Alison Streeter: Changing Lives. . . Even When It's Your Own

On the Building Bridges podcast from Butler University’s Doctor of Medical Science (DMS) Bridge Program, Adrian Banning interviews alumnus Dr. Alison Streeter, now a night-shift inpatient hospitalist PA, about the steep learning curve, higher stakes, self-doubt, and balancing autonomy with team support while doing cross-cover and admissions. Streeter describes prior careers in adolescent behavioral health (school counseling/therapy and administration at a boarding school) and nonprofit performing arts leadership, then a COVID-era pivot into PA training after retaking prerequisites and discovering online learning. She explains how the DMS Bridge program fit her credentialing timeline and expanded her systems and safety perspective beyond patient-level care. Streeter reflects on self-care, comfort with uncertainty, using repetition to learn (including AI-generated mock admissions), and interests in peer support, arts-in-medicine initiatives, precepting, and future PA education.

Transcript

Adrian 0:10

Hi there. This is the Building Bridges podcast brought to you by the Butler University Doctor of Medical Science Bridge Program, and today our very special guest is Dr. Allison Streeter, who is an alumni of the program and is now practicing hospital medicine. Allison has so much to talk to us about and not just the transition from. Doctoral student to practicing pa. So we hope you like what comes next. Allison, you have, I've never once interacted with you when you didn't come prepared the way that you were supposed to be enthusiastic, like covering all the details. Hi, I love

Alison Streeter 0:47

Hello. Good to see you.

Adrian 0:50

You too. How's everything going?

Alison Streeter 0:52

Things are going well. It's it's definitely been an interesting transition from student to practicing pa, but it's, it's gone well.

Adrian 1:02

Say more, this is not the

Alison Streeter 1:04

So

Adrian 1:05

Like you've been a student before and you've been a professional before. This isn't the first time you like have just not been a student, but

Alison Streeter 1:11

That's correct. That is correct. I think what's different this time around is I, everyone had said that there will be a a, a steep learning curve and.

Adrian 1:23

Yeah.

Alison Streeter 1:25

I perhaps underestimated how steep that learning curve would be. And yeah, and, and it's not a bad thing. I enjoy learning. We're all lifelong learners and that's something I really enjoy. But it is, it, it has been different. It has been challenging and has pushed me in ways that I was not anticipating. I think, I think the stakes are a little higher in this job perhaps than it's of the other jobs I've had. Yeah. For sure. So yeah, it's been, it's, it's been a, a difficult at times, four months. I have about one more week and then I will fly solo and I am just, I think starting to be on the other side of self-doubt. I'm sure it will creep back in at some point. That I'm, I'm feeling ready to go solo, I think.

Adrian 2:16

So, so much to unpack there. Yeah, I

Alison Streeter 2:19

No.

Adrian 2:19

think that just to comment on self-doubt, there's, there's a, I remember that time when you were like, Ooh, I've, I may have made a terrible mistake in this, and like, there's one person shouldn't have this responsibility, but you're not like, you're a team. But yet, let's be honest, many times it's totally on you. And then like you hope it doesn't ever totally go away because if you just know, feel like you are making the right decisions all the time, then. That sounds bad too, right? Like you

Alison Streeter 2:45

Hmm.

Adrian 2:45

this line between, feel confident, but I am still like aware that maybe I'm not right. That's a, that's a hard place to live. Right? It certainly doesn't do buts for self-esteem.

Alison Streeter 2:58

That's true. Yep. It is definitely taking me to be intentional with trusting myself, which I don't wanna turn this into a therapy session, but that is a difficult, that's a difficult thing to do sometimes.

Adrian 3:10

Yeah. Yeah, I

Alison Streeter 3:11

I.

Adrian 3:11

exactly what you mean that, yeah.

Alison Streeter 3:13

Yes.

Adrian 3:14

So while you speaking on behalf of your employer, and nothing that you say is medical advice, it doesn't represent them in any way at all. You're just talking about your own experience. You're doing. Hospitalist, inpatient hospitalist medicine. And you're on the night shift?

Alison Streeter 3:30

Correct, yes. I was trained on day shift, and then I made the switch to nights about one month ago.

Adrian 3:37

Okay. Yeah. when you were a student in the doctoral program at Butler in the DMS Bridge program, I remember talking about this option with you and like, oh, nights like. you have to like, don't wanna sway you? And you were like, no, I've got it. Like it's a great gig. It's what I want. Yeah. I get that. Nights aren't great but, and still.

