For my job shadow, I went to a dermatology office called Woseth Dermatology.

I
shadowed one of their PAs, Shane Farr. I decided to shadow Shane because he is an old family
friend. I also decided to shadow him because I want to go into the medical field and being a
physician’s assistant is something I am interested in. Shane first started as a medical assistant
at Woseth Dermatology. He had to leave and go to Idaho for PA school. When he moved back,
they had built the new facility and offered him a job there.
Woseth Dermatology is a new facility in Draper. Shane is one of the PAs that works
there. While I was there, two PAs and three medical assistants were on shift. The medical
assistants would go get the patients and take them to their rooms, talk to the patient to get a
basic idea of what was going on, and then come out and get the PA. The medical assistant
would then give all the information they just got from the patient to the PA. Then, the PA would
enter the room and start helping the patient. The medical assistant would stand off to the side
and fill out most of the paperwork needed on an iPad while the PA was helping the patient.
The working atmosphere was awesome. I really liked it there. Everyone was really kind
to each other and they helped each other out. For example, the day I was there was a busy day
and the medical assistants were really stressed because they have to get the patient, and clean
the rooms after the patients leave. The PA’s do not have to help them clean the rooms, but
Shane saw how busy and stressed they were and decided he would help them out. If he saw a
room that needed to be cleaned, he would go in and clean it for them. This helped out the
medical assistants a lot and they were very appreciative. I thought that was really awesome of
him to do, and taught me that no matter my position, I am never above any part of the job.
While I shadowed Shane, I learned a lot about the way you should treat a patient. Every
time we entered a room, Shane would shake the patient’s hand and then would shake everyone
else’s hand, no matter how old they were. Shane always gave the patient full eye contact. He
wanted them to know he was listening to what they had to say. He always tried his best to make
the patient feel heard and to make them feel comfortable and safe with him. When he would
diagnose something, he would explain in full detail what was happening to their skin. He would
also give as many treatment options as possible so the patient could choose what they felt most
comfortable with.
Doing this job shadow helped me learn a lot and was a great experience. I am glad I had
the opportunity to go and learn from Shane. I was able to learn some important lessons early
that will be useful to me in my future career. I had a lot of fun and this experience has made me
excited to, one day, work in the medical field.