Physician Assistant Leads Geneva Health Services
"You go with your strengths; it makes life a lot easier," says Geneva's new Director of Health Services, Beth Carlson, MPAS, PA-C. Her strength is the practice of medicine, and she's already making life much easier for Geneva students in need of healthcare.
Carlson started managing the infirmary and health services center at Geneva just about a month ago following the retirement of Nurse Connie Erwin, who served students for more than three decades. Carlson, who has already seen dozens of patients, is grateful for the opportunity to take care of college students' health needs while they are on campus.
"When I read the job description to my husband, he said, ‘Beth, that's your resume,'" she recalls. "It's administrative; it's patient care; it's mentoring college students… This is all of my experiences and career put together in one." She is loving the Christian environment at Geneva after spending the last 18 years as a physician assistant in a secular setting. "We pray before meetings," she gushes.
Running a health clinic for humans was not Carlson's original dream. As a woman raised on the family farm near Mercer, PA, she set out to become a big animal vet at Gannon University. At the time, her advisor recommended she move out of farm veterinary studies because he believed old-school farmers might be resistant to a female vet taking care of their animals. He convinced her, instead, to change her major to medical technology. In a move she doesn't regret, she transferred to Thiel College and began working in the lab. This experience led her to managing a lab for a physician’s office for a number of years. She then decided to continue her education and career as a physician assistant and became a married 28-year old student with a one-year old son.
After receiving her Master of Physician Assistant Studies from Chatham University in Pittsburgh, Carlson joined the faculty there as an adjunct instructor teaching courses on laboratory testing, immunology and the practices of labs.
“It's administrative; it's patient care; it's mentoring college students… This is all of my experiences and career put together in one.” ― Beth Carlson, Geneva Director of Health Services
In Carlson's most recent role with Heritage Valley Medical Group under Stephen J. Osmanski, MD, she had a patient roster of 1,800. While she will miss these patients, she is delighted by the opportunities available in the Nave Infirmary.
There is no charge to students for routine services provided by the infirmary. "I was amazed when they told me this is a free service to the students," she explains. "In my world, you have to see so many patients a day to cover your overhead."
Carlson has big plans for her directorship of the center. For starters, she is setting up a lab with hopes to upgrade Geneva's infirmary to an urgent care service setting and to offer daily services to students. She also hopes to introduce patient electronic health records (EHR) for continuous improvement in safety, effectiveness, patient-centeredness, communication, education, timeliness, efficiency and equity.
She is looking forward to, once again, serving and working with college students, a population she had the opportunity to experience while an instructor at the Community College of Beaver County, Butler County Community College and Chatham.
As a PA, Carlson must work under the authority of a physician. Her physician is Jason A. Rodriguez, M.D and she is also linked to Dr. Osmanski. Although there were a lot of requirements to managing her PA assignment to Geneva, she says, "(God) opened every door for me to be here, so we're going to just keep on rolling."
Not only is Carlson’s heart a fertile place for the care of college students, she holds a special place there for the people she serves through medical missions in the Dominican Republic. She completed her fourth trip there this past January and hopes to continue going as often as possible.
The Health Services Center / Nave Infirmary is open Monday through Friday, from 7:30 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. for walk in visits. It is located in the lower level of McKee Hall. The main entrance is at the north end of the building.
From the Geneva Blog: 10 Ways to Use a B.A. in Biblical Studies
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