs actually do. The dedication and hard work these individuals put forward to make the college life of many students much simpler and inspire them. Once I was told that I had the potential to help others and meet so many other people, it ignited a change within me. I now wanted to do the same things and simply help others while making relationships along the way. I had a strong relationship with my RA and he was always there to assist me in any situation. He mentored me through difficult situations and helped me grow as an individual.

On my search for a full-time job, I came across this ad. This ad led me to a career option, that I had not be aware of. I had never heard of an occupational therapy assistant. The picture demonstrated what they did, and it moved me. In fact, I wish I had known about them when my mom was ill. We were looking for a physical therapist, and they had said that it would not be a good fit for her. She was ill, but she wanted that independence. Perhaps, an occupational therapist would have been able to help her with that.

Even though it may not sound like it, my most memorable experience is working for a home care company. The company I work for is called Residential Physicians Association. I have been working with this company for 2 years as a Medical Assistant. My role is assisting doctors in making home visits. These home visits are more relaxed than hospital visits because the patients are in the comfort of their own home. It is a rewarding feeling to see how grateful patients are to have a service come out to their house. Taking vitals and drawing blood is my most learned skill I have learned with this job. Doing these small procedures gives me hope that I can one day succeed in major medical surgeries. The opportunity of this job has shaped me to find my calling while enjoying every day of it. Memorable experiences are created every day without realizing, while creating memories is important, it is also important that you are

Sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, 7-year-old me swung my feet back and forth under the generic, time-worn furniture and anxiously wrung my sweaty palms. I’d been to the doctor’s before, but with each returning yearly visit the dread that sunk to the bottom of my gut never shrunk. “Jillianne Carrasco?” The nurse called. My stomach turned. I began to shoot my mother a pleading look, but she wasted no time in grabbing my hand and leading me to the smiling nurse waiting at the door, and we both followed her through the pasty white halls to a customary exam room. The nurse closed the door behind us and asked me to take a seat on the crinkly tissue paper cot. She smiled warmly, likely taking note of my nervous breathing and shaky hands.

When working as a health unit coordinator some of my my duties is to transcribe doctor orders, process doctor orders, make appointments for clients, order supplies as needed. When I am working as a nursing assistant my job requires me to bathe and dress patients, take vital signs, serve meals, set up medical equipment, answer call lights as needed, observe changes in clients

After graduation from New York University in 2013, I decided take time off before applying to medical school. I took this time off in order to gain more experience both in healthcare and life. I felt there was stillroom for me to learn about medicine and more importantly about myself. Firstly, I found a job working in the front office of a newly opened dermatology practice, learning about the business, insurance, and paperwork that goes into running a medical practice. Wanting more exposure to medical procedures and interaction between doctor and patient, I became a medical assistant. This was one of the most valuable experiences of my gap years. I was able to gain first hand experience of the daily life of a doctor and develop my communication

When we first moved to Bozeman for graduate school, my wife and I were the only people within the state of Montana that we knew. We were enamored with the scenery and opportunity provided to us through MSU but felt isolated and a bit overwhelmed in our new setting. As time progressed we were able make friends within the community and become more comfortable with our surroundings. Soon after, Bozeman became home. As a community assistant it would be our priority to integrate new tenants into our community and establish a sense of home with them as quickly as possible. It would be our goal to make them feel welcome by showing them around town, sharing our favorite restaurants and hiking spots, and even letting them in on some secret fishing spot

A large part of my position was to support the Fundraising Coordinator in the event planning of the MS Walk, the Canada Day Pedal Parking and the MS Bike. The tasks were often divided into three categories, pre-event, day of event and post-event. My pre-event role was focused on promotion of the event, site prep and ensuring strong participation. I attempted to make myself available for any type of tasks. The fundraising coordinator delegated the calling of past participants to me. At first, I was a bit hesitant to call and ask for money and participation as it was something I had never done. However, after asking questions to and developing a script with my fundraising coordinator I was able to complete the task and in turn sign up 20 or more extra participants. In pre-event preparation my favorite task was to create the promotional posters and handouts. I used to my advantage my creativity to create the posters for the Canada Day Pedal Parking and the decorations for the MS Walk.

Then, I had to personally give out instructions so that volunteers were well informed on what their duties were on the day of the event. In addition, I made some volunteers executive producers so that on the day of the event, there were people to relay information to camera crew throughout the event.

When it comes to making a budget plan, investments, paying bills, and saving money, I prefer to manage my own money instead of seeking someone for assistance. While it is true a financial advisor is skilled at providing advice for their clients, they can sometimes deceive you. I am not saying that all financial advisors are like that, but this may happen to some people. They might take your belongings behind your back. Though I am not an expert in financial activities, I am willing to learn how step by step.