Alison Streeter 4:01

Yes, yes. So I really, I do like the nighttime environment. I like the autonomy I have with a layer of support. So in my particular workspace, I am working with, three or four other PAs and nps. And then we also have two to three attendings on at night. So there are lots of resources. Of course things can get busy and we can all be a little frenetic at times, but it feels like a good balance of autonomy and a safety net. And teamwork. I definitely enjoy that. I am doing both cross cover and admissions. It's exercising a few different parts of my brain. I tend to be a pretty social person, so I am always happy to go to bedside, maybe, probably more than I should. When something comes up overnight, but I'll, I'll learn that as things go along. But I think one of the things I'm enjoying the most about my position right now is I do feel like I am making a difference. I do feel like my patients need a little extra handholding. They're scared, especially if they're not feeling well overnight and all they wanna do is sleep. So it's, it's been nice.

Adrian 5:10

Yeah, right. No one wants to stay overnight in the hospital for the most part. And I can imagine you being there would be really comforting knowing you

Alison Streeter 5:18

Aw, thank you.

Adrian 5:19

I'm sure you are making a big difference there. Like you said, you knew what you were getting into, into, and yet like the difference between like the theory of something and then doing it, there are different things, right? Just like PA school, you, you know, it's gonna be hard and then you do it and you're like, oh, that wasn't what I thought it was. Even though some of the things are right. But you're, this is your second career.

Alison Streeter 5:41

This is second, maybe even third career. I joke, I joke that I get bored easily. So my, my first official career was in adolescent behavioral health. So I, I got a Master's of Education in. Yeah, Yeah, I got a Master's of education in school counseling and had envisioned working in a public school. I ended up working in a private school with high school age students and I was a, a therapist and then became an administrator there. I worked at that school for 12 years and then had midlife crisis number one and decided.

Adrian 6:21

Foreshadowing.

Alison Streeter 6:23

Yes. Decided to leave to leave that and go into nonprofit performing arts, which seems like a very bizarre turn until you realize that actually in undergrad I started out as a double major in vocal performance and chemistry. So I've always kind of had the weird art science thing going on.

Adrian 6:44

Uhhuh. And so were like not a guidance counselor, or were you a guidance counselor?

Alison Streeter 6:52

It was more of doing individual and family therapy. And then as our school evolved, I helped open up our alumni department which we followed our graduates for a year after they left our school to try to get them tied in with local resources, whether that was, college clubs, sports teams, nutritionists aa, pretty much whatever they needed to help them make the transition from small insulated boarding school to large public university or wherever they landed.

Adrian 7:24

I was just gonna say that once you said like, alumni was like, wait, this is high school. Okay. This must have been a fancy high school. Okay. It was a boarding

Alison Streeter 7:30

Mm-hmm.

Adrian 7:31

Okay. And so they had therapists on staff, like you were someone's therapist,

Alison Streeter 7:34

Correct.

Adrian 7:36

and then you were like, okay, that, must have been, like you just said, the stakes are really high. As a pa, that must have been high pressure and very stressful at times.

Alison Streeter 7:44

It was, it's a different kind of stress, I think, because, you know, and it's interesting. As I think back, I do remember being nervous fresh in my career in that position. Maybe I was just younger and not didn't realize how big of a deal it was. Maybe compared to now, I don't know.

Adrian 8:04

I love being oblivious. It's the least stressful

Alison Streeter 8:08

Right?

Adrian 8:09

but it's not something that I get. I don't know if you're oblivious, you don't know, but I love when I'm oblivious.

Alison Streeter 8:15

Yes.

Adrian 8:16

And it came with you with a lot, like, I don't

Alison Streeter 8:18

Mm-hmm.

Adrian 8:19

Oh, looking back like that could have gone wrong. Ooh, glad I didn't think about it then. But then, okay. Nonprofit also not a low stress job, especially for the arts, and I just love that you're a singer. so a whole different career change. And then how long were you doing that?

