Katie Raftery

Background

About Katie Raftery

I am a dedicated worker with a passion for STEM, language learning, and helping people. Because of my background in a community healthcare setting, I have developed and fine-tuned skills related to resolving conflict, deescalating situations, and building empathy for those around me. I have interpersonal skills that allow me to make connections and build relationships with people from many diverse backgrounds and with many diverse abilities. I also have experience in carefully documenting medical information accurately and efficiently as well as relaying information clearly and concisely to medical providers while advocating for patients. Overall, careful analytical skills and listening skills are two of my strengths I have had the opportunity to build upon given my previous experiences, and I look forward to telling future employers about how I think that they would serve me well in a position. I am also a well-rounded learner with a background in a large array of subjects. I have researched and written individual papers on topics such as the linguistic patterns of the north-central Castilian dialect of Spanish, the molecule N,N-dimethyltryptamine including a structural modification proposal for therapeutic use, the etiology of Steinert's disease concerning DMPK gene mutations, and issues related to special populations in healthcare such as assessing solutions implemented to minimize cultural and language barriers. During my final year at Grand Valley State University, I also developed a presentation based on the international competition 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) comparing the chemotherapy drug Paclitaxel to the targeted drug therapy Bevacizumab in the treatment of Ovarian Cancer which aided my ability to effectively explain scientific jargon in language appropriate to an intelligent but non-specialist audience.