Mountain Hawk Heroes: Softball Alum Morgan Decker
6/16/2020 9:12:00 PM | Softball, Student Athlete, Support, Features, Flight 45, Intellectual Development
Every Wednesday, Lehigh Athletics, Lehigh Valley Health Network and Coordinated Health is proud to recognize a Mountain Hawk Hero - someone associated with Lehigh Athletics who is making a difference in the medical field. We continue today with Lehigh softball alum Morgan Decker '16.
Previous Mountain Hawk Heroes
June 10: Jim Guzzo (Former Quarterback)
June 3: Amina Affini (Women's Basketball Alum)Â
May 27: Natalie Krane (Women's Soccer Alum)
May 20: Tricia Klein (Women's Golf Assistant Coach)
By: Justin Lafleur, Lehigh Sports Communications
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Former Lehigh softball standout Morgan Decker has always been a high achiever in everything she does. At Lehigh, she was not only a Patriot League Player of the Year, but also an Academic All-American.
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That success has continued in her post-Lehigh life, including in her current role as a physician assistant at Abington-Jefferson Hospital in Abington, Pennsylvania, a position she's held since December, 2019.
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"The hospital isn't far from where I live and where I'm from," said Decker. "I work in the emergency department. I see my own patients and take care of their needs."
Â
Becoming a PA takes years of schooling and plenty of commitment. What allowed Decker to push through?
Â
A desire to learn, grow and lead – a desire that blossomed as a Lehigh student-athlete.
Â
"At Lehigh, there was no acceptance of complacency," she said. "You were always expected to be pushing to be the best version of yourself every single day. Acknowledging there's always something new to learn – and there's always a different way you can grow, develop and challenge yourself – was fostered while I was at Lehigh. Those values have carried over into my professional life."
Â
Decker was a behavioral neuroscience major, but all along, she was pretty set on working in the medical field post-graduation.
Â
"My mom is a nurse in the cardiovascular operating room and has been in nursing since I can even remember. I was always drawn to the stories she would have from work and the interesting things about the human body," said Decker. "I was always fascinated in the way that all these things come together to make a person work. I also really liked the sciences and tried to explore all possible options from a science background, whether that's medicine, research or education. I tried to take opportunities Lehigh provided to explore those routes.
Â
"I realized medicine was where I was going to fit in best and where my interest was most significant."
Â
After graduating Lehigh in 2016 as a four-time All-Patriot League honoree and three-time Academic All-League member (first-years aren't eligible), Decker remained at Lehigh.
Â
"I got my master's in educational leadership," she said. "While I was doing that, I was working as a nurses' aid in an assistant living facility, as well as a scribe in the emergency department at the Aria-Jefferson Hospitals. As a scribe, you assist with all the medical charting for the doctors to help them maximize their efficiency and be able to see and help as many patients as possible."
Â
Those two jobs gave Decker the hands-on medical experience needed to apply for physician assistant school, ending up at nearby DeSales University.
Â
As Decker described, the end goal of PA school is to be able to take care of people who are at their most vulnerable.
Â
"When patients are sick and in the hospital, they're leaning and relying on you," said Decker. "I work in conjunction with the attending physicians to help provide care because no one's ever going to know everything all the time. Medicine is such a changing and evolving profession that you have to constantly be improving on your skills, refreshing your knowledge base and having that team-oriented skill set which I've developed over years of athletics.
Â
"Working together and thinking of the whole in a broader spectrum, rather than just focusing on yourself, is a lesson learned from athletics that's applicable to the medical field."
Â
To get through any medical program requires a large time commitment, and that was no different for Decker.
Â
"If it's not something you're willing to dedicate a significant amount of energy into, you're not going to make it past the first couple months," she said. "For two years, you really don't have a life. You miss holidays, you miss vacations and you miss a lot of things because it's so rigorous and time consuming. But it's a positive in the sense that unless you're committed to it, you're not going to do it. It's a good way to weed out the people who aren't passionate about it."
Â
As time has passed, Decker's passion has only continued to grow… and it all ties back to people.
Â
"You need to know how to ask the right questions of your patient, weed through information to get what's relevant and navigate all the options about what could possibly be going on," she said. "What is the whole picture telling you?
Â
"There are classes in PA school that focus on history-taking as well as your physical exam skills. That can really guide your medical decision-making."
Â
Decker is certainly glad she made the decision to attend Lehigh and be part of the Lehigh softball family.
Â
"Team is very important to me," she said. "Someone recently asked me why I went to PA school and not medical school…"
Â
The answer?
Â
"I really like the role the physician assistant plays within a team," said Decker. "I'm much better in a team setting than solo. Not that I'm not competent solo, but I'd much rather be working with other people. Lehigh did a great job of fostering that in me."
Â
Lehigh also fostered a growth mindset in Decker, like all its student-athletes.
Â
"Morgan had a very difficult major and from day one, she understood that the softball team needed to rely on her performance," said Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan. "Because of the combined academic and softball demands, Morgan honed her ability to focus on the task at hand. And that is part of the reason why she is doing such incredible work right now."