Alison Streeter 8:38

So I did that for about eight years. I, was a managing director of a community arts center in a very small town in Virginia. I had been attached to the community arts center as a volunteer. I did some performing there, and then the opportunity came to become their managing director. And I took it. I left my school and did that. I did it for about a year. I realized it was not for me. I think I was a little too personally attached and a lot of my job involved fundraising, which was very difficult to do in a small town. There were not, big corporate sponsors and things like that, like you have in a larger metropolitan area. So it was really tough. It was fulfilling, but and then I also found myself on a steep learning curve in a totally different setting, learning about facilities management and elevators and preventative maintenance contracts and things that that I. Did not particularly have a passion for. So I, yeah. So after about a a year there, I ended up moving down to Georgia. A friend of mine had started a nonprofit down here, a performing arts kind of afterschool weekend academy, and I volunteered there and then later became their office manager. Grant writer taught voice lessons, did college counseling, was basically just a freelance person for about about eight years. And then COVID hit and I will say midlife crisis number two happened. And and hopefully the last one we'll see yet to be determined. Yeah.

Adrian 10:20

So there, okay. I can see the transition. a counselor high school, you have this performing arts background. It's time to kind of switch something. After 12 years, it's time to switch. What was it about COVID that said, oh, alright, we're not performing publicly. Right. Performing on Zoom. Everyone tried it. People had varying levels of success. Was that it Just that like it stopped?

Alison Streeter 10:47

I was fortunate to be able to work through COVID, but being in the performing arts sector, I saw a lot of people having to change careers completely,

Adrian 10:57

Yeah.

Alison Streeter 10:59

realtors, going back to school just completely changing, and at the time. Cov COVID in general just hit me really hard on an EM emotional level. Just seeing lack of access to healthcare, seeing riots that were happening in my city related to officer involved shootings, and I just kind of felt this pool to be of service in a different way. I wasn't really sure. What that would look like. But then a little voice in the back of my head reminded me that there was this thing called becoming a physician. We were called physician assistants back then. Now physician associate.

Adrian 11:39

Oh, so

Alison Streeter 11:40

Yes. I it was a career path I had considered about 15 years ago, but at that point I was kind of. Up and coming in my career as the therapist and going into administration and it didn't make a lot of sense to me at that time to switch careers. But I don't know, something happened over COVID that gave me the courage to try this new thing. I think also, and this may be too much information, but I was going through menopause. I know I know I was going. Yes, I was going through menopause and I think the reality of I am not going to have a child, of my own at least through natural birth. Maybe I'll adopt at some point, but just thinking I can afford to take a financial risk right now that I didn't feel comfortable taking 12 years prior because I really, I don't necessarily need to worry about my own child and setting up their financial future. So I think it just gave me a little more courage to just try something completely different and I. Had to retake all of my prereqs

Adrian 12:48

Ah.

Alison Streeter 12:48

because Yeah. So I was,

Adrian 12:52

been a chem minor, it's be, they were all outdated for the

Alison Streeter 12:55

they were out.

Adrian 12:56

to.

Alison Streeter 12:57

Yeah. And it, I, I. In my type A way made a spreadsheet of all of the different prerequisites I would need for the programs I was interested in. Some, some had a time limit, others did not. So I decided that the safest thing would be to just retake them all, not knowing. How my application would be perceived, not knowing where I would get an interview. So I started off with good old Bio 1 0 1 and statistics for the third time and college algebra and, and all of those things. And interestingly, it's just funny how things turned out because we were in the COVID times. All of those classes were online.

Adrian 13:36

Yeah.

Alison Streeter 13:36

When I was an undergrad, internet was just happening, so I had never been an online student. Yeah, so I wasn't really sure. How would b to be back in school, let alone online. And I learned that. I loved it. I loved the self pacing. Yeah, I liked learning. I liked the self pace of it. I ended up in a hybrid PA school, which I would've never entertained had I not had online pre-reqs. So it's just kind of funny how, how life has a way of shining a light where you're supposed to be. I.

Adrian 14:15

Yeah, I guess like if you're listening, I've heard another person who went to a hybrid PA school say that that was just the right fit. who was also a student in the Butler DMS Bridge program to say like, look, I'd had this other life. I had things going on for you. You had to do COVID online classes, but then you were like, wait, this works for me. but then also then

Alison Streeter 14:37

Hold.

Adrian 14:38

feeling that it was okay then to pursue that doctoral degree right after

Alison Streeter 14:43

Yes,

Adrian 14:44

Hmm.

Alison Streeter 14:44

which was a perfect, perfect timing wise. It, it just so happened I had gotten a job offer, I think it was early July maybe just, I think within a week or two after the, the DMS program began for me and just. How credentialing worked in that particular health system. I could not start until December 1st, so it was a perfect time period for me to finish my doctorate and yeah, it just worked out great.

