Shadowing Behind the Scenes: Sarah J. Hein, MSN, FNP-BC

Are you ready to learn more about Nurse Practitioner Sarah J. Hein , MSN, FNP-BC, our second preceptor in the Shadowing: Behind the Scenes Series?

Sarah is a family medicine nurse practitioner at Aleda E. Lutz VA Medical Center in Saginaw, MI. Her past works are testimonial to her accomplishments in founding the Michigan Deaf Health, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) community about health and encouraging pursue careers in the health field. In addition, she serves as a board member for the Michigan Deaf Association, an Advisory Council member for the state advisory board on DHH and DeafBlind matters, and a past Vice President of Association of Medical Professionals with Hearing Losses (AMPHL). Sarah's passion lies in establishing a fully accessible health clinics for individuals with disabilities and participating in medical volunteer programs abroad to help other cultures understand how to provide fully accessible health care to DHH individuals.

Peek into Sarah’s experience as a shadowing mentor

We invited her to share her insights into her shadowing experience, which will be divided into two parts: video and written texts.

Watch Sarah’s video on Youtube. The transcript is below.

Hi, my name is Sarah Hein. I’m a nurse practitioner in primary care in Michigan.

I worked with one student from the Deaf Hub over the summer time, and it was a really interesting experience.

I’ve worked with other students in the past but they have been? hearing, or they did not have a disability. So, it was different working with someone with a disability versus someone that didn’t have one. And I thought it was also awesome to work with someone who was deaf when I have hearing loss myself. I could share the different challenges that I’ve gone through and talk about different solutions to those challenges, so it was a really interesting experience.

I would encourage all students to consider the shadowing opportunity. It’s a good opportunity to work with someone who’s actually Deaf or hard-of-hearing in the medical field, and you really get to know what your future would be like. I really recommend it.

Written portion of interview

As a healthcare professional, have you experienced shadowing someone before you decided your career path??

Yes. I was fortunate to work with Dr. Philip Zazove and Dr. Michael Mckee. Both in family medicine. I also was able to shadow hearing peers as well. It was important for me to see both the hearing/disability point of view toward things.

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If you were to have this opportunity, would this shadowing opportunity have changed your career path? Why or why not?

Yes! It really pushed me to want to succeed in medicine. My first career was in neuroscience research. I had advisors in college that told me to take an easier route than medicine. Seeing DHH folks in medicine really inspired and encouraged me.

What advice would you like to share with prospective D/HH trainees?

Going into medicine is hard and with a disability it is 10x harder. But. The reward you get having the degree and getting to work in the field is amazing. Make sure you have good support systems, as this will help you go a long way.

Sarah Hein’s shadowing mentee: Julia Carboni, BS

During the summer of 2023, Julia Carboni shadowed Sarah Hein. Her valuable experience provided Julia firsthand insights into the nursing profession. Inspired, she applied to and was accepted into the accelerated nursing program at SUNY Brockport. Julia is set to graduate in 2025, marking the beginning of her own journey as a healthcare professional.

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