Mentor Assessment#1

Yukthi Kadari

Mentor Name:​ Sarah Gagliano

Profession:​ Family Medicine Physician Assistant

Location of Business Name:​ ​3550 Parkwood Blvd #600, Frisco, TX 75034

Date of Interview: ​11/8/19

Time: ​3:00pm.

I had a wonderful time on my first mentor visit with Mrs. Sarah Gagliano. I was able to

meet the other PA’s that she works with and both of their first names are Kim so it is very easy

to remember their names.All of the staff was extremely kind including the receptionists. Even

when I called them to schedule and interview they responded very well and were not rude. Mrs.

Gagliano said that it was an unusual day because usually there are a lot of patients. I also went on

a Friday afternoon so there were not too many people there.

We saw a total of 4 patients that day. The first patient was a 50+ year old female who is

prescribed cholesterol medication and xanax and other psychological medication. She was very

nice but she was not taking her cholesterol medication for a couple of months. The last time she

came she took a CIMT and the results came out as her having some plaque in her carotid arteries.

A CIMT is basically like a sonogram but on a person's neck to check if they have plaque inside. I

actually got to go into the room where she was getting a CIMT and I watched the whole process.

The nurse showed me what she was seeing inside on the screen and said that if there is a distinct

white layer always on the screen even if you move around it means the patient has plaque.

Surprisingly, the patient did not have plaque even though she was not taking her medication. She
has said that she was working out more often which may have resulted in the plaque getting

flushed out because of her having more cardiovascular activity. She was still told to take her

medication because there is a chance the plaque could come back.

The other few patients we saw were all related to psychology. They all were having

another check up just to make sure their anxiety and depression are under control. There were

several physical check ups done which basically consisted of looking in the ears, nostrils, and

mouth to make sure everything looks good. Mrs. Gagliano also listened to breath sounds and felt

the lymph nodes to make sure they were the right size. There was another patient that got a

CIMT and he actually had plaque in his carotid so was able to see on the screen what it actually

looks like.I was very surprised to find out that I have seen zero children. I walked in thinking that

since it is a family medicine facility there will be a lot more children and infants coming in.

Overall I was able to learn so much from this mentor visit. I realized that family medicine

was much more than just doing physicals. You basically have to know everything in every field.

On this day there were patients that came in with cardiovascular and physiological issues but the

next day there may be someone there with abdominal pain or something related to the nervous

system. After this mentor visit I could not wait for the net because I have learned so much about

the profession in just one day.