Adrian 15:12

Because you were in the program from summer through fall.

Alison Streeter 15:16

Correct.

Adrian 15:17

Yeah. So it started like end of June, early July, and then you ended up finishing what, like would it have been the end of the fall term, like right around December? Did you

Alison Streeter 15:28

It was,

Adrian 15:29

A little

Alison Streeter 15:30

I owe a very, I think I had, I finished my capstone paper before I worked. I think the only thing I had to do was my the video presentation. Yeah, that was it. So

Adrian 15:41

just done, it literally worked out perfectly for you. Like it

Alison Streeter 15:44

perfectly.

Adrian 15:46

Oh, I love that. But so you had all these different lives and I remember when we met, you were like, I just got back from a cross country trip, me and my dog, and like we just drove across the whole country and like went to national parks. you would already come in like a trailblazer, like. Ready to go. And I also remember that you were on the, sorry, were you the student rep for PAEA Board of directors?

Alison Streeter 16:12

I was, you are not making that up. I was, I was very privileged to serve for two years in that role. My term just expired in December, 2025, and that was again, kind of a. I think just being vulnerable and letting opportunities speak to me. Kind of a situation. My advisor in PA school was very involved in PA a EA and there was a student interest group about PA education and I thought, oh, I'll go to the meeting. I. And it just so happened that our very first guest was the student member at Large Cassidy McCamus at the time, and she told us about her role and what PAEA was, and I got very excited and decided to apply and was fortunate to get the position.

Adrian 17:03

Okay, so you're just someone who jumps in with both feet is what I think we have to accept.

Alison Streeter 17:09

I think so. I think it's the curse slash blessing of being an only child and having to create fun.

Adrian 17:16

like just do it like, just see like, yeah, I can do it.

Alison Streeter 17:19

Yeah.

Adrian 17:19

And then if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. But yet with all of this. Which is one heck of an impressive resume. Before we started recording, you had said, you know, I think I've learned a lot about myself between PA school and starting this job, and I was like, what else could you have? like what else was there to know When you've done so many things, had like such a, a wide array and seem to already know things about yourself, especially in like making these decisions like this, choice is for me, this isn't for me. I would love to hear what you feel like you've learned about yourself and also congratulations like to have that growth mindset that you're learning and growing. Analyzing what, what an inspiration, but please, please tell me, drop the knowledge.

Alison Streeter 18:06

Oh gosh. It's evolving and, and I will say some of this is relearning as well. Self-care is huge. It is something I have struggled with always. I am a person who jumps in with, with both feet. So sometimes that can look like. Being a workaholic, sometimes that can look like binging on unhealthy food. Sometimes that can look like exercising to excess and deciding I wanted to be a runner and then ran three half marathons and injured myself. So those are all, all things I have done. So no, no, no, no, no. This was prior. No, No, no. Goodness. No.

Adrian 18:45

Okay. Okay.

Alison Streeter 18:47

Just a long, just a long life. But since December switching to nights, having to learn a different way of self-care, something as simple as do I work out before work or after work? For me, I've learned it's better to do it before work. It gets my energy up and then I can sleep better after work. It means. Also being okay with the answer. I don't know if an attending is asking me something about a patient I'm admitting It's very difficult for me to sometimes admit that I don't know something. I, I don't, I, I feel, I don't, no one ever wants to feel less than and. None of my attendings have made me feel that way. It's completely self-imposed, but I'm learning to be more comfortable in the unknown. And like pressing pause, I'm not sure. Let me look that up or let me review and I'll get back to you. Dealing with brain fog, I have always considered myself. Able to multitask pretty effectively. Something about I, I think it's probably the night schedule and just getting my body used to that. I will have moments where I cannot recall the information. I don't know if that's being a 50-year-old or working at night or what the situation is, but it's so frustrating. So learning how to fight through that how to. Take a walk when I'm feeling a little fatigued or do some jumping jacks or just something to literally get the blood flowing again so my mind will fire. Like I, I want it to. So I, yeah, I think in general, just being more comfortable with discomfort, which sounds very, whatever, but it's, it's, I've had to really learn and lean into that over the past four months.

Adrian 20:35

Yeah, comfort with ambiguity is a big one, and. It's another growth period, right? Like when you started PA school, I'm sure there was lots of times where you were uncomfortable and you just, you keep going from being like at the top of your game to like being a beginner again. And then when you're at the beginner again, it just feels gross. Like it, it doesn't feel good to like. be good at stuff, you know, when you had just been really good at something and that it

Alison Streeter 21:00

Yep.

