Name Maggie Judd

Hometown Portland, Ore.

Undergrad University of Portland Class of 2014, BS in Biochemistry

Prior Healthcare Experience Clinic assistant and phlebotomist at ZoomCare. Health Education Volunteer in the Gambia, West Africa, with the Peace Corps focused on maternal and child health. Community Health Outreach Worker for a federally qualified health center in downtown Portland focused on primary care engagement and outreach. Later also worked as a clinic coordinator for an acute care clinic in a homeless day center, also in downtown Portland.

Favorite Place to Eat in Portland Stepping Stone Cafe in NW.

PA school in a pandemic is something I never considered when I was applying. It’s definitely not ideal but I think that both the school and my classmates have worked hard to make the best of it. Small group work has been really beneficial for me personally. It’s easier to make an online connection when the group is smaller and conversations feel more natural. Luckily, the program has presented a lot of opportunities for small group work, and people have been really committed to engaging in it. I’ve also been impressed to see how well our class has been able to bond virtually. Although it’s obviously different than being in person, there are definite similarities that are going to happen in any classroom. Another random thing I really enjoy (way more than I thought I would to be honest) about being online is choosing a background on Webex and seeing what other people choose as their own backgrounds. It’s the small things.

Overall I’ve learned you have to go easier on yourself and on other people. We are all in the weirdest situation and doing what we can. It can be easy when you’re sitting at your house to compare yourself to how other people are doing, which can be depressing and isolating. But the most important thing I’ve had to remind myself is that we are all struggling through this together. Some classes are harder than others online. But faculty members have been working on ways to engage us and to actually get us there in person (with mega PPE). It’s encouraging and makes me even more excited to get back to the majority being in person when we can.

Now that we are a little bit deeper into the school year, I’m very excited to finally start really delving into clinical medicine. Later on down the line, I can’t wait to start clinical rotations next year, with probable telemedicine included. Based on conversations with faculty and past students, I can’t wait to go on rotation to the Klamath Falls campus as well as many other rural Oregon locations. It’s going to be a great chance to explore other parts of the state where I’ve lived in my whole life, but to be honest not seen as much of it as I would like. I’m a big Oregon fan but I have so much more of it to explore and I really like that OHSU sends us all over the place.

I’m also stoked to spend time on the hill. I feel like I grew up at OHSU. My dad worked on the facilities management team for 15 years and I can’t count how many times I tagged along with him to work (even in the middle of the night)  just because I wanted to go to the hospital and see how it worked and what everyone was doing there. I also volunteered there in college and coordinated heavily with the social work teams for my last job before I started PA school. So I’ve spent a lot of time on the hill and the new waterfront campus but I’m excited to get there and see things from the provider point of view. I’ve seen the work that they do for so long and I’m excited to be a part of it.