Jame Ostinett playing guitar. Photo taken from James Ostinett’s LinkedIn page.

James Ostinett is a Utica University adjunct professor who is a surgical assistant by day and a teacher by night. 

Ostinett, an adjunct lecturer of biology, works at Wynn Hospital as a surgical scrub nurse where he works alongside a surgeon during surgeries, and then heads to the university to teach class.

He has a lot on his plate but continues to do more, such as playing in a band and owning a music studio in Utica where he plays guitar. He also finds time to enjoy numerous sports including baseball, basketball, football, bowling and golf. 

With a knack for making it all look simple, he has a way of juggling so many hobbies and positions. 

“When I was in college I developed a habit of not sleeping, and then I just got used to it,” Ostinett said. “With being on-call and everything I just don’t need more than six hours of sleep a night. It’s when I stop moving that I become lazy.” 

His official title at the hospital is a surgical-scrub first assistant works with orthopedic, spine and podiatry of plastic surgeries.

In the beginning of his career, he actually studied at Hawaii University as a marine biology major. Then he came back to his home state of New York after tearing his rotator cuff that cost him his full-ride scholarship for baseball, where he attended Utica University and studied physical therapy. 

From there he switched paths and decided to study at SUNY Upstate Medical University.

“I didn’t like rehab. I’ve always been more of an anatomy junkie, which is obviously why I am still teaching it,” he said. “I actually wanted to be the one to repair an injury rather than to rehab it.” 

Ostinett teaches two sections of the Anatomy and Physiology lab twice a week at Utica University.

“I actually enjoy teaching more than surgery, and I love surgery,” he said. “For me, teaching is a lot more fulfilling.” 

He feels this way because he gets to send his students out into the world with new knowledge and a better understanding of life than when they first walk in, and he likes to see his students thrive. 

Braden McVicker, a sophomore who is in one of Ostinett’s labs, said he enjoys his classes.

“I love him as a professor. He is extremely helpful and humorous,” McVicker said. “He makes it so easy to learn, and his class is the least stressful out of all of the other ones I take.”

Ben Jantzi, another sophomore in Ostinett’s lab, said “it’s crazy how much he does outside of school.”

“It doesn’t seem like he has much on his plate because he is always so focused on us in class and teaches us so well, otherwise we would’ve never known he did all of this,” Jantzi said. 

Ostinett may make this life of his look easy, but he faces some challenges on a daily basis just like everyone else. 

“The biggest challenge that I face daily is being able to respond to everyone and trying to contact all of them,” he said. “I have 14 surgeons that I have to deal with on a regular basis and two more coming, so I’m getting messages and phone calls from them, and also trying to respond to my students for things such as grading, which makes this number one in my book because I want to be quicker.” 

Ostinett says to “just keep moving” in order to handle all that life throws at you because this is what he does to manage all that he pursues.