Plano ISD program gives some future medical professionals their
first exposure to the real world of healthcare

BY HEATHER DARROW
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MIKE NEWMAN

Patrick Baldasaro had back pain intermittently for 10 years, but it was never debilitating until this March. It hurt to get dressed, tie his shoes, and get in and out of cars. Baldasaro had no way of knowing that the doctor who would eradicate his pain began his medical training in 1994 at Plano Senior High School in the clinical rotation program.

"Sneezing or coughing could put you through the roof. Bending forward was like someone stabbing you in the back. You braced yourself to spit your toothpaste out. I tied my shoes loosely, so I could slip them on and off. Driving more than 20–30 minutes and getting out of the vehicle was so painful I never wanted to go anywhere," Baldasaro said.

In June, Baldasaro had a minimally invasive lumbar microdiscectomy. According to his neurosurgeon, Dr. Michael Musacchio, he underwent a minimally invasive outpatient surgery to remove a herniated disc from his lower back to relieve a pinched nerve. For Baldasaro, this medical terminology translated into long-awaited pain relief.

"I went in at 3 p.m., and I was home by 6 p.m. I worked half a day, checked in immediately, and was under immediately. Coming out of surgery I could stand up or sit down without pain for the first time since March. I went home that night armed with pain relievers and muscle relaxers, but I didn't need them. That is how immediate my pain relief was. My surgery was on Tuesday night. By Monday, I was back to work."

Baldasaro says he knew Dr. Musacchio was different the moment he met him because he used laymen's terms but also taught the medical terminology so he could comprehend the diagnosis and treatment options.

"Whatever I decided, I knew this would be my doctor. I had questions after I left the doctor's office. He called me back the next day and said, 'Patrick this is Michael.' I thought 'Who is Michael?' Then he said Michael Musacchio. He does not talk down to you. That was extremely refreshing."

High school medical lessons

The seeds of Dr. Musacchio's distinct bedside manner might have originated at his high school alma mater, which has a long history of teaching students to truly care for others. According to Sherry McLaughlin, RN, BSN coordinator for the PISD clinical rotation program and certified teacher in Health Science Technology, the clinical rotation program originated in 1987. She joined the staff in 1997 and says the program has changed over the years. One modification she helped facilitate is replacing the four yearly rotations in the Clinical I class with 15–16, one-week rotations she calls a snapshot into healthcare.

"We don't know when we will hit something that excites them. One former student was sure he wanted to become an orthopedic surgeon and after clinical rotations discovered that was not the field for him. Today he is in dental school. He said if he never took this class, he would have gone to medical school and wasted his time. That two-week exposure changed his whole life."

According to McLaughlin, students in the program visit several hospitals including Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano, The Medical Center of Plano, The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano, Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano, and Children's Medical Center at Legacy. They also visit numerous outlying sites including dental, chiropractic, neurology, neurosurgery, physical and occupational therapy, surgery, veterinary, optometry, cosmetic dermatology, child development, pharmacy, endoscopy, endocrinology, long-term care facilities, oral surgery, and Oriental medicine.

McLaughlin feels strongly about community service and has infused that element into the Plano West Senior High (PWSH) curriculum. This year the students are working with Hope's Door. She believes all students need to understand that everyone does not have health insurance and that giving back to the community does not require medical skills.

McLaughlin is proud of her former students who include nurses, doctors and chiropractors, but she is even more amazed at the impact of her high school students.

Every student in the program has a rotation at a long-term care facility. One of her students noticed that the long-term care facility staff was unable to converse with a resident.

"My student leaned down and started speaking in Chinese, and the lady said, 'No, no,' and then she started speaking in Vietnamese, and the lady started crying. The staff saw our student speaking to the resident and asked what she was saying. The student made two sets of 20 flashcards with simple phrases, like I am hungry or I would like to lie down, and clipped one on the wheelchair and put one at the main nurse's station. That was worth the 15 years I've been teaching. Who does that? She is 16 years old."

