All About Stress

As finals week is approaching for me and I am about to graduate the amount of stress and anxiety I am feeling is sky rocketing. There are so many projects and papers due that I am just trying to schedule out time in my already busy schedule. It is times like these when it is important to take a step back and take control of your stress by following certain steps and processes. It is important when dealing with stress to remember these 10 steps.

1. Avoid caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol

Avoid, or at least reduce, your consumption of nicotine and any drinks containing caffeine and alcohol. Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants and so will increase your level of stress rather than reduce it.

Alcohol is a depressant when taken in large quantities, but acts as a stimulant in smaller quantities. Therefore using alcohol as a way to alleviate stress is not ultimately helpful.

Swap caffeinated and alcoholic drinks for water, herbal teas, or diluted natural fruit juices and aim to keep yourself hydrated as this will enable your body to cope better with stress.

2. Get into Physical Activity

Stressful situations increase the level of stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol in your body.

These are the “fight or flight” hormones that evolution has hard-wired into our brains and which are designed to protect us from immediate bodily harm when we are under threat.  However, stress in the modern age is rarely remedied by a fight or flight response, and so physical exercise can be used as a surrogate to metabolize the excessive stress hormones and restore your body and mind to a calmer, more relaxed state.

When you feel stressed and tense, go for a brisk walk in fresh air.  Try to incorporate some physical activity into your daily routine on a regular basis, either before or after work, or at lunchtime.  Regular physical activity will also improve the quality of your sleep.

3. Get more sleep

Avoid caffeine during the evening, as well as excessive alcohol if you know that this leads to disturbed sleep. Stop doing any mentally demanding work several hours before going to bed so that you give your brain time to calm down. Try taking a warm bath or reading a calming, undemanding book for a few minutes to relax your body, tire your eyes and help you forget about the things that worry you.

You should also aim to go to bed at roughly the same time each day so that your mind and body get used to a predictable bedtime routine.

4. Try relaxation tips

Each day, try to relax with a stress reduction technique.  There are many tried and tested ways to reduce stress so try a few and see what works best for you.

5. Talk to someone

Stress can cloud your judgement and prevent you from seeing things clearly. Talking things through with a friend, work colleague, or even a trained professional, can help you find solutions to your stress and put your problems into perspective.

6. Keep a stress diary

Keeping a stress diary for a few weeks is an effective stress management tool as it will help you become more aware of the situations which cause you to become stressed.

7. Take control

Stress can be triggered by a problem that may on the surface seem impossible to solve. Learning how to find solutions to your problems will help you feel more in control thereby lowering your level of stress.

One problem-solving technique involves writing down the problem and coming up with as many possible solutions as you can. Decide on the good and bad points of each one and select the best solution. Write down each step that you need to take as part of the solution: what will be done, how will it be done, when will it be done, who is involved and where will it take place.

8. Manage your time

Make a list of all the things that you need to do and list them in order of genuine priority. Note what tasks you need to do personally and what can be delegated to others to do. Record which tasks need to be done immediately, in the next week, in the next month, or when time allows.

9. Learn to say “no”

A common cause of stress is having too much to do and too little time in which to do it.  And yet in this situation, many people will still agree to take on additional responsibility.  Learning to say “No” to additional or unimportant requests will help to reduce your level of stress, and may also help you develop more self-confidence.

10. If you get sick REST

If you are feeling unwell, do not feel that you have to carry on regardless. A short spell of rest will enable the body to recover faster.

Practicing these 10 steps is essential to your health during stressful times. Read more at: https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/stress-tips.html to see how these steps can really benefit you and different examples. I hope these tips will help you as they have helped me in the past and will help me in the next week coming up!

See you all again soon!

XoXo,

C

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read more at: https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/stress-tips.html

Being A Medical Scribe

When I started school at UTSA I learned about an opportunity for students to work in the medical field without having to be certified in anything. I figured this would be great experience for me and help me gain some knowledge that I did not have previously. Respiratory Care does not require that students have previous experience, but I figured doing this opportunity would put me ahead of other candidates.

