The document summarizes interviews with two physician assistants, Ryan Szenderski and Ryan Roth. Both attended the University of Toledo Medical College and now work in privately owned practices that offer various medical services. Szenderski works in a family medicine office seeing patients of all ages. Roth works in an orthopedics department at an urgent care center attached to a hospital. Through the interviews, the author learned about the daily responsibilities and duties of a physician assistant, such as seeing many patients each week and doing work comparable to a doctor's. Both physician assistants expressed enjoying their careers and finding the work rewarding.

1. Frank Veres<br />Sci-Tech writing<br />Interviews<br />March 17, 2011<br />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. <br />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. <br />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.<br />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. <br />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. <br />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. <br />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. <br />