Utah Valley Regional Medical Center Emergency Department

Recently I was at a family gathering, and I was telling some of my cousins about all of the amazing experiences I’ve had while job shadowing a pharmacist in the Emergency Department at UVRMC. One of my cousins made a comment about how it was hard for her to believe that the girl sitting in front of her was the same girl who had passed out when she got her ears pierced. Looking back at who I was then and who I am now, I can easily see that she’s right.

When I started job shadowing in the ED, I was sixteen. Despite almost being through my Associates degree, I didn’t know which educational path I was going to pursue. I didn’t know where I was going to be in a year—which college, which major—let alone what job I was going to be doing in ten years. I was terrified of the future and everything that it held. I was mortified to make decisions about my future because I knew it would make me feel tied down and stuck in one career. I was scared I was going to have to settle into a profession or field that I hated.

Now, I know exactly what I want. I know who I am and where I’m going. Instead of looming uncertainty about my future, I see endless possibilities in a field I’ve fallen completely in love with. I know where I’ll be in a year, and while I don’t know exactly what job I’ll be working at in ten years, I know it’ll be one I love and am well trained to do.

It would be a lie if I said all the changes I’ve experienced are because I job shadowed. But a lot of them are because of the time I’ve spent in the Emergency Department. The ED was always something that I didn’t think I could do, and I definitely didn’t think I would like it, but since day one, I set out to prove to myself that I could thrive there, and I did. And pretty soon, existing in the ED wasn’t hard anymore—it was fun.

I’ve honestly never felt such a sense of belonging, outside the walls of my home, than I felt at the hospital. People there know and respect me. The ED staff would go out of their way to include me and make sure I had every learning experience possible. While I was there, I felt like a future medical professional, instead of a teenage girl who didn’t really know her place in the world.

Beyond that, I truly learned who I am as a person. I learned that I occasionally get queasy and dizzy in stressful situations. I learned that blood doesn’t bother me as much as the atmosphere in the room when a patient is fighting for their life. I learned that I don’t give up, and I fight for what I want, even if it’s hard or embarrassing or out of my comfort zone. I learned that I’m strong and smart and ready to enter the world as a professional.