When I first applied they told me that I had the opportunity to choose between working in the Emergency Room or in a clinical setting. I chose to work in the clinical setting because I wanted to make sure how I felt about more internal medicine and the office type setting. After you go through the interview process they will offer you the chance to go to classroom training. This is really difficult because you have to learn medical terminology, medications, labs, ICD-10 codes, etc. in a matter of 3 days. It takes a lot of memorization and a lot of studying in order to pass the classroom training. In my training class I was fortunate enough to be the only person to pass the training. I studied my butt off though for those three days! I made flashcards on flashcards so that information will forever be imbedded in my brain.

After passing classroom training I moved on to clinical training for three days. This is where you shadow a scribe and then on the last day you are doing the scribing yourself for the first time! It was definitely a nerve wrecking experience, but I am a quick learner and was able to pick up on the software pretty quickly. You have to be able to type fast and be able to switch back and forth between sections of the chart quickly depending on how the conversation between the doctor and the patient is going.

Now that I have described the whole training process on how to be a scribe I should probably inform you all on what a scribe actually is. A scribe is a not a medical professional, but simply charts for the physician while in the room during the encounter. The scribe does not speak to the patients or the doctor while in the room they just simple type what the patient is saying and or complaining about. Then they must order all the medications, labs, and imaging that the doctor orders for that specific appointment. The doctor could just ask you to order their labs from their previous appointment and the scribe must be able to look through old charts and understand medications for certain diseases.

The specialties of a medical scribe are as follows:

• Emergency Department
• Hospital-Based
• Outpatient Clinics
• EMR Transition and Implementation
• Care Coordination
• Patient Experience Coordination
• Compliance

Having medical scribes increases the productivity of the physician by almost 50% and helps them complete paperwork in a much more timely manner. My experience as a scribe has made me much more efficient with my medical terms and also my knowledge of medications and labs. This experience has also paid off in the classroom. In my anatomy and medical related classes I already have a lot of knowledge that most of  my classmates are just seeing for the first time.

To say the least I am very grateful for my time spent as a medical scribe and I hope that it pays off in my journey towards becoming a respiratory therapist. Cant wait to see you all back next time for my final blog post!

XoXo,

C

Smoking Kills

Last week I sat down and wrote about asthma and how people who are diagnosed can live a better lifestyle with asthma. Sometimes asthma is hereditary and sometimes it happens late onset. One of the causes of late onset asthma as well as other lung diseases is cigarette smoking. The top 10 worst diseases can all be caused by cigarette smoking or cigarette smoking can make 10x worse.

1. Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is one of the deadliest cancers and its main cause is smoking. Smoking is responsible for 87% of lung cancer deaths. This is a majority of the cases due to just smoking cigarettes.

2. COPD

COPD is an obstructive lung disease that makes breathing so much harder. This disease leads to early death in most patients and the type of lifestyle is very difficult. Its hard to get up out of bed and walk to the bathroom without feeling like your lungs are going to collapse. 80% of cases are due to cigarette smoking and it is the third leading cause of death in the United States.

3. Heart Disease

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and has been for a few years now. This is reflected among the lifestyles we choose. While smoking is not the only cause of heart disease it is one of the main causes. Less blood and oxygen are allowed to flow to your heart because smoking constricts your arteries and veins.

4. Stroke

This is related to #3. Stroke is caused by a blockage of arteries to the brain. Smoking as shown before constricts your arteries and veins, which slows down blood and oxygen flow. Strokes if not caught early enough can cause long term disability and brain damage.

5. Asthma

Ahh here is my example from last week’s blog post. Smoking is a main trigger for asthma smokers and will make it harder to breathe. Asthma affects almost 25 million Americans and majority of those patients are smokers. If you are a patient who has asthma and has never smoked before it will just make your asthma worse.

