Gibson Calfee says he has lived his life by one motto. Hard work pays off.
It certainly has for Calfee. The 2017 Union County High School graduate will be graduating with honors from LMU this year with a bachelor’s degree in Biology, and a minor in chemistry and pre-med. He will begin the Physician Assistant program at Lincoln Memorial University in less than a month,
Calfee is the son of Matt and Bridget Calfee of Maynardville. He says he had planned to go into the medical field since entering college, but didn’t know exactly what that would look like.
“My cousin Jennifer Manaker was the first person to introduce me to the Physician Assistant profession,” said Calfee “She told me that the job was rewarding and very flexible in terms of not being stuck in one specialty for your entire career.”
Calfee says that the more he looked into the profession the more intrigued he became. He says his sophomore year of college was where he really began to put his nose to the grindstone and explore the profession.
“During the winter break of my sophomore year, I had the privilege to shadow Kenneth Nicely who is a physician assistant at Caring Medical Center in Maynardville, said Calfee. “I was able to follow Kenneth into patient appointments for a week and watch him in action.”
Calfee says the time was invaluable as he saw how Nicely assessed and interpreted x rays, performed in-office procedures such as using Co2 to freeze off skin polyps, and assess a patient who presented with ascites (excess buildup of fluid in the abdomen caused by a liver disease or by an infection), and many other illnesses.
“During my time with Kenneth, I was able to pick his mind about his process of diagnosing a patient and how he chose the right method to treat the patient,” said Calfee. “This was one of the primary experiences that made me realize this profession was the one for me.”
That same summer, Calfee obtained his Certified Nursing Assistant license.
“This helped me get my feet wet in the medical field and helped build my patient interaction skills.”
He said the job was rewarding and interesting in that he was able to see the progression of certain chronic conditions and how the symptoms played out. He acquired knowledge by seeing different types of medical conditions he had learned about in school, but had never witnessed in person.
“I was able to build upon and use my medical knowledge that I had learned in college by working closely with the nurses at the facilities where I was employed.”
He says the nurses were helpful and took time to answer any questions about a patient’s condition or about a certain medication that a patient was prescribed.
“One thing I loved about my time in the position was that I was learning relevant clinical knowledge that I will keep with me forever and use in my PA profession once I graduate,” said Calfee. “That job was one of the most rewarding not only because of the amazing clinical knowledge that I gained, but also because of the nurses and coworkers that I met along the way.”
Heading into the final month of his senior year at LMU, Calfee says he is excited to see what the future holds, and that he hasn’t finalized his exact career plans for the future yet.
“I have not made up my mind on a specific specialty. I am going into the PA program at LMU with an open mind. The second year of the program is the clinical year. Each month we will travel and work in a different specialty. That will allow me to explore the possibilities and decide which one is best for me.” said Calfee. “This will give me time to sample them all and then pursue the one I like the most.”