An interview with Brianna Freestone

Always there. Those are the two words that came to mind as I sat down to write this Pandemic Papers introduction for Brianna Freestone (Class of 2015). She wrote these words a few paragraphs down into this interview: “As anyone who’s met me knows, I’m not very outgoing …” While this is true, and while Brianna was never going to make her presence readily known by being overly vocal … she was: Always. There. I do not recall her ever being injured or sick. I’m sure there were a few practices that she missed. But I don’t remember them. Other than her semester abroad in Florence, I’m pretty confident that Brianna never missed her beloved long runs. And Brianna loved to race! Most distance runners would race ever other weekend in track; Brianna was one of the few that raced almost every weekend, to my recollection.

As she points out here, Brianna had an up-and-down career as a runner at Marist. But she brought such great value to our team by her mere presence, by always being there. She was a beloved figure on the team; she grew into a very mature student-athlete under Coach Chuck’s guidance both on and off the track. I remember distinctly those late-night distance races at BU, when our loopy runners not racing would whoop it up in the far corner of the track. While I don’t remember specifically the “tunnel” to which Brianna refers here, in my mind’s eye I could certainly see that.

Brianna moved on from Marist to Physician Assistant (PA) school and now she is a PA in her home area of the Capital District. I remember distinctly one weekend when she and Brie Vess (oh HER) returned to campus to visit, sitting with Brianna in the lobby of the old fitness center and her telling me (as excitedly as Brianna could) about her rotations in PA school. It was then and there that I knew she picked the right profession. It also gave me great insight into what a PA does, and I have since recommended that pathway to several of our current student-athletes. Side note: It certainly doesn’t hurt that Marist now has a PA program! Thanks to Brianna for her memories and for updating us on the many great things she has done in the five years since she departed Marist.

How, when and why did you start running?

My earliest introduction to running was going to track practices with my dad when I was 6 or 7 years old. He was the women’s sprint coach at a nearby high school. He never pushed me to run, but I could see his passion for it and that intrigued me. I joined a casual summer running program in Saratoga a few years later. In 7^th grade I decided to try outdoor track, as a sprinter and hurdler, with a group of friends. I was a terrible sprinter and an even worse hurdler (props to all you incredible sprinters and fielders!), but that summer the Kranicks convinced me to try distance. It didn’t take long for me to get hooked, and I never looked back.

You ran for a legendary high school program. What was that experience like? What are some of your favorite memories and highlights from your high school running career?

Running for Saratoga was definitely intense, but I felt very fortunate to be in such a successful high school program. I truly felt like I was part of something great. My coaches would tell us constantly that you get out of running exactly what you put into it, and I bought into that mentality completely. Racing was something that I struggled to master, but I loved pouring my heart and soul into training. I developed a passion for cross country. I had the opportunity to go to cross country nationals with my team my junior year, which was a very proud moment for me. But I think my favorite race memory was the Suburban Council meet leading up to that. It was a total washout on our home course at Spa State Park. We were soaked before we started, and we plowed through mud and puddles the whole way. It felt like a true, gritty cross-country race. Of course, the biggest highlights were the friendships I made. To this day my high school running partner is one of my closest friends. We’ve been banging elbows for almost 15 years now.

How and why did you choose Marist? What other schools were you considering and how did you pick Marist over the other schools you were interested in?

When I started looking at colleges, I was looking primarily at small liberal arts schools in the Northeast where I would be able to run competitively. After the first crop of schools had been filtered out, I was seriously considering four: Siena, Quinnipiac, Fairfield and Marist. I only went on one official visit, to Marist. After spending time on campus and meeting Coach Chuck and some of my future teammates (shout out to my awesome hosts- Jackie Gamboli and Katie Messina), my mind was made up. Marist felt like home.

What was your major at Marist and what was your academic experience like?

I was a Biomedical science major, so naturally I spent most of my time at Donnelly Hall. I had a great experience with the Marist science program. As anyone who’s met me knows, I’m not very outgoing, so the small classes for me were ideal. The professors were approachable, incredible people who I was excited to learn from, particularly Professor Cahill, Dr. Bettencourt and Dr. Nadeau. I can honestly say that Marist did a great job of preparing me for graduate school.

