News
PA Students Opportunity to Be Part of History
April 07, 2021
Each GVSU Physician Assistant student received an email from their professor, Dr. Theresa Bacon-Baguley GVSU’s Associate Dean of Research, for an opportunity to administer Covid-19 vaccinations at the Coopersville COVID-19 clinic on February 26, 2021.
Marisa Rogers, Rhiannon Cullip, and Morgan Scollard, PA students at the GVSU’s Traverse City Center, all jumped at the opportunity to be part of history and aid in administering Covid-19 vaccinations.
All expressed their level of excitement and nerves as they started preparing for their time in the clinic. They had completed an injections lab earlier in the semester and this was a major opportunity to put into practice a skill they had just learned. Each recalls their thoughts when signing up.
Morgan explained, “When I heard about the vaccinations I was really interested and excited to be involved to help bring light at the end of the tunnel.”
Rhiannon added, “It was the perfect opportunity and experience to be part of history and something I never envisioned doing. It’s been so hard for everyone and this was our time to get out in the community to help and get hands on experience.”
Marisa felt the same. She shared, “I felt similar, as soon as the email went out, I was really excited! It has been hard because all our classes have been on Zoom and we don’t have a lot of face-to-face contact. I was excited to get out into the community and help.”
As they reached their destination in Coopersville, MI they entered the middle school and did not waste any time getting to work. Dr. Theresa Bacon-Baguley was there to greet them, and they were eager to get started. She took them all to the back and introduced them to the pharmacists and they began reconstituting the vaccine.
They learned right there how to reconstitute the 2 step Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine. Rhiannon explained, “The vaccines came in a small vile. You take the saline solution, inject the vaccine vile and invert it. You are expected to get 6 vaccines into syringes. The process of mixing them together and preparing them felt a little stressful at first but the pharmacists were there and helped us through the process. It was very surreal to be learning on the fly.”
Marisa added, “It was really special to reconstitute the vaccines. Not many people get the opportunity to be behind the scenes, especially students…” Marisa continued, “The National Guard was also there and one of their members walked in and asked who could administer? I just went for it and raised my hand.”
Marisa was the first to administer a vaccine but all three eventually were able to as the day went on. Each of them experienced all 3 stations; reconstitute, administer, and observe patients to make sure all subjects were ok before leaving.
Rhiannon recalled, “it was a surreal experience and a learning curve. Our professor was there the entire time and every time I administered a vaccine I just got better. It was nice to have conversations with the community, everyone was grateful. It was just so surreal to talk to all these different people and give them a new shield of their own to fight this battle we are fighting.”
Marisa explained, “Halfway through they ran out of the needles that were needed and the new needles to use were too long requiring us to adjust the administration method. Big learning curve.”
Morgan shared, “It was an amazing experience to rotate between the three stations throughout the day. One of my favorite things was to see how comfortable we got after doing all three stations.
To add to the entire experience, they were able to administer a vaccine to each other. If there are leftover vaccines at the end of a clinic, they offer them to volunteers to limit wasted vaccines.
Morgan, Marissa, and Rhiannon wanted to give a special thanks to Dr. Theresa Bacon-Baguley. Each expressed how thankful they were to be given this opportunity and to have her go out of her way to guide them and allow them to fully take on this experience firsthand.
Dr. Theresa Bacon-Baguley commented, “They are very willing to step up to the plate and help out. I am not sure if everyone realizes that volunteering in this capacity is new to our students in the program. I am very proud of their willingness to get out of their comfort zone and participate in an opportunity to address this public health crisis. They will play a part in getting people back together and this is a great achievement.”
If you have any questions about the Physician Assistant program at GVSU’s Traverse City Regional Center, reach out to our staff at [email protected] and we are happy to answer any questions.