Category: Medical & Molecular Sciences
Recognizing Medical Laboratory Professionals Week
April 15, 2024 Written by Amy Cherry | Photos submitted by Margaret Downing
CHS alumna working as PA in Colorado
Margaret Downing always knew she wanted to work in healthcare. However, it wasn’t until she started shadowing physician assistants (PAs) in high school that she realized her calling. She shadowed a PA in cardiology, which solidified her path.
“Her job seemed so cool to me,” said Downing. “We went on rounds, got pulled into consults, and spent time in the cardiac catheterization lab, and I saw how autonomous PAs were and how diverse and vast the profession was—there was so much I could as a PA.”
Downing, an Honors student, graduated from the University of Delaware College of Health Sciences in 2021. She majored in medical diagnostics with a pre-physician assistant concentration.
“It was tough,” she said. “The coursework was rigorous, but finding a little community within the major was a huge help.”
Classes like hematology, immunohematology, clinical chemistry, and medical microbiology prepared her for the next step on her academic journey: PA school.
“My knowledge of the blood groups and blood banking from immunohematology helped me understand the backside of medicine, so it all made more sense in PA school,” she said. “Hematology I and II were directly related, and I had seen all of these things before, so I felt as prepared as I possibly could have been.”
Downing attended Thomas Jefferson University’s Physician Assistant Studies Program, where she found her rotation in Christiana Hospital’s surgical trauma intensive care unit most valuable.
“Working on the surgical trauma ICU floor, a lot of acute things happen, and my preceptor, Bryan Perey, a UD School of Nursing graduate, was so calm and knowledgeable,” Downing said. “I hope to be as calm, collected, and knowledgeable as him.”
Downing graduated from Jefferson’s PA school in August 2023 and knows she wouldn’t have gotten there without the committed faculty in the UD’s Department of Medical and Molecular Sciences.
“The faculty were so helpful, supporting, and encouraging,” she recalled. “Leslie Allshouse was so reassuring, and Dr. Virginia Hughes was so knowledgeable.”
She credits Hughes with helping her get into PA school on the first try.
“She was a wonderful resource who guided us every step of the way,” Downing said.
Hughes, an associate professor of medical and molecular sciences, knew Downing would be successful and is proud of how far she’s come.
“It was a joy to have Margaret in the Medical Diagnostics Pre-PA Program,” said Hughes. "Early on, she exhibited strong critical thinking and organizational skills, leadership in working with her peers to solve hematology cases and building a robust portfolio for applying to PA school. She possesses all the attributes that align with being an effective clinician.”
Her Dream Job
Now, Downing is working her dream job. She’s a PA at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, where she works on the bone marrow transplant team within the inpatient hematology and oncology ward.
“We take care of all patients with blood cancers, patients receiving intensive chemotherapy, patients who received stem cell transplants, or patients with serious, adverse effects to their treatment,” she said. “It strikes a good balance between my passions for hematology and oncology and critical care, so it ended up being the perfect spot.”
What she also loves about it:
“It’s procedure-heavy, and I like doing things with my hands, so that’s great.”
She finds herself frequently hearkening back to her UD studies.
“In PA school, we’re trained as generalists, so we learn a little about everything,” she said. “My background in hematology is stronger because of UD. What I learned in hematology and lab science at UD fills in the blanks and helps me understand a lab result or why a patient might have a certain reaction to chemo. That strong background in pathophysiology has been so helpful because I like to understand why and how something is happening. Understanding the big picture in critical care and getting down to the cellular level to learn why things are happening and why test results look the way they do is something UD taught me.”
But for her, it’s all about the patient-provider connection.
“My patients in hematology/oncology are often there for months, so I’m able to forge strong connections with them and feel like I’m really helping them,” she said.
Downing sees a lot of opportunities for growth in her profession.
“Since I work at an academic hospital, I’d love to start precepting once I’ve gained more experience. My preceptors were so vital during PA School,” she said. “I’d also love for pre-PA students to shadow me since those were hard opportunities to find as a student but so valuable.”
She encourages current medical diagnostic pre-PA students at UD to stay the course when times are tough.
“Hang in there – it’s hard! And always remind yourself why you’re doing it. Think about the light at the end of the tunnel and push through. One day, when you help future patients, you’ll realize all that hard work paid off.”
Without UD, she wouldn’t have been able to live her dream.
“If you know about UD, you love UD,” she said. “It’s an awesome community. I wear my Blue Hens sweatshirt in Denver, and people stop me and say, ‘Go hens!’ Blue Hens are everywhere; we are so proud, and it’s special to be a part of a community we all love so much.”
