Moving on Up...

I have had quite an interesting time working as a volunteer at the Clinic, especially this last week. The computers were down both the days I volunteered. This inconvenience really revealed how much we rely on computers. A doctor was unable to show due to an injury, which sometimes happens. Instead of contacting the patients to tell them that there appointment was rescheduled, the nurses were unable to get the phone numbers or know which patients were scheduled. So patients came in, only to realize that their appointment was rescheduled. They were not the only ones facing trouble with the clinic. At first, I felt that I was not very important, just only listening to voicemails left by patients. To change this, I started looking for work as opposed to asking for work. This was when I started moving up and feeling like I was having a greater impact at the Clinic.

Jon's thoughts

Today was my third official day in the clinic. My job was to escort patients into the various patient rooms in the clinic wing. In total I escorted around 10 people. It's always interesting to meet different people in the clinic - most of which are going through a rough patch, or are just plain sick. Oddly, it seems as if I escort more people than anyone else in our group, as Friday is the most popular day to go to schedule an appointment!

The Clinic relies heavily on our Summit Group, and others to make it through the week. In order for them to continue to provide healthcare for free, or at a very reduced cost, they need all the volunteers they can get. So, if one of us isn't able to come, it definitely gives the rest of the staff a busier workday. I'm sure that having younger (or at least different) faces as escorts can be somewhat nice for patients as well.

So far, this year has gone very well. My group gets along very well with each other making living arrangements easy, and thanks to my mom's famous cookie recipe (we learned to cook), we're eating all of our essential food groups (sugar, brown sugar, butter, and chocolate). Many of us have classes with other Summit Park members, helping us to be a closer community - and of course the socials help too.

The health and wellness program has been an interesting experience for me. I've never been a yoga going tai chi loving person, so to try something new has been a change. I'm not a particularly stressed out person, so StressFree now has been more of an extra boost to my week. It's been interesting learning the various relaxation techniques in the online "sound tracks".

Overall, it's been a successful month for Summit and Kitchen for our group. Being towards the end of the semester, it's definitely busier, but not in a bad way. As an Architecture student, its the very last projects that are the most exciting, so the extra work is worth it.

Busy positive November

Well I've finally got some hours under my belt at the Kitchen Clinic. For the most part everything is the same everyday for me. I go in and ask what needs to be done and I'm either entering medications into the system as received by the Clinic or I'm seeing patients. I usually see between four and ten patients in the two hour period that I'm there. Its been very interesting meeting so many different people from so many different lifestyles. Its really been a reality check for me. When you think you have it hard, theres always someone else out there that has it that much harder. I enjoy getting to hear all their stories weather positive of negative, that they bring to me while I'm seeing them. Some of them will talk your ear off and others just want to get down to business but either way its always an interesting experience. I feel like doing this gives me a chance to impact the lives of these people on a personal level. Many if not most sadly tell me negative/sad things going on in their lives and I try to do my best to encourage them to hang in there. I want to be as positive as I can for them and show them that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I hope to bring a more positive experience at the kitchen for them and help them to feel more comfortable in a doctors office by opening up positive conversations with them. I  have encountered little to no struggles so far with the Clinic over the semester. The only struggle with the clinic I've had so far was during the beginning when I was still learning how things worked. At the start I didn't quite have down how to write things out on the forms and what questions to ask the patients and how to ask the questions properly but as the semester moved on I have learned how to do things more and more smoothly. At this point I'm getting to wear I know where things are and what to fill out and how to fill it out as well as what to ask the patients. Now I'm able to move past that a step further like I mentioned above and open up friendly conversations with the patients now that I'm comfortable with the business part of it. My experience with my roommates has been a very positive one. We all are very good about sharing everything and everyone has been very respectful of each others things. We haven't had to deal with any issues of any real significance. I look forward to next semester with them. The Stress Free and Wellness experience has been overall a very interesting one. Its been busy to make it to all of the events as a student athlete but I've managed to pull it off. Its been fun using  these experience to interact with the rest of the summit community being that we see them at these events. It makes it more fun with more people. Its also been interesting learning about all these different stress techniques. I didn't know what Tai Chi and Yoga consisted of before this. Overall its been a great experience though. 

11/19/10. Or something like that

It's nice to finally have  a "routine" when I go to the clinic, even if the routine is do as much of everything as you can in as short a time as possible while making sure to do a quality job. Whenever I go in to work, I get to do it all. This week was like last week because I was all over the office making sure things were getting done. I called to confirm surgeries, bottled countless medications, roomed patients, sent faxes, inventoried, and of course got to clean the rooms.

With Thanksgiving break finals week and right after Christmas break I have decided to still be available over my breaks to go in to the clinic and work. I do enjoy the work I get to do while I'm there and I feel that it will serve me well in the future. 

Ben