6. Reproductive Effects

Smoking in women can cause many different reproductive issues. One being ectopic pregnancies where the fertilized egg is outside the uterus. This can be life threatening for the mother. Smoking also will reduce fertility and chances of getting pregnant at all.

7. Premature Babies

Mother’s should never smoke or drink while being pregnant, but if they choose to do so in the early months it can also have affects on the baby. This can cause the baby to be born too early and too small. This gives the babies first few months of life very difficult. Some babies may not even survive if they are too small to do things on their own.

8. Diabetes

While diabetes has other causes one of the causes can be smoking. The chances of getting diabetes for a smoker is 30-40% higher than that of a non smoker. Diabetes can cause other complications such as renal failure, nerve damage, loss of sight. These complications can increase if you are a smoker.

9. Blindness

One of the main causes of macular degeneration or loss of sight is smoking. Smoking can also cause cataracts, which make your vision cloudy and blurry until eventually you cant see anymore.

10. Other Cancers

Based on studies and research they have found that smoking causes over 10 different types of cancers. Those including liver, colorectal, prostate, renal, etc. Smoking has the ability to cause secondary cancers so even if you are primarily diagnosed with lung cancer it can spread to your liver or kidneys as well.

The one thing all of these diseases have in common is that they are preventable if you choose not to smoke cigarettes. If you are someone who is addicted to smoking there are many different options for you to quit smoking because it is never too late to quit. Give your lungs a chance to be healthy and breathe.  Medline plus is a website that has tons of information about smoking cessation and tips for quitting. There are also classes that are hosted around communities to help patients quit smoking because it is such a huge cause of death, yet such a preventable cause. You can visit

https://medlineplus.gov/quittingsmoking.html for tips and information.

Please visit me back next time to hear more about respiratory care.

Xoxo,

C

Asthma

What is Asthma?

As I study to become a Respiratory Therapist I have learned about the major diseases and medications that are used mainly in respiratory care. One of the leading respiratory problems is asthma and it can be seen in all ages of the spectrum. Asthma is known as inflammation and narrowing of the air passageways. Some people are born with asthma and some people develop over the span of their lifetime. There are many “triggers” that can onset asthma attacks. These triggers include common cold, stress, changes in weather, dust, smoke, and pet dander. One reason asthma is so common in South Texas is due to all the allergies and changes of weather we deal with. Whenever the pollen or cedar is really high we have so many patients coming in having trouble breathing and wheezing or their chest is tightening up. It is a very scary feeling to suddenly have your breath taken away. Have you ever felt what it feels like to have the wind knocked out of you? Well that is what it can feel like for asthma patients at any point of the day.

How to diagnose and treat?

Each patient must be properly diagnosed with asthma by their health care professional before they start receiving treatment, as with most cases. First the physician will start off with asking medical history questions such as smoking history, allergies, family history, etc. Once they assess the history they will move on to the  breathing tests. There are several different types of test that can be performed, but the most common is a spirometry test. The spirometry test uses a spirometer to measure the amount of air and how fast you can blow into the tube. This helps let a physician know what kind of problems the lungs are having.

Once they have diagnosed your asthma there are different treatment options based on the severity of the asthma. There are bronchodilators, anti-inflammatories, combination medicines, and antibiotics.

• Bronchodilators- these medications help relax the muscles around the airways, which allows them to open more. When your airways are more open the easier it is to breathe. There are short-acting and long-acting prescriptions depending on the case.
• Anti-Inflammatories- these medications help reduce swelling and mucus production in the airways. They can also be known as steroid medications. When the mucus production is limited and the swelling is reduced it makes it easier to breathe.
• Combination Medicines- these are a combination of an inhaled bronchodilator and inhaled anti-inflammatory.
• Antibiotics- these are used more for when there are triggers or flare ups in the patients asthma that can be caused by bacterial or viral infection. It is important that you compete the prescription even if you start to feel better in case the bacteria or virus has not fully been eliminated.

