Spotlight on Mimi Schultz
It must be in the genes for child life specialist Mimi Schultz to be a versatile "player" in a game such as child life. This is especially true in an outpatient, multispecialty clinic like ours in Abilene.
It must be in the genes for child life specialist Mimi Schultz to be a versatile "player" in a game such as child life. This is especially true in an outpatient, multispecialty clinic like ours in Abilene.
You see, in the 1940s, Mimi's dad played professional football back in the ol' leatherhead days where players regularly played on both offense and defense. Even though he'd learn the plays and studied the other team, the ability to be versatile and turn on a dime depending upon the way the play was going was a necessity.
Similarly, Mimi's patients on any given day run the full spectrum of specialties seen, from endocrinology to H/O and all those in-between. So, she does her homework for the day by reviewing the slate of patients, their anticipated emotional and psychosocial needs and the "why" of their visit. Yet, for all this preparation, she will never fully know if she'll need to pivot in a new direction.
And that's where this inherited trait from her dad likely kicks in. Reading the room and asking questions of the parent. "Sometimes, finding out from the parent that their child recently had an annual exam with shots means they may see that simple stethoscope and think they're going to get another shot," Mimi said. "That's where I get to intervene and work on appropriate distraction and play for the patient."
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