{"id":49776,"date":"2023-05-01T15:31:29","date_gmt":"2023-05-01T19:31:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/textiles.ncsu.edu\/?p=49776"},"modified":"2023-05-01T18:21:50","modified_gmt":"2023-05-01T22:21:50","slug":"chloe-patterson-23-a-college-career-defined-by-a-passion-for-medicine-and-helping-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/textiles.ncsu.edu\/news\/2023\/05\/chloe-patterson-23-a-college-career-defined-by-a-passion-for-medicine-and-helping-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Chloe Patterson \u201923: A College Career Defined by a Passion for Medicine and Helping Others"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
By Sarah Stone<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chloe Patterson took a challenging childhood experience and turned it into an unmatched drive to give back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was a patient at a Children’s Miracle Network hospital in Virginia,\u201d Patterson says. \u201cI think growing up with those health issues and staying in the hospital system developed my passion for medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That passion for keeping her community healthy has played a role in nearly every aspect of this Goodnight Scholar<\/a>\u2019s college experience. Most notably, Patterson has served as president and director of hospital relations for Dance Marathon<\/a>, a student-led philanthropic event that raises money for the same network of hospitals where she was a patient growing up. She\u2019s also worked a part-time job as a medical assistant and taught yoga at Carmichael Gym<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps the most unique of Patterson\u2019s healthcare-related experiences outside of the classroom was the four weeks she spent shadowing doctors abroad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was really interesting and enlightening to see the differences between their healthcare systems and ours,\u201d she says. \u201cWe got exposed to every single medical specialty that the program could offer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After graduating with her bachelor\u2019s in polymer and color chemistry<\/a> (PCC), she\u2019ll work full time as a medical assistant for a year in order to become eligible to apply to physician\u2019s assistant (PA) school. She plans to become a PA in Obstetrics and Gynecology (OBGYN).<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Patterson enrolled in NC State intending to pursue a pre-med track, she could never have guessed she\u2019d be graduating with a PCC degree. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I actually came to NC State as a nutrition science major on the pre-med track, and I figured out pretty quickly that it just wasn’t the right fit for me. I wanted smaller class sizes, and I wanted to be in a major that gave me more career options in case I decided I didn\u2019t want to go to med school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I think overall, NC State just has so many opportunities, so it\u2019s easy to find one that fits you and what you\u2019re passionate about.<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Some staff members with Goodnight Scholars told me about PCC and said it might be a good program for me. They told me about the medical concentration and how if I didn\u2019t want to still go the PA route I could also get medical textiles or pharmaceutical jobs with the degree. I was interested in getting a unique degree that would look different on med school or PA school applications, so I transferred to the Wilson College after my first semester and I\u2019ve loved it ever since then. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With the medical science concentration<\/a>, I’m able to get all of my prerequisites for PA school, but I\u2019ve also had the opportunity to take all these color science classes and textile classes, which are super interesting and prepare me for so many different careers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It was a class focusing on the environmental impacts of the textile industry taught by Dr. Ormond<\/a>. I really did not think I would like it as someone who doesn’t plan to work in the textile industry, but it was one of my favorite classes that I’ve taken. It was just really cool to see all the impacts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Ormond also does a lot of research with firefighter gear and seeing what chemicals are getting into firefighter and protective equipment. All that was just super interesting to me because even though it’s not something I thought I was interested in, it impacts the world and our daily life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Why did you choose the Wilson College and PCC? <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Which class at the Wilson College has been your favorite?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What has been your most impactful experience? <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n