Â
Another reason Decker is doing incredible work is the way she tackles every day.
Â
"Since I'm a new PA and have so much yet to absorb, every day is an opportunity to learn," she said. "I may see a patient in which I haven't seen that disease present in a certain way before. Or maybe I'm going to see something I've never really experienced before. I feel like I'm truly learning something every single day.
Â
"Also, the people I work with at Abington-Jefferson have been phenomenal, really helping me grow and develop as a provider. They are really good people who are super supportive, so being surrounded by them is also very motivating."
Â
The Mountain Hawks' career leader in home runs (28) has never needed extra motivation, regardless of setting. She loves what she's doing, but will never be complacent.
Â
"The next few years will be about continuing to grow as a clinician and provider, harnessing my skills and harnessing my clinical judgement," said Decker. "Develop a strong sense in those areas, the things you can't really learn in school. Those are my goals for the next five to 10 years, then on the other side of that, I would like to give that back somehow, most likely in a teaching capacity."
Â
Decker remains connected with the Lehigh softball and Lehigh Athletics community, giving back in a number of ways, which included taking part in a Young Alumni event this fall.
Â
Lehigh will always hold a special place in Decker's heart.
Â
"The Lehigh softball family is so strong and runs so deep," she said. "Those girls will forever be a part of my life, whether I talk to them once a year, once a month or once a week. They're always going to be people I rely on and trust, and have deep love and respect for. I've been to their weddings, I've seen them have babies, I've seen them grow as professionals and I've seen them grow as human beings.
Â
"I love that we're all still close and that Coach Troyan and the rest of the coaching staff have made that relationship and family aspect of Lehigh softball a very important facet of the experience."
Â
At her core, Decker is the same person she was as a first-year Lehigh student… a high-achiever. But by simply being engrained in the Lehigh student-athlete experience, she's better.
Â
And today, those reaping the benefits are Decker's patients.
Â
"In medicine, my job is to help people," she said. "Every day, I'm trying to help people navigate some of the most challenging times in their lives."
Â
"Morgan is committed to bringing her best on a daily basis," said Troyan. "It is the habit of champions. So whether it was on the softball diamond, or now in the emergency room, Morgan is wired to achieve. She combines innate ability with the desire to constantly improve.
Â
"It is certainly a recipe for success."
Â
Medical knowledge and skills are essential for success, but the human element of any medical professional is what turns a good physician assistant into a great physician assistant.
Â
"Offering a patient some compassion and a hand to hold during tough times, as well as the knowledge and experience to help them get through it, is an aspect of medicine I'm really drawn to," said Decker.
Â
Medicine is something she was drawn to, and is now excelling in.
Â
It's no coincidence Decker is working her way towards greatness. That's all she knows.
Â
Previous Mountain Hawk Heroes
June 10: Jim Guzzo (Former Quarterback)
June 3: Amina Affini (Women's Basketball Alum)Â
May 27: Natalie Krane (Women's Soccer Alum)
May 20: Tricia Klein (Women's Golf Assistant Coach)
By: Justin Lafleur, Lehigh Sports Communications
Â
Former Lehigh softball standout Morgan Decker has always been a high achiever in everything she does. At Lehigh, she was not only a Patriot League Player of the Year, but also an Academic All-American.
Â
That success has continued in her post-Lehigh life, including in her current role as a physician assistant at Abington-Jefferson Hospital in Abington, Pennsylvania, a position she's held since December, 2019.
Â
"The hospital isn't far from where I live and where I'm from," said Decker. "I work in the emergency department. I see my own patients and take care of their needs."
Â
Becoming a PA takes years of schooling and plenty of commitment. What allowed Decker to push through?
Â
A desire to learn, grow and lead – a desire that blossomed as a Lehigh student-athlete.
Â
"At Lehigh, there was no acceptance of complacency," she said. "You were always expected to be pushing to be the best version of yourself every single day. Acknowledging there's always something new to learn – and there's always a different way you can grow, develop and challenge yourself – was fostered while I was at Lehigh. Those values have carried over into my professional life."
Â
Decker was a behavioral neuroscience major, but all along, she was pretty set on working in the medical field post-graduation.
Â
"My mom is a nurse in the cardiovascular operating room and has been in nursing since I can even remember. I was always drawn to the stories she would have from work and the interesting things about the human body," said Decker. "I was always fascinated in the way that all these things come together to make a person work. I also really liked the sciences and tried to explore all possible options from a science background, whether that's medicine, research or education. I tried to take opportunities Lehigh provided to explore those routes.
Â
"I realized medicine was where I was going to fit in best and where my interest was most significant."
Â
After graduating Lehigh in 2016 as a four-time All-Patriot League honoree and three-time Academic All-League member (first-years aren't eligible), Decker remained at Lehigh.
Â
"I got my master's in educational leadership," she said. "While I was doing that, I was working as a nurses' aid in an assistant living facility, as well as a scribe in the emergency department at the Aria-Jefferson Hospitals. As a scribe, you assist with all the medical charting for the doctors to help them maximize their efficiency and be able to see and help as many patients as possible."