I was also able to take a break from science courses my junior year and spend a semester in Florence. To add to the prior question, the Marist abroad program was another big draw for me, so I’m very grateful that I had the opportunity to take advantage of that.

When and why did you choose to go to post-graduate PA school?

I didn’t decide until my senior year that I wanted to become a Physician Assistant. Initially I was considering occupational therapy or medical school. What made me look into the PA path was a course that Marist offered called “Intro to the health professions” where various speakers come in and talk about their daily life and what you can expect if you choose their career. They had several PAs speak which piqued my interest. After that, I was able to shadow PAs in the ER at St. Francis Hospital (across the street from Marist) and at a family medicine practice near Vassar. What stood out to me about the PA profession was its variety, flexibility and team focus. It struck me as something I could truly enjoy and excel at.

Tell us about your post-graduate education. How difficult was that and how much did you enjoy that process?

The two years working toward my masters were tough. The first year was all didactic, meaning eight hours a day in a classroom with an average of three exams a week. I was constantly studying. We had a total of two weeks off since I was in an accelerated 24-month program. My professors sometimes described it as trying to drink from a fire hose, just because of the sheer volume of information you’re expected to sift through in a short amount of time.

The second year was much more enjoyable. It was clinical based, so we rotated each month to different sites, gaining hands-on experience. I spent time working in primary care, pediatrics, women’s health, psychiatry, orthopedic surgery, cardiology, general surgery, internal medicine and emergency medicine. I also spent a month at a clinic on the island of San Pedro, Belize. It was an eye-opening experience to see medicine conducted there, with limited access to many of the resources that we take for granted here in the U.S.

Back to your time at Marist: You were a strong and dedicated runner on our team. What are some of your fondest memories of being a student-athlete at Marist?

Oh man, that’s a tough question. There are way too many to mention here. Coming onto campus as part of the cross country/track team was like having an automatic family, and some of my teammates are still my closest friends today. Coach Chuck and Pete were amazing mentors, both on and off the track. As far as memories, I think I have to mention being stranded in Disney. That was a dream, of course. And I loved every MAAC meet. It was always so much fun to hype each other up and get excited about spending a weekend competing at the top of our game.

I remember one race at BU where I was running the 5K. It was pretty late at night and there was just a small group of us left at the track. But as usual, Marist was doing a great job of cheering anyway. I was on pace for an indoor PR, and on the final turn a few of my teammates made a tunnel over the track to help give me the energy to kick to the finish. It was a pretty awesome way to finish out a solid race, and it really encapsulates the positive, supportive culture of the team that made my experience at Marist so special.

Talk about your post-collegiate running and racing. What are some highlights and what are some of your future aspirations in running?

Post collegiate running, kind of like my collegiate running career, has been a bit of a roller coaster. I initially took some time off, then decided to participate in a couple of triathlons: one sprint and one Olympic distance. I had a fantastic time with that, and gained a ton of respect for the amount of time and energy that triathletes put into their sport.

During PA school I found some awesome trail systems near where I was living, and briefly joined a running club in Philadelphia that held weekly trail races through Wissahickon Park. After that I ran a few half marathons: Baltimore, Philadelphia and the Hudson Mohawk Half. Long run Sundays have always been my favorite day of the week, so I wasn’t too surprised to find that I absolutely love the half marathon. More recently, running has taken a back seat to some new adventures like hiking and backpacking, rock climbing and downhill skiing. Eventually, I plan to build back up to the half marathon distance, and maybe a full marathon.

Talk about your current job. What are you doing, where are you working?

I work at a cardiology practice in Saratoga Springs. We have six doctors, three PAs and one NP in our group. I typically spend three days at the office and two at the local hospital each week. I’m on call one weekend a month. In the office, I see about 20 patients a day for diagnosis and management of various conditions -- including cholesterol and blood pressure, heart failure, stroke, coronary artery disease and atrial fibrillation. At the hospital, I round and do consults with an attending physician, seeing a similar but more acute patient population. We have a few interventional cardiologists who perform cardiac catheterizations and pacemaker implantations.