Adrian 21:01

really good. And I, I hear what you're saying there. You've done this time and time again, and it sounds like this time was a real like, yep, here we are again. And this time you, you really need to put the self-care into play. Was that something like, had you been. More balanced with self care at other times, and then realize that, that at the beginning here of this PA career, things were like, the wheels were coming off. Or did you just say, Hey, before it happens?

Alison Streeter 21:27

It's, it's always been a struggle for me. The self care component. It has ebbed and flowed. I think kind of every new environment I en enter into, I. I kind of have to reinvent how I'm going to take care of myself or adapt to that particular environment. PA school was, was a just completely different schedule. I'm trying to have more fun now and travel and do things I was not able to do during PA school.

Adrian 21:55

Yeah.

Alison Streeter 21:56

so it's just been a different schedule that I've had to adjust and, but really going back to the basics of things that worked for me in the past, like batch cooking and meal prepping and all of those things really, really do help. Study skills that I learned in PA school. I've applied to the work environment. Meaning like after I research a topic the next day, kind of going home and writing my own notes, doing sketching diagrams or whatever I need to do to, to try to solidify that into my memory. I think, I think what's difficult about PA school, one of the many things is. Because, because we learn a little about a lot you don't get as many repetitions for each disease process,

Adrian 22:45

Right. Yeah.

Alison Streeter 22:47

and that's challenging. I. I definitely learned through repetition. So it will take me a few times admitting for a certain a certain illness to really be able to kind of get that on autopilot. So I think that. And you can't really replicate repetitions outside of work. I actually use Chad GPT to say, give me a patient presentation. Like somebody that's in the ER needs to be admitted and just give me fake labs. Give me whatever, just so I can practice that decision making on my own to get those repetitions in. But it's, it's cha I know 'cause I'm the, I'm a nerd, you know,

Adrian 23:28

I hope that students are listening and using it in this way and not the way that like we hope they're not using it. But

Alison Streeter 23:34

Yeah.

Adrian 23:34

right now you basically just wrote a paper for like application of AI use in PA education. You know, a curricular interventions,

Alison Streeter 23:41

Mm-hmm.

Adrian 23:42

right there off the top of your head, like, yeah, we can be using AI to make up cases, but you're doing it not because someone's forcing you to, but like for your own benefit and that's

Alison Streeter 23:49

And I, I couldn't find, I guess if there are any app developers out there, I couldn't find a simulation for doing hospital admissions. So I'm like, well, maybe chat G-P-G-P-T can help. And it, and it did. And I work with, I work with residents and attendings, and I find myself sometimes jealous of the residents that they got three more years of repetitions than I did. But then at the same time, I'm grateful that I didn't have to be in school for that much longer and have all those additional student loans. But it is, it's, it's tricky and it's something that I think you just have to be motivated to, to put in the work outside of paid work hours to be able to feel more comfortable in the setting.

Adrian 24:31

Yeah. Right. Yeah. To be responsible. What? What an inspiration. That's incredible. As you are thinking these things like. When do you literally come to these reflections? Like is it just kind of random, you're driving home, or you're taking the dog for a walk and you're like, do you know what I, I'm gonna batch cook again? Or do you like set aside time for reflection and self-development?

Alison Streeter 24:57

A little bit of both. I, I do some of my best thinking in the shower, I think.

Adrian 25:02

shower, everyone. I don't know why we're not capitalizing on this. Everyone's coming up with genius ideas in the shower.

Alison Streeter 25:10

The shower. When I'm trying to fall asleep and my mind is racing,

Adrian 25:15

Mm-hmm.

Alison Streeter 25:17

Ideas come to me. Then I would like to say I'm that person who sets aside time for some mindfulness every day and self-reflection. I, I go in and out of that habit. I have not been doing that lately.

Adrian 25:31

Same. I just was hoping you'd tell me the secret. I can't buy one more journal. I, I know that it's good for me when I talk something out or like when I write something down, I just can't get into the habit like. I still feel like so awkward about going back to reflective writing like I did when I was a little kid. Did you ever write something when you're a little kid and go back to it and you're like, look at this dumb dumb, like, what was she

Alison Streeter 25:54

Yes, yes.