It is very important as an asthma patient that you take your medications daily and are never without your inhalant. You never know what could trigger your asthma or where you will be when you have an attack. That is why it is important to always be prepared.

Living with Asthma

As you can see from above there is no cure for asthma, but there are many treatment options to help living with asthma easier. There are six steps that a patient can take in order to manager their asthma in their lives. The six steps are as follows:

1. Make your medical visits more productive
2. Create an asthma management plan
3. Assess and monitor your control
4. Understand your medication
5. Reduce asthma triggers
6. Learn asthma self-management skills

These steps are listed on The American Lung Assocation at http://www.lung.org. This website also lists a bunch of important information about COPD, pnuemonia, lung cancer, and other lung related issues.

For parents who have children with asthma it can be very scary to deal with. This website is also very helpful with tips to stay on top of your kids asthma and help them prevent triggers. It is important that you have your pediatrician diagnose your child with asthma because the symptoms can be hard to differentiate from problems in children.

I hope that today you enjoyed reading about asthma and ways to live your life to the fullest with asthma. Join me back next time for the effects of smoking on the lungs!

 

Xoxo,

C

 

 

 

Is This For Me?

When I first thought about what I wanted to do when I was older I always thought I was going to be a doctor in family medicine. As I got older I found myself transitioning from wanting to be a doctor to wanting to be a pharmacist. After putting all my efforts into being a pharmacist I started to think maybe the stress of all this isn’t worth it to me and am I really going to be happy doing this for the rest of my life? There is so much pressure to choose your career so early on without having any experience in the field. We are going blindly into our futures by saying, “oh, well I might like this”. But how do we actually know until we do it?

My first two years of college I was so busy with fitness attendant job part-time and school that I hadn’t even thought about trying to get shadowing experience for what I was going to be doing, which at the time was still Pharmacy. Long story short I did not get accepted into the program on my first try and I thought to myself, “okay maybe this is a sign it was not meant to be”.  I struggled because I ultimately knew I wanted to be in the medical field, I just didn’t know what exactly was my calling. I just knew it was not nursing. From there I started doing research on different types of entry level careers in the medical field and I also searched up and coming careers in the medical field. I came across Physician’s Assistant and did some more research on the career. The salary was nice, which I liked and figured well why don’t I give this a go.

 

When i transferred to UTSA from the community college I was attending I was amazed with the amount of counseling and advice that they really had to offer about my future. It was there that I talked to an advisor from the health professions department and she told me, ” you are not cut out to be a Physician’s Assistant”. This was all just from a glance at my transcripts and barely sitting down for 5 seconds. This REALLY made my head spin. I thought if I’m not cut out to do this then what am I going to do because my whole life I had planned on being an important figure in the medical field and making money coming out of school. At first, I was not going to let this advisor discourage me I was going to work my butt off and get my GPA up to that 4.0 and do whatever else was necessary to become a Physician’s Assistant.

That Fall I found an opportunity through UTSA to become a medical scribe and get experience working in the clinics and hospitals. I thought this for sure would help get my foot in the door and was super excited about starting my experience. When i got to the clinics it was more of a family medicine type setting, which is what I thought I wanted to be doing. Well, turns out I actually hated working in the clinics because every day was the same. You were treating the same patients every 3 months or 6 months for either their diabetes, hypertension, or hyperlipidemia. The doctors who worked there did not enjoy their jobs either, which made me look back and think that if they are that unhappy is this job and the money really worth it?

I continued to scribe for the following year just to gain some beneficial experience. While I was participating in a science conference at school we had a speaker from the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio come talk to us about an upcoming program in a Master’s of Respiratory Care. I had never really dealt with respiratory therapist working in the clinics because they mainly work in the ER departments of hospitals. Anyways, his story really went through to me because it was a lot like mine. He started off wanting to make money and help people at the same time, but was struggling with finding his niche in the medical field. He went on and on about this program and how it changed his life and how even though he is making less he is 10x more happy than he was before. I immediately went home and did some research on the program and I had all the pre-requisites almost completed! I thought maybe this is my fit.

