Trail Blazers
Timothy Stead,
Physician Assistant
What was your path to mental healthcare?
I originally began working in healthcare as an Emergency Medical Technician. This is where I first recognized the need for quality mental health practitioners. In the field of Emergency Medical Services, there was an impressive emphasis placed on preserving provider mental health whom frequently experience traumatizing patient encounters and put their lives at risk with every shift and yet access was still limited. I hoped that in continuing my education I would be able to find career opportunities in that would allow me to provide more patients with access to quality mental health services.
I made the decision to pursue an advanced degree in healthcare and to become a Physician Assistant at St. Bonaventure University, NY. While learning in the classroom and practicing clinically in a rural community (centered around my school), I further recognized the dramatic deficits in patient access to appropriate psychiatric care and counseling services. When it was time to complete my psychiatry rotation, I was eager to learn from a number of providers across inpatient, outpatient, and community mental health programs and then apply the best techniques across my other clinical experiences . I knew that I wanted my career to be focused on this specialty, and am determined to to enhance my skillset through continuing education in any available capacity.
How will this scholarship help you?
This scholarship will help me kick-start a career in mental healthcare. As a Physician Assistant student, I am expected to learn about core concepts from the majority of medical specialties and rotate through over 10 core clinical rotations. While we have a didactic unit focused on mental health and are required to rotate in a Behavioral Health clinic, there is not enough emphasis placed on mental healthcare in the 28 month program duration.
To be more effective in my practice following graduation, I will require additional training like what is being offered through Elevate 2023. What is more, as a new graduate, I will not have the financial means to attend such a conference until I gain state licensure as a PA and can begin working with an employer. This scholarship would help me to initiate a meaningful start to my career in psychiatry and allow me to be a stronger contributor to the patient population of my future employer's practice.
What are your academic and/or career goals?
Academically, my goals are to continue through the completion of my program. This includes a research thesis developed to uncover the potential effects of various job-related stressors stressors and behaviors on "overall health" of EMS providers. My hope with this original research will help us shed light on the inherent physical and mental health risks posed in the EMS line of work.
My career goals are to specialize my practice in psychiatry and pursue research opportunities with collaborating providers focused on developing and/or optimizing treatment options for various mental health disorders. Eventually, I would like to pursue a doctorate level degree in Health Sciences and focus that work on improving access to mental health services.
What does “exceptional patient care” mean to you?
"Exceptional patient care" is accessible, affordable, and patient-centered in my opinion.
In the mental health field specifically, access is limited by a number of factors. There are considerations for stigma associated with seeking out mental healthcare, affordability, availability of providers (both in-person and virtually), and the right to receiving appropriate, evidence-based, treatments from specialists in the field. Throughout my education, I have acquired a heightened understanding of how limited mental healthcare truly is relative to other specialties. Many patients rely on primary medical providers (who do not specialize in mental healthcare) or go without care altogether. If a patient has appropriate access, they will be closer to acquiring exceptional care.
Healthcare today is expensive across all fields and specialties. However, budget cuts seemingly effect mental healthcare before other medical specialties suggesting that these services are not "essential" in the overall wellbeing of patients. Service costs for psychiatry, counseling, and pharmacy can make it nearly impossible for some of the most in-need patients to afford care. For patient care to be "exceptional", I believe that care should be as affordable as possible.
Lastly, patient-centered care is effective and longstanding. A patient is more likely to be compliant and continue to receive care if their personal considerations are taken in to account with every patient-provider interaction. No two patients are alike, and understanding the individual needs of a patient's specific physiology and overall condition will allow a provider to give exceptional care.
It is my goal to strive towards these goals of providing patient accessibility, affordability, and patient-centered care in my future career. Every patient with mental healthcare concerns is entitled to a proper psychiatric evaluation and current, evidence-based, practice principles. In working to make the specialty accessible, affordable, and patient centered, I believe patients will receive exceptional care.