Adrian 25:55

feel like that way from like yesterday, if I write something and then I look back, I'm like, Ugh, cringe. but yet, do you know what I, I find though that in these conversations like this, or I have a friend who lives abroad and we voice memo back and forth. so it's almost like a verbal. audio diary and I can't tell you how many times I've been talking to her, like recording something to send to her and I was like, oh, actually I think I just figured it out. Like, or as I'm saying it out loud, this's the first time I'm saying that and you're like, God, just to process it with someone a little bit and you seem so self actualized. I was like, I bet you have a secret. Like yes, I wake up and then I brush, squeeze my orange juice and then I

Alison Streeter 26:34

Oh gosh.

Adrian 26:35

you're a normal person too.

Alison Streeter 26:37

I am yeah, far from self-actualized. I feel like I'm a 21-year-old half the time just in the way I flit about, from topic to topic. No offense to 21 year olds, but I will also say I talked to my mom quite a bit and things. It's just actually just like when I was in middle school, I have vivid memories being stuck on a math problem, sitting down with my mom to study, asking for her help, and she would say, I don't know how to help you. But in the, in the process of. Telling her about the problem, I would figure it out. And that still happens to this day. She sometimes has different ideas and we brainstorm, but oftentimes I similar to, to your friend, just explaining yourself, sometimes the answers reveal themselves.

Adrian 27:24

Yeah.

Alison Streeter 27:25

I.

Adrian 27:25

And the amount of times where I'm like, oh, it's me. I gotta, my role in this? I mean, not always, but that's something I think that came with age too. Like yeah, let me like responsibility for my part and whatever is good, good, bad, but also I have to start thinking about good, like this turned out well. Like what is it that I did that helped make, that turned out, turn

Alison Streeter 27:48

Hmm.

Adrian 27:49

Which I hope that you do too. Oh my gosh, I can't wait to touch base with you again in a couple more months and see like it's only months in and that's so soon. then, I mean, a year is still new. I my favorite boss. Right now I have one of my favorite bosses, but a different favorite boss had said that, you know, don't say whether you like this job or not until you've been here for like two years. And I was like, two, two years, sir. No, we are not. We are not. But he was actually right, like I needed like two years until I felt like I'd been around the block more than once. You know, it takes a long time. So I can't wait to hear how this is gonna go.

Alison Streeter 28:30

I can't either. It's, it's interesting, even just to think back to December and how long it took me to find things in our in Epic is what our health system uses and just trying to order labs and trying to figure out how to prescribe things and just the mechanics of getting through. The the electronic health records and now that seems much more automatic. I'm like, okay, that was only four months ago, so I got this. It's okay. I am making progress.

Adrian 28:59

do you feel like you have any sense of like a two year, a five year plan, like aspirations for what comes next career wise, even though you're just getting settled into this?

Alison Streeter 29:10

Honestly, like right now, my, my main focus has been on trying to become the best clinician I can be.

Adrian 29:18

Yeah.

Alison Streeter 29:18

said, I have, Done a few extracurricular things. We have a, a brand new program that unfortunately, I can't remember the name of it, but it has to do with flourishing. And we had a meeting and a big kind of mini concert that was. a. Art and medicine related. So they put, we did, yes. So they had a call out to staff and faculty to present and bring in pieces of visual art, sculpture. There was a little concert. There were instrumentalists, dancers, singers. There was a small choir. I joined the choir and during the rehearsal. During the rehearsal kind of got strong armed into singing a solo at the inaugural concert. So,

Adrian 30:09

No one

Alison Streeter 30:10

you know,

Adrian 30:10

course you did. Also,

Alison Streeter 30:12

that happened.

Adrian 30:13

Allison, like I recognize that you had to have been good enough to get into a performing like program as an undergrad and, and keep that. I mean, that's a long time ago, so you're still good.

Alison Streeter 30:23

It's.

Adrian 30:24

that is worth being said. Congratulations.

Alison Streeter 30:26

Thank you. Thank you. So that, that has been fun. We'll see where that goes. This was the first year of that program, so I would certainly love to be more involved in that. I was also able to train as a peer support. Again, through this department of flourishing, they have, it does tend to be like MDs that support MDs. It's a just a peer professional support. If somebody is going through a hard time professionally or you lost a patient. We had a, a staff member who passed away recently and this group came around. Thank you. I, I did not know her. But to have to have peers that they're not formal. Therapists, but they are there just to offer that peer support. So it's been a, a and I don't say this lightly, a, a true blessing to, to have landed in a place where I can learn the medicine, incorporate some of my prior counseling background, incorporate some of my prior arts background, and I hope to. To be able to precept soon. I wanna feel a little bit more confident in what I'm doing, but I would love to precept. I would love to potentially be an adjunct professor at some point. Go into PA education. I don't know. Exactly what that will look like. I have not been as active in the advocacy and education space as I've been transitioning into to full-time practice. I know that will come. So we'll see. I,

Adrian 31:58

Oh my

Alison Streeter 31:59

I don't know. I.

