First Year Student Blog: Nikki Baran
How does one go from rappelling and ascending in and out of crevasses and flying in a helicopter over glaciers as part of their commute to work, to sitting in lecture for eight hours/day at Duke University’s Physician Assistant Program? The journey was far from linear, but I think that’s what I’m most proud of. It is truly my own.
It all started in 2017 with one little certification that I needed to be allowed to work as a wilderness guide in Skagway, AK. My wilderness first responder certification, or a WFR, as we affectionately called it, permitted me to work for Packer Expeditions and spend the summer showing clients who visited Skagway, the beauty of the Southeast Alaskan backcountry, specifically, the Laughton Glacier. There were two firefighters in my class that encouraged us to join the Skagway Volunteer Fire Department after our class had ended. “We love having WFRs,” they said, “and we know you’re busy, you can give as much time as you want.” I joined with a friend mainly because I wanted to learn more about Search and Rescue, as I had a penchant for hanging upside down from things and knew if I was in the department, I could get my Ropes Rescue Technician certification in the fall.
One month in, my probationary membership was voted on and granted. I had to miss that meeting but was informed in person when I set the smoke alarm off in my house from burning kale on the stove and the fire department showed up to make sure the house wasn’t ACTUALLY on fire. “We decided to let you in, Nikki, but only on the condition that you stop setting the smoke alarm off,” they joked as they loaded up and headed back to the station.
Two months in, I found myself attending more EMS trainings than I had ever intended. It was so interesting and the more calls I went on, the more I wanted to learn and to keep being an intentional part of my tiny community. Three months in, I was informed by (now) Chief Rauscher that the department had decided to pay for the class to upgrade my WFR certification to an EMT-1 if I wanted. It felt like a dream as I wanted to take the class, but the cost was prohibitive.
I continued wilderness guiding and being a member of the Skagway FD until 2020 when the pandemic put both on a hiatus. I had a lot of time on my hands and started thinking about what the future might look like. I talked with a few PAs in Skagway over the years and always thought they were pretty cool. Many had non-traditional backgrounds, like me, and had either transitioned from the military, or wilderness guiding, usually at an older age. I thought, “I’ll take one biology class and see how it goes.” It went well, very well, in fact, and from there, all I wanted was to learn more. Once Southeast Alaska re-opened, I returned and was able to jump back into the fire department. Going to school part time and working full time left little time for wilderness guiding but I knew that chapter of my life wasn’t over.
To answer the question of how one pivots from a glacier to a lecture hall, I can only say that the path to Duke was not a pivot, but a continuous ascent. Every hour spent volunteering with the Skagway Fire Department, every difficult SAR extraction, and every quiet moment of providing care as an EMT and a wilderness guide was a foundational building block toward this career. These experiences taught me that true resourcefulness lies in adapting to any environment.
Now, at my dream school, I am merging my passion for wilderness medicine with advanced clinical training as a member of Duke PA Wilderness Medicine’s leadership team. Eight years ago, I could’ve never imagined that a desire to hang upside down off of ropes would lead to cultivating an ability to keep people upright and healthy, proving that the most direct route to your dream is often the one you carve yourself. And if it’s carved with an ice tool, even better.
Nikki Baran is a first-year student with the Duke Physician Assistant Program. Email nicole.baran@duke.edu with questions.
Editor’s note: Duke Physician Assistant Program students blog monthly. Blogs represent the opinion of the author, not the Duke Physician Assistant Program, the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, or Duke University.