 Those two jobs gave Decker the hands-on medical experience needed to apply for physician assistant school, ending up at nearby DeSales University.
Â
As Decker described, the end goal of PA school is to be able to take care of people who are at their most vulnerable.
Â
"When patients are sick and in the hospital, they're leaning and relying on you," said Decker. "I work in conjunction with the attending physicians to help provide care because no one's ever going to know everything all the time. Medicine is such a changing and evolving profession that you have to constantly be improving on your skills, refreshing your knowledge base and having that team-oriented skill set which I've developed over years of athletics.
Â
"Working together and thinking of the whole in a broader spectrum, rather than just focusing on yourself, is a lesson learned from athletics that's applicable to the medical field."
Â
To get through any medical program requires a large time commitment, and that was no different for Decker.
Â
"If it's not something you're willing to dedicate a significant amount of energy into, you're not going to make it past the first couple months," she said. "For two years, you really don't have a life. You miss holidays, you miss vacations and you miss a lot of things because it's so rigorous and time consuming. But it's a positive in the sense that unless you're committed to it, you're not going to do it. It's a good way to weed out the people who aren't passionate about it."
Â
As time has passed, Decker's passion has only continued to grow… and it all ties back to people.
Â
"You need to know how to ask the right questions of your patient, weed through information to get what's relevant and navigate all the options about what could possibly be going on," she said. "What is the whole picture telling you?
Â
"There are classes in PA school that focus on history-taking as well as your physical exam skills. That can really guide your medical decision-making."
Â
Decker is certainly glad she made the decision to attend Lehigh and be part of the Lehigh softball family.
Â
"Team is very important to me," she said. "Someone recently asked me why I went to PA school and not medical school…"
Â
The answer?
Â
"I really like the role the physician assistant plays within a team," said Decker. "I'm much better in a team setting than solo. Not that I'm not competent solo, but I'd much rather be working with other people. Lehigh did a great job of fostering that in me."
 Lehigh also fostered a growth mindset in Decker, like all its student-athletes.
Â
"Morgan had a very difficult major and from day one, she understood that the softball team needed to rely on her performance," said Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan. "Because of the combined academic and softball demands, Morgan honed her ability to focus on the task at hand. And that is part of the reason why she is doing such incredible work right now."
Â
Another reason Decker is doing incredible work is the way she tackles every day.
Â
"Since I'm a new PA and have so much yet to absorb, every day is an opportunity to learn," she said. "I may see a patient in which I haven't seen that disease present in a certain way before. Or maybe I'm going to see something I've never really experienced before. I feel like I'm truly learning something every single day.
Â
"Also, the people I work with at Abington-Jefferson have been phenomenal, really helping me grow and develop as a provider. They are really good people who are super supportive, so being surrounded by them is also very motivating."
Â
The Mountain Hawks' career leader in home runs (28) has never needed extra motivation, regardless of setting. She loves what she's doing, but will never be complacent.
Â
"The next few years will be about continuing to grow as a clinician and provider, harnessing my skills and harnessing my clinical judgement," said Decker. "Develop a strong sense in those areas, the things you can't really learn in school. Those are my goals for the next five to 10 years, then on the other side of that, I would like to give that back somehow, most likely in a teaching capacity."
Â
Decker remains connected with the Lehigh softball and Lehigh Athletics community, giving back in a number of ways, which included taking part in a Young Alumni event this fall.
Â
Lehigh will always hold a special place in Decker's heart.
Â
"The Lehigh softball family is so strong and runs so deep," she said. "Those girls will forever be a part of my life, whether I talk to them once a year, once a month or once a week. They're always going to be people I rely on and trust, and have deep love and respect for. I've been to their weddings, I've seen them have babies, I've seen them grow as professionals and I've seen them grow as human beings.
 "I love that we're all still close and that Coach Troyan and the rest of the coaching staff have made that relationship and family aspect of Lehigh softball a very important facet of the experience."
Â
At her core, Decker is the same person she was as a first-year Lehigh student… a high-achiever. But by simply being engrained in the Lehigh student-athlete experience, she's better.
Â
And today, those reaping the benefits are Decker's patients.
Â
"In medicine, my job is to help people," she said. "Every day, I'm trying to help people navigate some of the most challenging times in their lives."
Â
"Morgan is committed to bringing her best on a daily basis," said Troyan. "It is the habit of champions. So whether it was on the softball diamond, or now in the emergency room, Morgan is wired to achieve. She combines innate ability with the desire to constantly improve.
Â
"It is certainly a recipe for success."
Â
Medical knowledge and skills are essential for success, but the human element of any medical professional is what turns a good physician assistant into a great physician assistant.
Â
"Offering a patient some compassion and a hand to hold during tough times, as well as the knowledge and experience to help them get through it, is an aspect of medicine I'm really drawn to," said Decker.
Â
Medicine is something she was drawn to, and is now excelling in.
Â
It's no coincidence Decker is working her way towards greatness. That's all she knows.
Â
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