Perspectives Spring 2015

PERSPECTIVES • SPRING 2015 17 ANESTHESIOLOGIST ASSISTANT Tampa A brilliant idea backed by motiva- tion is all that is necessary to alter the trajectory of future opportunity. Spurred by a visit to the University of South Florida (USF) to offer an in- formative guest lecture to students tak- ing an Introduction to Health Sciences course in the fall of 2013, the idea for the profession’s first Pre-Anesthesiolo- gist Assistant (AA) Club was born. Im- mediately following the lecture, one student sought further information from the presenters that would solidify her desire to ensure the development and successful implementation of the first pre-AA club. With a mission in mind, this student set out to give to others the same excit- ing and potentially life-changing infor- mation that was offered to her and more than 200 of her classmates. The Pre-AA Club blossomed from the vision of USF student Marissa Kearney and her collaboration with Robert Wagner, M.M.Sc., chair, Department of Anes- thesia, and Llalando Austin, Ed.D., program director of NSU’s Tampa Anesthesiologist Assistant Program. While the idea for the Pre-AA Club was realized following the AA profes- sion lecture in October 2013, a plan was put into action to quickly move to- ward the club’s establishment. By mid- November, the club was under official review by the USF Board of Organi- zations and was given provisional sta- tus. In mid-December the club transitioned out of provisional status. It was only after months of planning and hard work that the Pre-AA Club was established, with the first meeting held on August 25, 2014. Today, the club has elected officers and stands at 20 members. The elected officers include Marissa Kear- ney, USF student (president), Kira Guyotte, USF student (vice president), Karla Williams, USF student (histo- rian/treasurer), and Kelly Quach, USF student (secretary). The club has already proven to be a phenomenal source of marketing for the NSU AA programs and has had the ability to penetrate the institution and reach an even larger group of prospective AA students on USF’s campus. Actively, the club utilizes a combination of so- cial media and campus advertising to spread the word about the AA profes- sion and NSU’s AA programs. The formation of the Pre-AA Club has successfully merged USF’s student body with NSU’s AA programs and supports NSU’s core value of commu- nity. Where one student was able to succeed, others now have access to the same opportunity. While still in its in- fancy, the Pre-AA club has grown sig- nificantly under the leadership of Kearney and the club’s officers. Through their tireless efforts to ex- pand the awareness of the AA profes- sion at the undergraduate level, the club has emerged into one of the most intriguing on USF’s campus. It is quite evident today that the efforts of those that were instrumental in the develop- ment of the USF Pre-AA Club will change the lives of many and be felt for years to come. A BULL’S CHARGE: The Development of the First Pre-Anesthesiologist Assistant Club By Llalando Austin, Ed.D., RRT, AA-C Program Director