Hello!
Well, the last time I posted I was hoping to volunteer at El Centro de Corazon but I never really heard back from them. I was able to send in my application but they never responded and I tried calling and could never really speak to anyone who could point me in any particular direction but, there was no need to panic because I had also applied to the San Jose Clinic and Samantha was very prompt in responding and very accommodating with scheduling. Yesterday, I along with Maria and Yvonne had orientation there. Upon arriving to the clinic I was very pleased with it. I had never been to that particular clinic before but the overall appearance was very welcoming and clean. We all had a, well, "interesting" encounter with the young man who was working at the front desk that gave us something to giggle about later :). We then met up with Samantha who gave us more paperwork to fill out which included the usual background check and confidentiality agreements. She also made us watch an OSHA training video which again provided us with a few laughs. It reminded me of the lab safety video we had to watch before chemistry labs. She then returned and told us a little more about the clinic and the services they offered. I was also very impressed with the number of services and specialties they had. I figured it would be just a primary care facility but much to my surprise there is also a dental clinic, dermatology, cardiology, podiatry, endocrinology and many more specialty services. She also went into further detail as to what each of us would be doing, and I must say I am VERY excited about my assignment. I will be going in on Thursday mornings (before class from 8:30-10:30 am) and I was assigned to a physician whom I will be translating for since we were told the majority of their patients speak very little English. She told me this particular physician is a retired surgeon who now volunteers in their internal medicine department. This is exactly what I wanted to be doing and I am thrilled to have this opportunity. She also mentioned being able to shadow a physician in our area of interest when we have completed our mandatory hours which again is very kind of this clinic and I am personally very grateful. I begin volunteering next Thursday (the 15th) and I look forward to it!