Just a few days ago I had to opportunity to attend an open house at the school to see more about the program. I had to opportunity to talk with current students and faculty about their experiences and what they think of the field. It was an amazing experience and I can say that I am very excited for my future and hope that I will be joining the program soon!

Tune back next week to hear about popular equipment used by Respiratory Therapists!

 

Xoxo,

C

 

Ethical Controversy

When it comes to working as a health care professional you deal with many cases and scenarios that are ethical dilemmas. You have a duty to the patient to provide a service and sometimes you may feel that what is being done to a patient is unethical. Where do we draw the line?

I am going to discuss a certain situation that is seen quite commonly as a Respiratory Therapist. Many times working with small children who have asthma it can be directly related to their at home lifestyle. Mom or dad usually smokes in the home and around the child and the child is beginning to show symptoms of respiratory problems.

As a professional you must do whatever it takes to help the patient and do no further harm, but what do you do if you know the mother or father is causing their child’s illness? How do you approach them? It is important that you look at all the factors of the situation. Has the child been brought in for asthma problems before? If so, how long ago and what was the last treatment plan? Lets say in this case that the child had been brought in two months ago complaining of shortness of breath and chest pains. His mom admits to smoking at least 1 pack of cigarettes daily around her child. As you look more into the patients chart you see that the last physician asked the mother to stop smoking around her child to see if his symptoms would subside. Clearly the mother has no intention of quitting smoking and she technically has every right to smoke. How do you handle this?

First, I would start off by talking to the mother privately about her smoking habits and see how often she smokes in front of her child. The best is to be understanding and educate your patients because the mother may not realize that she is harming her child. First educate her on the benefits of cessation of smoking and how the hospital can be available to her as an aid. If the mother is not receptive to the advice and help then it is up to the health professional to take the matters up with child services. If the health care professional thinks the parent is doing enough harm to the child and has no intention of slowing down or is just not acknowledging that it is a problem then it is up to you to do your part in making sure the patient is taken care of.

This scenario is not the only one where ethical controversy comes into play in health care. Many people think that ethics is just knowing right from wrong and it is in a sense, but every situation has different details that lead to the right answer. Sometimes it isn’t about what you as an individual thinks is ethical, but what your company thinks is ethical and you must take on their viewpoints on things.

It takes a special type of person to be able to handle the pressure of knowing how to act in these kinds of situations because your career depends on it. I found a website that is helpful in laying out common scenarios for Respiratory Therapists and how they should handle these situations if they came across them. The website is http://www.aarc.org and it is specifically for Respiratory Care. They cover all sorts of stuff from new discoveries in Respiratory to current events.

Thank you for viewing in with me today and hopefully caused you to think a little more deeply on ethical issues in our health care. Tune back next week for my post about new and upcoming technology in Respiratory Care.

XoXo,

C

A Look into the life of a RT

As I have been going along this journey of becoming a Respiratory Therapist (RT) I have always been curious of how it is going to feel when i finally “made it”.  My cousin, Emily Rammer is a Certified RT and has plenty of experience in the field. I asked her if she would be willing to sit down with me and have a brief interview about her experiences in the field and what she finds intriguing about working with patients. I have decided to share with y’all her words and hope you enjoy reading 🙂

Interview:

Me: Hi Emily! Thank you for meeting with me today to discuss your career and what you feel about the field.

Emily: Thank you for having me I am happy to be here and to give my insight on the field!

Me: How long have you been working in Respiratory Care?

Emily: I have been working in Respiratory Care since 2008. I got my Bachelor’s in Respiratory Care from St. Paul College and started working as a RT.

Me: What led you to get into Respiratory Therapy?