I also work per diem in internal medicine at a hospital in Albany. I admit and round on patients there as well, but in that role, I’m helping manage all of their medical conditions instead of primarily focusing on cardiac related issues. It’s a larger teaching hospital, so it’s been a great opportunity for me to learn and branch out.

How has the pandemic affected your professional career? Has your job changed and if so, how?

Of course, at the beginning of all of this, things were scary and uncertain for everyone. Between hearing what was happening in Italy and then New York City, the medical community was preparing for the worst-case scenario. My organization sent out an email to all nurses and Pas, essentially stating that we should be prepared to be sent wherever New York State deems us to be needed. I was anticipating being moved to Albany in case of a surge. The hospital I work at designated specific floors to treatment of COVID19 patients. We started doing most office visits by telephone call or video chat. Our patient volume dropped so low that our office closed on Mondays. Fortunately, the surge we were bracing for never really occurred. We have had positive cases in this region, but between social distancing measures and patients staying out of the hospitals, we’ve had the resources to manage them.

I’ve been able to stay in my current position. I feel very fortunate to have a job in all of this. Currently, everything feels almost like “business as usual” except for our level of awareness and caution on the job. We’re aware of the possibility of a resurgence, particularly as the community reopens. We mask ourselves and our patients. We’ve restructured our office in order to allow for proper social distancing and sanitizing. Some of our staff continues to work from home. The physicians are continuing to do some office visits remotely, particularly if someone is considered high risk or they have difficulty coming into the office.

               

How has the pandemic affected your personal life? What changes have you had to make to your routine?

As I’m sure many people can relate to, I’ve been constantly adjusting my routine depending on the current situation and recommendations. It’s been tough to navigate what the safest, most ethical approach is. I have a roommate and a boyfriend, so of course I worry about what I might be bringing back to each of them. My biggest concern though is what I might bring back to my patients, most of whom are high risk. This was particularly stressful at the onset when we did not have access to appropriate PPE at work (N95s and surgical masks). That situation has now improved, but I continue to wear a set of scrubs to and from work, and change into another set to wear while I’m seeing patients. When I get home, I go straight to the shower and stick to my room as much as possible. I try to limit trips to the store. Initially, I completely stopped seeing friends and family in person. There were a lot of Zoom chats. Over the last couple of weeks, as cases in our area have stabilized and I haven’t been moved or assigned to COVID19 positive units, I’ve slowly started seeing people again. I keep my social circle small, and when we meet it’s for a walk or a backyard hangout. I feel lucky to have my immediate family close by.

In your medical and personal opinion, how do you think our society (New York, USA) has been managing the pandemic? Would you like to see us doing anything differently?

I won’t critique what’s been done so far, but I think that currently New York State is being smart by following a gradual reopening plan. As we reopen the economy, I think it’s important to remember that this virus has not disappeared. We need to continue to slow its spread and protect those who are high risk. I think we can do this by continuing to mask, wash hands and social distance as much as possible.

Again, in your opinion, where do you see this pandemic going in the short- and long-term future?

I think this is going to be with us for a while. I don’t anticipate a safe and effective vaccine to be ready until at least next year. We will likely be seeing a resurgence in the fall, along with our usual flu cases, which is going to put some strain on the hospital system. I know we all wish we could just get up and move on with our lives as they were before, but I think this is going to fundamentally change how our society operates. Like I said above, we need to keep in mind that it hasn’t disappeared just because we’re tired of it. Let’s continue to be as safe as possible!    

What are your fondest memories of your final few months of your senior year at Marist? What message can you give to our recent graduates about the loss of their final few months at Marist?

Another tough one. Some of my favorites were running the 10K at MAACs, senior formal and the athletic banquet. Senior Week was a great way to enjoy being on campus with friends one last time. For the recent graduates, I know nothing I say is going to make the fact that you lost your last few months at Marist better. But thank you for being strong for the sake of your community. And as others have mentioned, the awesome part about running is that it doesn’t have to end after college!

Anything else you’d like to add …

If anyone has physician assistant related questions, feel free to reach out at bfreestone@arcadia.edu. Thank you so much for all you do for us, Pete! Go Red Foxes!