3-27-2025 4:04am

Loch Raven Grad

BCPS Close-Up: Braeden Van Scyoc, senior in the PLTW Biomedical Sciences program at Loch Raven High

Already a certified nursing assistant, solidly on his way to becoming a physician assistant

Getting to know Braeden Van Scyoc

College Decision Day is a month and a half away, but Loch Raven High senior Braeden Van Scyoc has already made his decision. This fall, he will begin the highly selective Physician Assistant program at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).

“It’s really rare to find a physician assistant program you can begin at the undergraduate level,” Braeden says. “The RIT program only accepts like 30 to 36 first year students each year – out of about 5,000 applicants. As part of the application process, I was interviewed by a faculty member for about 1.5 hours. They asked why I wanted to be a physician assistant, why I wanted to study at RIT, and how I would show compassion in various scenarios.”

“It’s really rare to find a physician assistant program you can begin at the undergraduate level. The RIT program only accepts like 30 to 36 first year students each year – out of about 5,000 applicants.” – Braeden

Braeden Van Scyoc at Loch Raven High School

At the conclusion of RIT’s five-year program, Braeden will graduate with both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree. As a physician assistant, he will be a licensed medical professional, working under the supervision of a physician, and handling many of the same tasks doctors do, such as performing physical exams, diagnosing and treating illnesses, providing patient education, and managing chronic conditions. According to the American Academy of Physician Associates, the profession was created in the mid-1960s in response to a national shortage of primary care physicians.

As a physician assistant, he will be a licensed medical professional, working under the supervision of a physician, and handling many of the same tasks doctors do, such as performing physical exams, diagnosing and treating illnesses, providing patient education, and managing chronic conditions.

Braeden who attended Pine Grove Elementary and Pine Grove Middle School is now in year four of the Project Lead the Way Biomedical Sciences program at Loch Raven. He was attracted to PLTW program partly because it offers instruction in forensic science and anatomy. Talking to teacher Jessica Galeano helped him confirm that the program was right for him.

“I have wanted to be in the medical field for a long time,” Braeden says, “before that I considered a career in law.”

Visiting RIT

Braeden’s sister, a Loch Raven graduate who had classes with Galeano, is now a nurse. Braeden is pursuing a career as a physician assistant because, as he says, “the field of practice has more scope than nursing. You are just a step away from being a physician, and it will take me just five years to get into a medical field that is in very high demand.”

During January and February 2024, as a high school junior, Braeden completed a certified nursing assistant (CNA) license program at CCBC Essex and then, from March to April, he completed the clinical part of the program at the Stella Maris Long Term Care facility in Timonium.

As a high school junior, Braeden completed a certified nursing assistant license program at CCBC Essex and the Stella Maris Long Term Care facility.

“I enjoyed the opportunity to take vitals and take care of patients,” he says, noting that he is too young to work as a CNA.

“During my second year in PLTW, we learned a lot of anatomy,” Braeden says, “that prepared me with a lot of prior knowledge for the CNA course. Last year, we studied a lot about disease prevention, which was also very helpful.”

Braeden in class, at his internship, participating in Model UN, and at a Ravens game with his sister

This year, Braeden is interning in University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center’ s emergency department. “I do a lot of restocking, making beds, and transferring pediatric patients up to the pediatric floor, and I get to observe medical folks and ask lots of questions.”

He is also excited that this year he was able to conduct some research, which is one of his strong interests. “This was the year to dig into research,” he says. “I was able to study how music affects a person’s respiration rate. I found that rock music makes the rate go up, while classical music makes the rate go down or stay the same.”

Beyond his work in PLTW, Braeden is active in Loch Raven’s National Honor Society, National English Honor Society, and Model UN program. A music fan, he listens to SZA every day, and enjoys reading, hiking, working out at the gym, and playing video games.