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.
Friday, November 19, 2010
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
Friday, October 29, 2010
What I've learned so far after my first day
Well I've finally made a visit to the Kitchen after several weeks of getting things worked out for scheduling. Basically I was given the task of rooming patients, asking them a few questions to get them prepared for when the doctor comes in. The idea is for us to find out some preliminary information for the doctor and to get the patient thinking about why they are visiting ahead of time so they know what to tell the doctor when they arrive.
My first visit was surprisingly exciting. I was very nervous going into it because I had not ever done anything like that before. Especially the idea of rooming patients by myself. I was afraid that I might forget to ask the all the questions and if I did remember them, would I ask them correctly. Once I shadowed three with one of the other volunteers working there I caught on quick and took one on by myself after that and managed to make it through about eight people in a two hour period, becoming very smooth with the process.
I really enjoyed doing the volunteer work in the Kitchen and would love to go back even after this class in years to come to help them when needed. Like my brother I'm not a pre-med student so doing this at first was a little out of my element but being that I'm wanting to become a physical therapist I'm much more related than my brother is to the work. I really enjoyed working with such a wide variety of patients, even the more hostile ones because it has improved my interactions with people, which will help me a lot as a physical therapist being that I'll be working with many different people on a one on one basis. It helped me to realize how much I will enjoy my future career working and interacting with people. This experience will also really improve my social skills for that career and look very good on a resume to get into PT school. Overall I'm looking forward to future visits there to help.
My first visit was surprisingly exciting. I was very nervous going into it because I had not ever done anything like that before. Especially the idea of rooming patients by myself. I was afraid that I might forget to ask the all the questions and if I did remember them, would I ask them correctly. Once I shadowed three with one of the other volunteers working there I caught on quick and took one on by myself after that and managed to make it through about eight people in a two hour period, becoming very smooth with the process.
I really enjoyed doing the volunteer work in the Kitchen and would love to go back even after this class in years to come to help them when needed. Like my brother I'm not a pre-med student so doing this at first was a little out of my element but being that I'm wanting to become a physical therapist I'm much more related than my brother is to the work. I really enjoyed working with such a wide variety of patients, even the more hostile ones because it has improved my interactions with people, which will help me a lot as a physical therapist being that I'll be working with many different people on a one on one basis. It helped me to realize how much I will enjoy my future career working and interacting with people. This experience will also really improve my social skills for that career and look very good on a resume to get into PT school. Overall I'm looking forward to future visits there to help.
Volunteer Orientation-Jon George
Getting to volunteer at the clinic seems like it is going to be a wonderful experience! I recently was able to meet with the clinic volunteer coordinator Allison Wilson. The clinic itself is a humble building located on the corner Jefferson and East Pacific Street. They take in people from all ages and walks of life as a volunteer clinic to help the Springfield community.They are able to run since they get some funding by government but most of the actual work is done by volunteer workers and healthcare professionals.
Some of the services offered by the clinic are behavioral consulting, podiatry, optometry, dentistry, physical therapy, and many more. These services are again done by current and retired healthcare professionals. Since it is a volunteer clinic, they each see numerous amounts of patients. Walk-ins are welcomed but are usually scheduled for a later time. This is not a emergency clinic so postponing appointments will not lead to death but will help with time management.
My job at the clinic is to assist the doctors and help cut time a doctor needs to spend with a patient. I help by recording blood pressure, taking patient history, and confirm past patient history. I also help with office management by operating phones, medical patient database, take and respond to messages, and other similar organizational activities. My goal is to create a better efficiency in the clinic and in return help the clinic see more patients.
Some of the services offered by the clinic are behavioral consulting, podiatry, optometry, dentistry, physical therapy, and many more. These services are again done by current and retired healthcare professionals. Since it is a volunteer clinic, they each see numerous amounts of patients. Walk-ins are welcomed but are usually scheduled for a later time. This is not a emergency clinic so postponing appointments will not lead to death but will help with time management.
My job at the clinic is to assist the doctors and help cut time a doctor needs to spend with a patient. I help by recording blood pressure, taking patient history, and confirm past patient history. I also help with office management by operating phones, medical patient database, take and respond to messages, and other similar organizational activities. My goal is to create a better efficiency in the clinic and in return help the clinic see more patients.
Finding the Time that was Never Actually Lost
Besides the title sounding amazing, there is actually a reason that this post was named so. The reason is that now, 2 months into the school year, I finally have gotten my class scheduled finalized and have been able to plan my time around two main things: studying and community service.
