Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Trojan Horse
What Neal Brown, Mountaineers said after OSU’s win Savannah Chenoweth Staff Reporter The Oklahoma State Cowboys traveled to Morgantown to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers on Saturday. The Cowboys trailed 24-20 going into the fourth quarter but came out on
top, 48-34. The Cowboys moved to 5-2 on the season and 3-1 in conference play. Here’s what West Virginia coach Neal Brown and the Mountaineers had to say about the game. Brown’s initial postgame thoughts: “That’s kind of disappointing, you know to say the least. I thought this
was a game that going into the fourth quarter, we really had a chance to go up and take either a 7- or 11-point lead, and there were some mistakes I have a hard time explaining.” Brown’s thoughts on his defense: “We just didn’t fit the runs you know. They weren’t doing anything special. They were running split zone. It’s probably our first or maybe second most
called play here, and so it’s something we see every day. There weren’t any surprises. They got in the pistol maybe a little bit more than they have in previous games, but other than that we just missed a bunch of tackles and ran by the ball.” See Brown on 5
Inaugural class of Physician Assistant students graduates Lauren King Staff Reporter
The Physician Assistant Program class of 2023 at OSU Center for Health Sciences is ready to walk the stage and graduate. But, this could not be done without overcoming a few obstacles. The PA class of 2023 has been through many firsts within the program. Students of the 2023 class were the first accepted to the newest academic program at OSU-CHS, the first to take part in a PA white coat ceremony, the first to learn from and train with new PA curriculum, the first to gain real-world experience with medical preceptors during their rotations, and the first OSU-CHS PA students to walk across the graduation stage to be hooded and receive a diploma. “The mission of the PA program mirrors that of OSU-CHS, which is to increase access in rural and underserved communities in Oklahoma,” said Amy Harrison, PA program director and clinical assistant professor. “With a collaborating physician, PAs often serve as patients’ primary care providers, especially in rural Oklahoma.” A physician assistant (PA) is a health care processional who can diagnose illness, develop and manage treatment plans and prescribe medications after completing thousands of hours of medical training. PAs practice in every medical setting and specialty, which is important in Oklahoma because all 77 counties are either entirely or partially considered a primary care Health Professional Shortage Area, according to the Rural Health Information
Hub.
Students within the graduating PA class expressed their passion for the program and their excitement to graduate after months of dedicated work. “I am so excited to graduate. I really can’t believe it’s here,” said Aaron Abraham, the first PA class president. “It definitely feels special being in the first class.” Kassidy DesRoche, another inaugural class graduate, said she wanted to be a PA because of the team-based approach to medicine and adaptability in the workforce. “The flexibility of a PA gives me the confidence that, as patients’ and communities’ health care needs change over the years, I would have the versatility to change into different specialties to best accommodate those communities and patients within Oklahoma,” DesRoche said. DesRoche chose to study at OSU-CHS’s PA program because of the collaborative environment. “I’m so grateful and proud to have been a part of the inaugural Physician Assistant class at OSU-CHS. From the first day of classes, all the faculty and staff on campus made us feel welcome,” she said. “Having the opportunity to take some of the same medical courses alongside future doctors of osteopathic medicine was definitely a contributing factor in my decision.” The PA program at OSU-CHS lasts 28 months split into 13 months of education and training in classrooms and labs and then 15 months of clinical rotations across Oklahoma. Harrison said OSU-CHS’s PA program allows students to collaborate with other programs across campus. See Physician on 6
OSU News Lauren Osborn uses her love for spiders as a guide for her creative writing career.
From brains to bugs
How spiders guided an OSU Ph.D. candidate to success Lauren King Staff Reporter
discovered how to blend creative writing with scientific study, using entomology as a muse for her writing. Osborn began her academic studies at the University of Alabama Finding a way to blend personal at Birmingham where she studied behavioral psychology. While attendinterests with a life-long career can ing Alabama, Osborn discovered the be difficult. subfield of animal psychology and But for Lauren Osborn, a docimmediately found a fascination for toral candidate in creative writing studying spiders. at OSU, her fascination with spiders “I love spiders and insects so became the perfect outlet to drive her much,” Osborn said. “And so, I was career in creative writing. like, ‘I think it would be really interWhile working on her creative writing Master of Fine Arts, Osborn esting to do spider behavior, like their thinking, their behavioral patterns.’
That would be such a cool thing to research.” As Osborn searched for programs that studied spider behavior, she found few Ph.D. programs with the particular field – in which those programs did not favor her history in psychology. At this moment, Osborn decided to focus on a different career path. “I decided to get my MFA in creative writing,” Osborn said. “I love creative writing so much, and I’m good at it. It would be quick, only two years, so I could keep applying to Ph.D.s.” See Bugs on 8