The day the students don their scrubs, McLaughlin tells them that she will treat them like adults.

"We expect a level of maturity because of what they are getting ready to see. We don't set up the situations. This is not ER on TV. McDreamy doesn't come in. They could be in the ER waiting for hours or see a gunshot wound. We try to teach them this is about caring for others. They visit neonatal units and see babies that can fit in their hands. They see things I didn't see in nursing school. I have had parents call and say I can't believe how this class has changed my student."

PWSH student David Sanborn freely admits that he has matured in the program. He recalls hearing about the clinical rotation classes as a student at Frankford Middle School. He could not wait to apply.

"I wanted to find out where in medicine I wanted to study, if at all. I went to every rotation site. My favorite was cardiology. I saw open heart surgery last year three times. I saw a mitral and aortic valve replacement. It was really cool. That is when I decided I wanted to be a cardiologist. You are changing someone's life by the operation. It is so impactful in their lives and the lives of their family. How could you not do that? It is an out-of-this-world experience. My friends are sitting in English, and I am looking at a beating heart," Sanborn said with excitement.

The years go by, but you never forget

Dr. Musacchio graduated from Plano Senior High School (PSHS) in 1994, but he vividly remembers his clinical rotation experiences.

"The first 10 minutes in the ER they had a drug overdose. They pumped her stomach with charcoal and saved her. It was about as dramatic as you can get for a first day. I rode out with ambulances. As a senior in high school, there is nothing cooler than that. We spent three months every Tuesday and Thursday going to a nursing home. My guy was 6 foot 5 inches and could barely stand. I gave him a shower and helped him shave. You learn how important it is to help them and how much work the nurses and nurses aides do. That was a humbling experience. It was a privilege to help those people and see how much in their older years they depend on others."

According to Dr. Musacchio, he earned nurse's aide and EMT basic certifications while he was in the clinical rotation program. He was also trained to be a CPR instructor. Today, he has come full circle. He is glad to be back in Plano and purchased a house a mile from his childhood home and spends Sunday evenings dining with his parents, wife and children.

Even in elementary school, Dr. Musacchio knew he wanted to become a doctor. Though his parents were not physicians, he says they were always extremely supportive.

"My father was the first in the family to go to college. I always wanted to be a neurosurgeon, and I never ventured off the course. What drew me to it was wanting to care for people."

When he was a junior in high school, Dr. Musacchio was in a car accident and fractured his spine.

"That was the end of competitive sports. I completely relate to my patients because of that. To this day I spend most of my time educating my patients so they can understand the options. I think it is a really important thing to empower patients."

Dr. Musacchio believes that minimally invasive surgery will be the norm in the future. He explains people used to have open surgery to remove their gallbladders, and now doctors opt for laparoscopic surgery.

"Now, the spine surgeons are being trained in minimally invasive spine surgery. We are ahead of the curve. Minimally invasive spine surgery is essentially doing traditional spine surgical procedures through much smaller incisions by preserving the muscles and supporting structures of the spine, so that we decompress a nerve but we haven't made an incision that destroyed the muscle tissue. It makes the recoveries quicker, there's less blood loss, and most of it is done as an outpatient. They can come in and have huge impactful surgeries, and they are walking out of the hospital a couple of hours later with their muscles intact."

While he is board certified in neurosurgery by the American Board of Neurological Surgery and enjoys his work in the Center for Spine Care operating room, Dr. Musacchio says "more than 90 percent of the patients won't need surgery."

"Nothing beats when someone comes in with a serious issue and they trust you with their care and you talk about the options. I specialize in minimally invasive spine surgery because patients come in with devastating problems, and you do the surgery and they are back to work in a few days."

Baldasaro is glad that he feels that way. However, if Baldasaro had known before scheduling his first appointment that his neurosurgeon got his first taste of medicine as a PSHS student he might have reconsidered his surgery—for a second anyway.

"There is only one area that we didn't get along. He is a Plano Senior High graduate and I am a Plano East graduate, but I let that slide," a pain-free, Baldasaro said with a chuckle.