News
GVSU helps open doors for surgical first assistant
October 22, 2024
Torilyn Thiebaut began working as a surgical technician at age 19. Now seven years later, at age 26, Thiebaut is ready to climb the career ladder and Grand Valley State University will help her advance. Thiebaut earned an associate degree in surgical technology from Baker College in Cadillac. She quickly found a job at a surgical center in Traverse City and enjoyed the work: preparing sterile fields and passing equipment to surgeons. She later earned an advanced certificate to work as a surgical first assistant and suture and give injections to patients. “A surgeon will have either a first assistant or physician assistant to help in the operating room,” Thiebaut said. “That’s when I initially noticed the role of a PA in the operating room and became really interested in doing that.” Thiebaut transferred to Munson Medical Center, where she assisted in more complicated surgeries than the typical elective surgeries at the surgical center. And, she met more people who prompted and reinforced her decision to return to college and earn a bachelor’s degree. Yet, going back to college as an adult was nerve-wracking; “terrifying,” according to Thiebaut.
Ready to help ease her nerves and mind were plenty of helpful people at the Northwestern Michigan College University Center. There, Thiebaut discovered that GVSU’s Allied Health Sciences program would set her on a path to becoming a physician assistant. She found an accommodating schedule with classes that began at 6 p.m. “I could easily go to work, then go to class in the evenings,” she said. Thiebaut said she enjoyed both in-person and online classes. Jacquelyn Abeyta, assistant director of student engagement, was instrumental in helping Thiebaut choose classes and plan her degree progress. She will earn a bachelor’s degree in allied health sciences in the spring and plans to apply to Grand Valley’s Physician Assistant Studies.
“It’s exciting. I can see the finish line now,” Thiebaut said. Thiebaut said she drew on her community of supporters to help her manage work and classes. “People at work have given me great support. I really have an army of people behind me. You get really close to the surgeons you work with and they have given me the confidence that I can do this,” she said. When Thiebaut thinks ahead to working as a physician assistant, she said she is not entirely sure she wants to keep working in an operating room. “I love the OR but what I like about it is talking with the patients as they go to sleep. It’s the patient connections that I’ve grown to love,” she said.
By Michele Coffill