The Stanford Anesthesia Summer Institute (SASI) helps high school and college students work toward meaningful careers in healthcare.
As a volunteer ski patrolman in the mountains near Lake Tahoe, Stanford Anesthesia Summer Institute (SASI) past participant Ryan Schmiesing encountered an injured skier with a broken clavicle, jumping into action. Applying the training he received in the outdoor emergency care course he took to qualify for ski patrol, he put her arm into a sling, strapped her into his toboggan, and skied her safely down the mountain for further care.
This experience was the first time the Mountain View, California, native directly cared for a patient, and he knew right away he didn’t want it to be the last. It’s a little nerve-wracking when you are on your own as a first responder, he says, adding, “But it also gives you a sense of pride and purpose.”
The senior at Archbishop Mitty High School in Mountain View had been leaning toward a career in health care for several years, but his experiences with patients as a ski patrolman solidified his interest. When Schmiesing learned that SASI included opportunities to more fully explore the patient-provider relationship — especially while working with an ePatient in a small-group capstone project — he decided to apply. “I realized, wow, this program offers a lot of experiences that people my age wouldn’t get otherwise,” he says…