Meet Amy Rodriguez
Amy Rodriguez is a Physician Assistant in the Primary Care clinics at Campus Health.
Her Path
Rodriguez spent 6 years in the Army during which she worked with Physician Assistants and medics. Her experiences motivated her desire to be a PA. After her time in the military, she came to Chapel Hill to do pre-reqs to go to PA school and worked in Central Dermatology as a Medical Assistant. Rodriguez entered the Wake Forest Physician Assistant in Pediatrics program in 2014 and completed her degree in 2016. She worked for a year with gastrointestinal issues before joining Campus Health in fall of 2017.
A Love of Students
The experience of working with students has fit well with Rodriguez. “I love my work! What I enjoy most is supporting students in being an agent for their own health,” she said. “Students are inspiring. I love their energy and learning about what they are learning, how they are growing and where they make a difference in their community.” Seeing the average student’s progress is one of Rodriguez’ favorite parts of her job. She also spoke about her internal celebration when patients mentioned an interest in becoming a Physician Assistant as a career goal.
Melanoma research
When asked about a career accomplishment, Rodriguez mentioned that she and her graduate school partner won an award on research of melanoma. They researched how to reduce instances of melanoma in young patients through behavioral strategies. One successful strategy was using technology to show patients where their face had already experienced sun damage. That image of their own damaged skin was often enough to shift their behaviors towards using more sunscreen.
Advice
“You only get one body and hopefully it will last a long time so take care of it,” Rodriguez said. She commented on how college-aged students are in such a critical time for creating lifelong behaviors. Rodriguez enjoys “breathing some wisdom into my patients” about general wellness, eating well, exercising, and having healthy relationships. Overall, Rodriguez noted that the staff at Campus Health all care about students immensely, and she encouraged students with health concerns to come see us.
What Makes Her Unique
Rodriguez is all set for games of two truths and a lie - her truths are so interesting that they at times seem unbelievable. She is a world champion skydiver and has traveled to Russia to compete in the World Skydiving Championships. She was a participant on Wheel of Fortune (“Everyone should do it! I wouldn’t want to do it again though.”). And Rodriguez had a quick answer to what she would want as her superpower. “I have thought about this a lot,” she laughed. “I would want two superpowers. I would be invisible because I could do super secret covert ops. And I would want to be able to fly because I love going up in the air and coming down through the sky but I without a superpower I need an airplane or helicopter and a parachute.”
Learn more
You can find Rodriguez in the Primary Clinics of Campus Health and on YouTube clips of Wheel of Fortune 2017 Veterans Week Day 3.