Pam here. In the 1990s, my first career was as a Medical Assistant. I graduated high school in 1993 and did not have plans for college. I didnt think that path was for me. I was encouraged to go to trade school and I was always the "helper" or "caretaker" in any group I was in, it was natural to take medical-related courses. After a few courses, Medical Assisting stuck and after a several-weeks long internship, Kaiser Permanente hired me. I worked mostly in OB/GYN department and floated to Pediatrics, Family, Pulmonology, Rheumatoid, and Ophthalmology departments when needed - I've always been a mutable beast.
But mostly - I worked in OB/GYN for a span of 5-6 years. I learned so much about myself and the female human body during that time. I still use that experience to navigate and advocate for own health and that of my family and friends.
That experience also instilled the love to share knowledge and community education. Because we make better decisions with information; sometimes we end up taking a risk because we are all human, but at least we know the impacts.
Its amazing that schools and society ingrained abstinence or safe-sex (no STDS, no teen pregnancies) to pre-teens and teens and young adults, but we are not educated on how our bodies work and how to care for them.
So much so, we have to form community groups to share knowledge about our own bodies.
Scroll handout images or download the pdf .
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