Working at the Kitchen Clinic has exposed not only me, but our entire group to what exactly goes into running a medical facility. My first day I spent four hours rooming patients and gathering basic medical information and I even did some basic lab procedures (see chemistry lab is applicable in real life) and the second time I was there, I was a front office aid. I did it all from sorting packing slips from drug manufacturers to taking phone messages and I got to learn how to operate the scheduling database for appointments. It was just kinda eye opening how much extra work goes into making it function on a day to day basis.
A funny side note, one day while talking to the staffing doctors, Waffle House got brought up. One of the docs then started talking about how difficult it would be to work at a Waffle House because the "language" the cooks use when calling out orders in short hand. A man that has spent over six years in post graduate education thinks working at Waffle House is difficult. It was just interesting to me to hear that but it made me think that the people at Waffle House probably think the same thing about working at a medical facility, so I guess it all comes down to what you are used to.
Working at the Kitchen Clinic has exposed not only me, but our entire group to what exactly goes into running a medical facility. My first day I spent four hours rooming patients and gathering basic medical information and I even did some basic lab procedures (see chemistry lab is applicable in real life) and the second time I was there, I was a front office aid. I did it all from sorting packing slips from drug manufacturers to taking phone messages and I got to learn how to operate the scheduling database for appointments. It was just kinda eye opening how much extra work goes into making it function on a day to day basis.
A funny side note, one day while talking to the staffing doctors, Waffle House got brought up. One of the docs then started talking about how difficult it would be to work at a Waffle House because the "language" the cooks use when calling out orders in short hand. A man that has spent over six years in post graduate education thinks working at Waffle House is difficult. It was just interesting to me to hear that but it made me think that the people at Waffle House probably think the same thing about working at a medical facility, so I guess it all comes down to what you are used to.
Jon's (Hays) thoughts on Clinic work
After several weeks of scheduling issues between our Summit group, and the Kitchen, Inc, I finally had my first visit to the clinic. Being an Architecture student, going into a clinic to do "clinical" work seems a bit weird, such as not having any experience working in a clinic. My job for my visit to the clinic today (and most likely from here on out) was to admit patients waiting in the main lobby, into one of five rooms. Being a clinic for the poor and needy, it's safe to say that I saw a wide range of people, from people off the streets, to people just having a stroke of bad luck.
When I first arrived to the clinic around 9:00 AM, I was shuffled around from office to office while the staff tried to decide where to have me work. This was more of my fault for not having visited the clinic before, although it didn't help that our "advisor" Alison was out of the office for the day. By the time we had everything figured out for where I needed to be, I was just in time for a patient "rush". This of course isn't the best time to train a volunteer, but after about four "shadows" of an experienced staff member, they turned me loose. The job was fairly simple, and kept me busy during my entire two and half hours I was scheduled.
Over all, it wasn't too bad. By the next time I visit, I'll be able to be that much more useful to the staff, because at least I'll know what to do. The hardest part is remembering all of the numerous "health" questions that I needed to ask each patient - which, I'll admit, wasn't hard once I got the hang of it. In total, I probably admitted fifteen patients into the Kitchen clinic, and of course filled out the forms that went along with it. Everyone at the clinic was extremely friendly and helpful making the experience that much better - and I'm sure that's why such a large majority of people come there everyday.
When I first arrived to the clinic around 9:00 AM, I was shuffled around from office to office while the staff tried to decide where to have me work. This was more of my fault for not having visited the clinic before, although it didn't help that our "advisor" Alison was out of the office for the day. By the time we had everything figured out for where I needed to be, I was just in time for a patient "rush". This of course isn't the best time to train a volunteer, but after about four "shadows" of an experienced staff member, they turned me loose. The job was fairly simple, and kept me busy during my entire two and half hours I was scheduled.
Over all, it wasn't too bad. By the next time I visit, I'll be able to be that much more useful to the staff, because at least I'll know what to do. The hardest part is remembering all of the numerous "health" questions that I needed to ask each patient - which, I'll admit, wasn't hard once I got the hang of it. In total, I probably admitted fifteen patients into the Kitchen clinic, and of course filled out the forms that went along with it. Everyone at the clinic was extremely friendly and helpful making the experience that much better - and I'm sure that's why such a large majority of people come there everyday.
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