Emily: I first wanted to be a nurse because our grandmother was a nurse and many of our aunts are nurses, so I thought that was what I was meant to do. But, I found that being in a speciality like Respiratory is so rewarding and less strenuous than nursing because they have such a wide range to work with.

Me: What are some qualities you think a striving respiratory therapist should possess?

Emily: I think it is very important that the person can work well under pressure because most respiratory therapists start off working in the ER in the ICU (intensive care unit). Many people’s lives are at stake when brought into the hospital and one must be able to work efficiently with a team under stress.

Me: What part of respiratory therapy do you find particularly interesting?

Emily: I think that the new technology with CPAP and the “snore” machines is really cool. I have been doing work in sleep studies and monitoring patients breathing over night. Many people who snore stop breathing multiple times per minute and the CPAP machines are meant to give them enough oxygen intake to prevent snoring.

Me: Is there a particular situation you remember where you made a mistake and had to bounce back from it?

Emily: Respiratory has a lot of room for error because you are having to do quick calculations for oxygen % and how much each patient should be getting daily. Sometimes you can miscalculate which can lead to major issues for the patient if they are either getting too much oxygen or not enough.

Me: What do you think is the hardest thing for people to get adjusted to in respiratory therapy?

Emily: I think being desensitized to the fact that you cannot change some situations no matter how hard you tried. You are going to experience death and sometimes that takes time to stop having those feelings coming home with you.

Me: Thank you so much for meeting with me today. I have felt that your answers have given me a good idea of what I am getting myself into and that I am meant to work in this field. Thank you for being honest and taking time out of your day!

Emily: Yes! Of Course! I loved getting to share my experiences with you and what I find important. I think you will be a great RT and am looking forward to maybe hearing your stories one day.

After my interview with Emily I was more assured than ever that I am going into the right field for myself. What she was saying about handling every situation as it is and that sometimes you cannot control everything is something important for everyone working in the medical field to remember. I am hoping that in the future I can meet with more professionals from my field and see what their individual experiences were like compared to my cousins.

Once again thank you for tuning into my blog this week and reading more about my profession goals. I hope to see you back next week!

XOXO,

C

 

5 Ways to Introduce a Professional Brand

Hello! Welcome back! This week I am going to write about the importance and how to define a personal brand, especially in the medical field. A personal brand is the presence you give on and offline that promotes your strengths and skills in your field. Once you have decided what strengths and skills you want to show off you must find a way to showcase these skills in a professional way. I am going to give you 5 tips I found that help create and clean up your professional brand.

5 Ways to Create the Best Professional Brand:

1. Google Yourself

I know this may sound odd, but try typing your name into google and see what pops up. Perhaps, it is something you would not like your boss or peers to see or maybe your name does not even pop up at all. This is a good start for creating your personal brand. You want your online presence to say something about you professionally. Many companies will start by searching who you are to get an idea of a face to a name. Start off by untagging yourself in any inappropriate photos on Facebook. This could potentially hurt you in future job searching if pictures from you going out with your friends is the first thing that pops up to an employer.

2. Be the First to Arrive

As a professional in the medical field you will mostly be sitting through lectures and conferences about the new and upcoming procedures, etc. It is important that you arrive early and sit near the front. Being punctual and choosing your seating  says a lot about your interest in the topic and how you value your time as a professional. Arriving early also gives you the opportunity to introduce yourself and speak to other professionals in your field.

3. Always Keep Learning

To keep up your professional brand you must continue to keep building your credibility. You can do so by always expanding your knowledge and research in the medical field. A good example of this is Francisco G. Ciggarroa, M.D. He is one of the lead surgeons and president of the UT Health Science Center. He has created many websites that list his works, about his life, joining his research projects, etc. He makes himself to available to the public, which helps build his credibility. He is an excellent example of how your professional brand should exist in the medical field.

4. Use Your Full Name

How many Courtney’s do you know in your life? I’m sure a few right! That is why it is important to use your first and last name while introducing yourself or even referring to yourself. When employers are first meeting you they need to be able to remember you from the other Courtney applying for the same job. Also as a medical professional remembering a doctor’s full name is always important. You would want your patients to remember your full name it also makes it more personal for them as well.