Adrian 32:00

I had no idea that you were doing these other things. But yeah, of course. How perfect like you are there in this peer space and in the art is medicine space and how nice. To have those things, to have an organization that's thinking about those things. And I mean, I think it seems pretty clear that you could move into those leadership areas as well. Like right now you're just dabbling in them, but you already have leadership in those, in those areas. Coincidentally, the PowerPoint that's up on another screen as I'm recording this is something for PA educators about the. The benefits of art in medicine and art in medical education, using art as a vehicle for learning about medicine, but also the benefits of art to health. Like literally when you engage with any type of art, it improves, I don't mean like mood, and so then your cortisol is lower. I mean like literally like cell counts, like lab values. There's tangible effects of it. I love that that's accessible to you. see it coming into patient care? This, because I'm, is this for the, the people who work at your organization or is it for patients?

Alison Streeter 33:14

This particular project was for people who work at the organization. I I do know, I do know that there are some other initiatives for patients. We have everything from therapy dogs to coloring books and puzzles and people reading books and things of that nature to patients. I, I don't know the specifics of this, but I, I do know that I, I live in Georgia and we have become the first state that is making funding available for arts. As medicine, so I'll be very curious to see how that plays out. I know Woodruff Arts Center, which they house the Alliance Theater and Atlanta Symphony, I've seen a few press briefings come out of there that they're really trying to formalize their programming. And again, I don't know what shape this will take, but to have state dollars available to further research and implement this is pretty exciting.

Adrian 34:06

That too, and I, I'm so glad to hear that you heard that. Also, Georgia in its progressiveness, I think, if I'm not mistaken, and I very much could be, I think is one of the states that offers tax incentives to precept, have I.

Alison Streeter 34:20

They do. They do.

Adrian 34:22

capstone?

Alison Streeter 34:24

It was part of it. I did look at yeah, I look at preceptors and kind of how can we recruit and retrain more preceptors for PA school.

Adrian 34:33

yeah. I'm remembering that in one of the classes you had to think of like three research question ideas, and all of a sudden I was like, oh, I think that's one of your research questions. But yeah, like way to go. Because obviously if you're a PA educator, if you've been in PA school, you know that not having enough clinical sites is a huge problem, but certainly not connecting with humanity and. And being able to receive the benefits of art, which that is what it is. Interpersonal connection and, and expression. a huge thing too. And you, I think you've got your finger on the pulse of like two very prescient and you have the skills and capability to, to make change, which is what you said one you've always wanted do, let's be honest here. And but then in,

Alison Streeter 35:11

Because.

Adrian 35:12

like you were like, Hey, we need some changes here and I can be part of the solution. And Allison, you. it like you're doing it. It's

Alison Streeter 35:20

It's, it's so funny to hear that. I don't, I, I feel, thank you, is what I need to say. I feel so lost in the muck and mire of the daily things that I forget to take a step back. So thank you. Thank you.

Adrian 35:37

amazing. I am. I'm glad to know you and that I got to meet you and I'm really glad that you came to talk to us today and reflect on some things. Thank you so much.

Alison Streeter 35:47

Oh, I'm so, so honored and just so happy to have been. Yeah, to this whole new life and the doctorate was not something I had initially thought of, and I ended up in a fabulous program. I do have to just say it was wonderful having you as a professor. I loved the program. I, yeah, just thought about things a little bit differently from a more systems approach. Coming outta PA school was very individualized and very much patient, patient care. And then the doctoral studies just really expanded that to help me look at things from a larger safety perspective and systems approach. And then certainly to get some better research fundamentals underneath.

Adrian 36:31

I'm so glad to hear that you had a great experience.

Alison Streeter 36:33

Mm-hmm. Absolutely.

Adrian 36:35

Amazing. This has been Allison Streeter, Allison, thanks again and I can't wait till we hear from you Next time.

Alison Streeter 36:42

Thank you. you. Thanks for inviting me to do this.