Nicolette Reilly '16 
Physician Assistant in Interventional Cardiology | Lenox Hill Hospital

It seems like it was just yesterday that I sat on the Lafayette Quad and said "goodbye" to the school that became my home for four years. As sad I was to leave the familiarity of the campus, my friends, and Campus Pizza, I knew it was time to enter a new period of my life that was closer to my future career. From 2016 to now, I worked toward my goal of becoming a physician assistant. In order to enter this highly competitive career path, I took the year after graduating Lafayette to increase my number of patient care hours. That year I worked full-time as a medical assistant in a primary care office near my hometown in New Jersey. This experience helped get my feet wet in the medical field. It was there that I became familiar with interpreting labs, communicating with patients, and learned more of the ins and outs of medicine. These hours, in addition to GPA, extracurricular and volunteer experience, all helped achieve my goal of getting into a PA school. I attended Hofstra's Physician Assistant Program from September 2017 to December 2019, where I graduated with a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies. I then passed my boards in January 2020. I currently work in New York City as a Physician Assistant in Interventional Cardiology at Lenox Hill Hospital.

My experiences at Lafayette as a student athlete have shaped me and helped me innumerable ways throughout my schooling and work life. In fact, my first experience with a PA was actually at Bailey Health Center on campus. I had not known what a PA did, or was, prior to attending college. Lafayette provided me the opportunity to shadow PAs through the externship programs in both NJ and Texas. These externships solidified my desire to pursue this field, as it showed me the opportunities PAs have in working in different medical specialties. My time as a student-athlete also taught me perseverance and time management skills. These skills were definitely utilized during PA school, when I would have three tests a week or during my time in clinicals, where I would work five 12-hour shifts a week. From my time balancing both sport and school, I learned how to plan ahead, how important it is to stay on top of my schoolwork and how to structure my days so that I could get studying done between practices and meets. Each day in college, practice was an outlet to do what I loved doing, but also be with my teammates and unwind, and I continued to keep this tradition throughout graduate school. I structured my days at Hofstra similar to that of undergrad, with a 4:30 p.m. run (our usual practice time). It might not have been the same as going out to Metzgar with my teammates, but still provided me with an opportunity to decompress from the long hours sitting in the classroom. This respite provided the ability to reset and be ready to tackle a long night of studying. I even resorted to listening to medical podcasts while running so that I could still study while relieving my stress.

In addition to teaching me how important it is to have an outlet, my time as a student-athlete taught me the importance of teamwork. In order for a team to be successful, each member must exhibit a positive attitude and maintain clear communication. Track and field and cross country are unique as they are both individual and team-based sports, much like my job now. Currently, I care for patients on my own, but as a PA I work as part of the healthcare team with nurses, doctors, social workers and other hospital staff. Throughout my years of being on a team, I learned to be open with my teammates and to keep a positive attitude, especially because each individual attitude can affect the entire team's dynamics. I continue to do this at my job. Without constant communication to nurses or the attending physician, my patient would not receive the most appropriate care. Finally, being part of cross country and track and field taught me the importance of being resilient. Running is extremely hard on your body. The cross country and track and field seasons last almost throughout the entire school year, not to mention summer training. These miles of pounding on your body can start to take a toll. I experienced many injuries throughout my time as a collegiate athlete, even some which ended my season. As frustrating and upsetting as these injuries would be in the moment, I learned that if running was something that I wanted to continue, I needed to adapt my training, continue to be there at practices for my team, and have courage to believe in myself that this setback would pass. This inner resilience that I developed throughout these setbacks shaped me into the person and healthcare provider that I am today.

My fortitude has definitely been tested in many ways the past few months. Following my graduation in December, I moved to NYC and was thrilled to finally live a life without school where I could work, enjoy, and explore the city on my days off. However, within a month of moving here, the bustling busy streets of NYC have emptied. My job started to change too. My three-week training in cardiology came to a halt when the pandemic started, and suddenly I was being trained to put on PPE and swab COVID patients. I was transitioned to the Internal Medicine floor with a whole new team of residents, doctors and PAs that would care for patients suffering from COVID-19. The working world that I imagined entering, was changing within the blink of an eye. I tried to keep an open mind, erase any presumptions I had about my time as a new NYC resident, and adapt to whatever changes were being thrown my way. I took each day at a time and accepted the opportunity provided to learn new skills in my job. But, I was definitely afraid. Me, a new PA-C, on the front lines fighting a global pandemic? I felt honored to be able to help, but also a bit in over my head. Luckily, being fresh out of school and studying for boards, I felt malleable and was able to just go with the flow each day. I was happy to continue to help my patients, which is why I wanted to be a PA in the first place. I have learned so much about myself and medicine during these unfortunate times.

Despite all the changes, I tried to keep some sense of normalcy in my daily life to be able to get through it. I continue to run (even with a mask on). I FaceTime my family, friends and loved ones often. Work actually has been a place that I feel most normal because I am still caring for patients in my job, plus I am able to socialize with coworkers. The biggest thing that has helped me during this time has been to change my perspective on the situation. Instead of being sad that I could not hang out with friends, explore NYC, or go home to NJ, I began to appreciate how lucky I am to be able to help and to use the time not spent working to decompress. Quarantine has finally given me downtime that I haven't had in many years because of all my schooling. Finally, I can get back to really enjoying running, reading, watching Netflix and baking/cooking. 

My most important advice is to accept that you may not be able to control what is happening, but you can always change your perspective on the situation. The pandemic means the world is in constant flux right now, and it is definitely a scary time for all. However, it won't be like this forever. Focus on what you can control. Take it day by day, be present in the moment, and take each day as an opportunity to learn something new. Always wanted to take on painting? Try it. Read that book that is collecting dust on your nightstand. Work on improving your 5k time or bake something for someone's birthday. Redirect yourself to address things you have always wanted to do! It makes the time go by fast and you'll start to learn things about yourself that will surprise you.  I also remind myself that this pandemic is not a permanent situation; it's TEMPORARY. 

It's a good time to check in with your mental health, accept whatever you may be feeling, and reach out to those you love. Ground yourself by expressing gratitude for what you have and those working hard to find a solution during this time. Most importantly, reach out to others. Humans thrive on personal connection and during this time that we are each so isolated, a little connection goes a long way. I would definitely not have been able to be sane without the constant talks to my family and friends. Simply reach out to anyone that you know or suspect may be struggling during this time - whether it be a grandparent that has been alone and not able to leave the house or an old teammate that you haven't spoken to in a few years.

My hospital would play the song Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles every time a COVID-19 patient was discharged or extubated (taken off the ventilator). Towards the end of April, this song played over the loudspeaker multiple times a day, which was a great indicator of brighter days ahead. Remember that tough times, like rain, do not last forever and the sun will shine soon. Find your inner resilience and you might find that you are stronger than you realize for whatever storm comes your way.
 
Nicolette Reilly was a three-year member of the Lafayette cross country and track and field team. She ran the 5k in both indoor and outdoor track. She graduated with a degree in Biology.