On call: Biology professor’s second job as paramedic adds insight to classes
Courtesy Photo / Patricia Matthews Professor Matthews surrounded by family at Crystal Mountain. Many family members attended GVSU
Sep 20, 2010
After a long day of lectures and reading student essays, most professors probably enjoy a quiet and relaxing evening at home. But for Patricia Matthews, assistant professor of biology, human genetics and biomedical ethics, an evening at home is sometimes interrupted by medical emergencies.
Matthews volunteers as a “paid on-call” paramedic for Conklin and Kent City Fire Departments, responding to medical calls from home. In emergencies, Matthews is responsible for stabilizing a victim’s condition until more help can arrive.
Matthews has been a paramedic for 32 years, but got involved in the field by chance.
“I was working at Grand Valley in 1977, back when campus was really isolated,” she said. “Three professors told me, ‘We don’t have anyone on campus with medical training and we know you like medicine. Are you interested in becoming a paramedic?’ I decided that I wanted to do it and Grand Valley paid for me to go through the medical program.”
At GVSU, Matthews primarily teaches students going into medical professions and has found that being a paramedic provides her with the opportunity to share experiences and first-hand knowledge with her students.
“My job gives me an insight into what goes on in medical professions,” she said. “I see good and bad situations that I can tie into my biomedical ethics classes, which makes for good discussion. And some of my students think that it’s pretty cool.”
Though the job benefits Matthews’ students, it has put her into extremely high-stress situations. She said the small sizes of each county force her to respond to situations in which she knows the victims personally.
“My least favorite part of the job is some of the calls I have to deal with,” she said. “We are a small community, and I work in two rural fire departments. Oftentimes, I know the person that I’m responding to … Responding to someone that you know personally is sometimes very difficult.”
Despite the difficulties, Matthews is happy to be involved and proud of her work.
When not on-call or teaching, Matthews spends time with her family. A proud grandmother, she describes her grandchildren as “the loves of my life.”
“My family comes first and community definitely comes second,” she said. “This is my way of helping my local community, my way of giving back and helping those who need it. That is the best part of the job.”
