SPECIAL HONORS: Lab Technician
Rachel Van Aken, neurophysiologist and supervisor at the Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center (Photo by Jay Paul)
Waiting tables can be good preparation for a medical career. Just ask Rachel Van Aken.
“Having that experience and taking care of people helped me tune in to how patients perceive and take things,” Van Aken says. “It helped me read people better when I entered this field.”
A self-described workaholic, Van Aken is a neurophysiologist and supervisor in the neurology department at the Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center. The Detroit native began her medical career in 2009 in Richmond at the VCU Medical Center, then made the move last year to McGuire. She still picks up shifts at VCU as needed.
Neurologist Kenichiro Ono, who has worked with Van Aken at both medical centers, nominated her for the Special Honor. Ono says that he had never felt the need to nominate someone for the award before but responded as soon as he received the survey because Van Aken was the first person he thought of.
“She has become an advocate for doing more than just the required,” Ono says. “She will certainly stay later at work or push other people to do more than the minimum. She also advocates to treat the veterans in a kinder way.”
When Van Aken was first offered the position at the VA, she was leery of the negative press that the Veterans Administration facilities have received nationally. However, instead of shying away, she embraced it as a challenge to do her part.
Ono and Van Aken work in neurology. Van Aken runs intraoperative monitoring during surgeries that provides views of different portions of the nervous system. The test allows doctors to see if there is anything going on that could be damaging to the patient, she says.
“I really do care about the patients and what they’re going through,” Van Aken says. “I always imagine they’re my family, so I give them the best test that they can get. I make it comfortable, and make sure everyone is on the same page.”
She earned a bachelor’s in human biology in 2006 from Michigan State University. It was a tough time economically in Detroit, so she worked in restaurants for a while. She found work with a company that provided interoperative monitoring, but it was a mobile outfit that traveled.
“Because of the recession I had a friend who had worked with the same travel company, and she said I should check it out,” she says. “So I did, and I found it was interesting.”
In 2009, she began working the neurophysiology department at VCU before making the switch last year to McGuire.
Van Aken is working to upgrade McGuire’s epilepsy monitoring unit. She plans on staying in Richmond five years as the upgrade continues, but eventually wants to return to Detroit.
“I miss my family, but I really would like to help get this place underway,” she says.
