These articles were written by Northeast Oregon Area Health Education Center (NEOAHEC). They are the intellectual property of NEOAHEC. These pieces of writing in their entirety cannot be altered without explicit permission. NEOAHEC is supported by Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under U77HP03052.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stories of Impact is a series of stories written by NEOAHEC about people who have either been impacted by or have impacted NEOAHEC and the healthcare workforce in our region. These stories are a continuation of the Success Stories that were written by NEOAHEC to recall the journeys of students who have passed through the youth programs of NEOAHEC and on to health careers.
If you are interested in having your NEOAHEC story told, please reach out to Carissa Cummings at office@neoahec.org.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nate Defrees, MD: A Quintessential Small-Town Family Doctor
Nate, a family doctor in Baker City, serves his community with unparalleled dedication. He is passionate about being able to treat the whole family, adapting his care to fit each unique need. “It's not unusual that I'll see three generations of a family, maybe in the same day, which is a pretty special thing to be able to do,” Nate shared. Between delivering babies, tending to patients of all ages, performing endoscopies, volunteering as an EMT, serving as a medical examiner, directing a small clinic in Heppner, involvement with the Oregon Medical Association (OMA) and Oregon Academy of Family Physicians (OAFP), and working on the family ranch one day a week, Dr. Defrees does it all. Click here to learn more about Nate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ahnica Shoemaker: Seizing Every Opportunity
For Ahnica Shoemaker, an Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) School of Nursing student, being homeschooled didn’t mean that she and her five siblings spent all their time at home. Her family has worked diligently to complement homeschool education with diverse hands-on experiences, including traveling the country to visit educational and historical locations and collaborating with their community to attend local events, such as NEOAHEC’s MedQuest. Click here to learn more about Ahnica.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forging Her Own Path: Liz Sieders, PA
Liz Sieders, brought up in Pendleton, has been a Physician Associate (PA) at Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center for seven years. Liz was in the first class of recipients for the Scholars for Healthy Oregon Initiative (SHOI), an award which covers tuition and fees for selected Oregonians admitted into eligible Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) programs. Liz has served on the NEOAHEC Board of Directors since 2019 and is a strong advocate for pathway programs. As someone who didn’t experience the benefits of the pathway, Liz is thrilled that her daughter, Natalie, had the chance to participate in NEOAHEC’s MedQuest. Click here to learn more about Liz.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Supportive Career: Marti Erice, CNA-2
Marti’s occupational passion for helping people and her extracurricular passion for traveling the world are complemented by the flexibility of her position as a CNA, which she's held for six years. She discovered this career path at MedQuest, and the life-long friendships she made during the program has encouraged her to continue giving back to NEOAHEC years after entering the workforce. Click here to learn more about Marti.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Success for the State: An Interview with Darren Ramcharan, PMHNP-BC
Darran Ramcharan, from Hermiston, Oregon, found his place in healthcare while working as a nurse at Eastern Oregon Correctional Facility in Pendleton. He realized that many of the people who were incarcerated had mental health issues and grew passionate about their care. Darren's role providing medication management along with psychotherapy to people who are incarcerated is a huge success, and NEOAHEC is proud to have played a small role in his story. Even though Darren’s pathway to becoming a health care professional didn’t lead him back to eastern Oregon, his success is a great example of his passion for caring for underserved communities and his connection to the ‘grow our own mission’ of NEOAHEC. Click here to learn more about Darren.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Most Complete Care: An Interview with Alix Cooper, MD
Alix Cooper always enjoyed watching medical dramas on TV. By four years old, Alix was already telling their babysitter that they were going to be a heart surgeon one day. Despite this early enthusiasm, it wasn’t until Alix attended their first MedQuest camp, at the age of 15, that they developed an understanding of what the path to being a medical doctor would look like. In retrospect, Alix recognizes the significance of this NEOAHEC programming that introduces young people to the resources and options available for careers in rural healthcare. People like Alix are why NEOAHEC’s programming is essential to our mission to create access to healthcare everywhere in Oregon. Click here to learn more about Alix.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nick West: From Branding Iron to Stethoscope
Changing irrigation pipe, bucking bales, mending fences, and lending a hand during the busy calving season…This was the lifestyle that Nick West grew to love during his upbringing on his family’s cattle ranch on the outskirts of Imbler—a quiet agricultural community in Northeast Oregon with a population of roughly 300 residents. Click here to learn more about Nick.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Success Stories
Success Stories, written in 2008, recalls the journeys of students who have passed through the youth programs of NEOAHEC and on to health careers. For some the journey was straight forward. Others traveled a more circuitous route. But all were seeking the career that fit, the key to happiness.
NEOAHEC developed Success Stories as a means to share the stories of a few of those individuals who found their way. We hope to inspire others who may see the way as difficult. We also want to encourage the continued sponsorship of NEOAHEC programs!
As with any life choice, career decisions should be based on knowing who you are--your interests, aptitudes, values, needs, strengths, and skills. Health careers offer such a wide variety of possibilities. Everything from technicians to therapist, direct care to laboratory work, public sector to private sector. A health career may require anything from a one-year training program to graduate-level education to post-graduate level education. Exploring what direction to take can help a student avoid needless expense and confusion. Success Stories shows how students in northeast Oregon used their opportunities to explore who they were and the adults they would become.
Since these stories were written in 2008, we recognize that they may be outdated. If you would like to update your information with NEOAHEC, please reach out to Carissa at office@neoahec.org. Click here to read NEOAHEC's Success Stories.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These articles were written by Northeast Oregon Area Health Education Center (NEOAHEC). They are the intellectual property of NEOAHEC. These pieces of writing in their entirety cannot be altered without explicit permission. NEOAHEC is supported by Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under U77HP03052.