5. Get Involved

Whether you are looking for a job or already have a job it is important to get involved in events related to your field. If your dream job is hosting volunteer events or ways to get experience in the field by all means take the opportunity to get your face and name out there. Also, you might meet future colleagues along the way who are in the same boat as you. By getting involved in your community you are just putting your face out there and making yourself available to more opportunities. You never know who you might encounter on any given day.

As for my specific field of Respiratory Therapy I found a really interesting blog called http://respiratorytherapycave.blogspot.com/ . Here the author gives examples of a daily work day of a respiratory therapist and gives a little insight on what the career is like. Not many Respiratory Therapists are putting out an online presence and I think it would be cool if I could be one of the firsts to start a trend for other Respiratory Therapists.

I hope you learned a little bit more about how to create your personal brand and are inspired to get out there and get started! Check back next week for my personal interview with my cousin, Emily Kimmel, a certified Respiratory Therapist. See you then!

 

Xoxo,

Courtney

 

 

 

About My Blog

As I began my blogging journey I was having trouble with deciding how I want my blog to be focused and how I was going to bring my professional identity to the table! Well I thought that from my few years of experience in shadowing and scribing in the medical field that I have seen first hand many of the issues that happen on a daily basis in hospitals and clinics. Many people do not realize the stress and hard work that many of these professionals undergo on a daily basis and how they must maintain their professional identity throughout anything they do. In my blog I want to bring light to the importance of blogging and how medical professionals can write about their experiences to sometimes deal with stress and also to build their credibility to patients in their surrounding area.

I am currently a student at The University of Texas at San Antonio and am working towards a B.A in Medical Humanities and a minor in Biology. With my experience in this field I am also learning about the importance of the humanities in the medical field and how it can play an important role in a patients experience while being taken care of. As I have learned from other friends who are becoming doctors and are in Med school, many times they teach students to become desensitized to death and other medical situations. While I agree with that to some extent, because you can’t have your nurse or doctor crying over you while trying to perform a procedure, it is also a bit extreme to not feel any sort of feelings towards these patients as well.

In my blog I want to bring to light the current issues going on in the medical field today and how we as young students working towards a promising career one day in the medical field can try to make a change to what is going wrong. There are lots of issues that go beyond the professionals and I also want to highlight some professionals that have gone above and beyond to try to fix some ongoing problems. At the same time we also have some amazing discoveries happening in medicine. By just making people more aware of all these things through blogging people become more knowledgable and people enjoy their health care a bit more.

I’m hoping that my blog will want to inspire other students to want to write about their experiences in the medical field, as well as other medical professionals. Whether it’s a day through your eyes while in clinical or how to met a wonderful new patient that day. I think when other people read about your experiences they get to know who you are more as a person and realize that you are not only a nurse or doctor or a student, but also a human being who has feelings and felt that your day made a difference in someone else’s life.

Writing has become a lost art in the medical field. So many times we work to make our writing shorter or now everything has become electronic. As I had learned through my scribing experience they prefer everything to be abbreviated nothing to be fully written out. They now hire students, who want experience working in hospitals or clinics, to take “notes” for the doctor and basically create the patients chart for the doctor. Yes, it is meant to help the doctor focus more on the patient, but I almost feel that you personally remember someone’s details better if you are physically writing them yourself. Even if a doctor does not want to write a personal story, he or she can still bring to light their research or any leads they have to new cures through a blog and this can help knowledge to others.

As I wrap up my first post I am excited for the journey ahead and being able to share with you all my experiences and what I feel is important in the medical field. I hope that this will inspire other students to want to do the same and professionals to share with the world their experiences as well. As we all have heard the best way we learn is through our experiences and others. I hope to catch you back next week for my next blog post.

 

With love,

Courtney