wow, its tomorrow already

Hello again,
So today was trip #7 to the clinic and once again I was mentally prepared (though maybe not physically) for a veryyyy long day. Thursdays are just the worse. Clinic-Class-Lab-Work-MCAT class- Clinic-Class-Lab-Work-MCAT class- Clinic-Class-Lab-Work-MCAT class- over and over. No time to eat, definitely no time to sleep, and I think my body is starting to get tired. But it's ok, in the end it will all pay off :)
On to my time at the clinic. Today was kind of slow and fast at the same time. Ironic I know but I was back with Dr. Bellows and we only saw 2 patients this time and neither spoke one word of Spanish so I did not need to translate. They also had us for some reason working int he pediatric area. All that did was reaffirm I do not want to be a pediatrician. Hearing kids yell from 8:00 am is definitely not what I want to do for the rest of my life. You would think that since I work at an elementary school I would be used to it, but again all that did was reaffirm that I could not possibly bring myself to be an elementary school teacher, or middle or high school teacher for that matter. However, one day I would like to be a professor of something once I have finished my medical career, but only time will tell. Anyways, I had a pretty interesting conversation with one of the patients today. I figured I would stay and talk with the patient since it takes the Dr just about forever to get her the prescriptions and instead of me just sitting there waiting for him he said it was ok for me to stay in the room. She was a very nice lady with a lot of stories to tell. I could however definitely see myself speaking to patients for the rest of my life. It's amazing how grateful they are for everything the clinic is doing for them, they, much like myself, truly do understand that a clinic like San Jose is hard to find. Until next time

Busy ...Busy...

Hello!
Well today is my 6th trip to San Jose. I was already mentally prepared for an excruciatingly long day because it starts at 7:00am when I wake up, to the clinic by 8:30, Class all day, go to work, MCAT class from 6-10 and home by 11:00pm. However, even though it seems horrible, the less you think about it the easier it is. Today at the clinic seemed very quick. Maybe that was because my mind was somewhere else. The whole time I was going over our cell presentation since I had to present right after being at the clinic. However, during my time at the clinic, I was able to see one patient (whom I did not need to translate for) but he was in the early stages of diabetes. This seems to be a very prevalent disease at this clinic and the majority of patients I have seen have some form of it. This patient however has not really been put on medications for it since he is not fully diabetic yet and they are hoping to keep him healthy a little longer by him losing weight and exercising, which he has been doing. He lost 20 pounds since his last visit. The doctor said it is inevitable they are just hoping to prolong the full onset of it. The clinic yesterday was kind of slow so I was only able to see that one patient. I also was with a nurse practitioner this time. She is amazing with the patients and she is one of the nicest people I have ever met. She genuinely cares for her patients and gets to know them. All her patients speak very highly of her. Hopefully next time I get to see more patients.
Until next time!

I wish I may... I wish I might...

Hello again,
Today was one of those days where you stop and think but before I do that I guess I must go back some. Recently a lady from La Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara (the medical school in Mexico) asked me to consider applying to their program. I was obviously reluctant because I want to stay home or at least in the United States. Not that there is anything wrong with Mexico, but home is here for me. So back to today, at the clinic, I was deeply saddened at the way some of the personnel there treat the patients. The physicians are all amazing and do the best with what they can but some of the medical assistants, LVN's, etc treat the patients as if they were inferior and a bother. The majority of the nurses and assistants there are Hispanic who speak better Spanish than they probably do English, however I HARDLY ever see them speak to a patient in Spanish. Instead they just bark out commands: "Sit down", "Stay in your room", "I already told you..." which in turn just scares the patient more since they don't understand and they are being yelled at at the same time. I have also seen these nurses walk in the room without saying a work, toss things around until they find what they want, take a throat culture, blood sample, etc. and just leave the room without saying a word to the patient. This... I cannot find words for. It makes you sad and angry and confused all at the same time because you cannot understand how people can be this way. At the same time this whole experience is making me realize the type of person and hopefully one day physician that I do not wish to become and will do my best to always keep that in mind. These patients are not coming to the clinic for fun, they need our help and to take that position for granted.. its just .. I don't even know what to call it. As I do my best to translate for these patients, I find myself stumbling on words that are obviously not in everyday home Spanish (unless you come from a family of doctors which I do not) like triglycerides, lipids, BMI, etc. Even coming home and asking what the words are, my parents cannot tell me. Today I fully understood how much these patients need me. And not me per say but the translations I am providing. I understood that a little extra effort goes a long way as a patient left in tears as she was hugging me for being such a help as she explained to me she's usually scared to ask questions because she felt people were bothered. Another patient told me how proud she was of me for going to school, and aspiring something better for myself, as often times our culture seems to fall short in. Like I said today was really an eye opener. Maybe going to school in Mexico wouldn't be such a bad idea after all. I would love to become completely fluent , dive completely into the culture that I love so much, and essentially help end this gap between Spanish speakers and their doctors. I feel like a child wishing to be an astronaut or something, but like Gandhi said: I must be the change I wish to see in the world.

Until next time...

Zooooom!

Hello again,
Last week's visit to the clinic just seemed to drag on and it was amazing how time seemed to go so fast this week. It seemed like I had just gotten there, and like nothing, the two hours were gone and it was time for me to leave. Also, today I actually had to do quite a bit of translating which could have also made it seem faster. Our first patient was one of the first patients in all my visits that actually physically appeared sick. Of course the others were sick or had something wrong but you couldn't tell just by looking at them. This patient however, right away could tell that she was feeling horrible. Dr. Bellows let me look at her throat and asked me what was unusual about it. Of course I am no throat specialist but I could clearly see little white sacs that just looked attached to her tonsils. He told me those were pus sacs and tested her for strep throat which came back negative. Nice of the patient to actually let me look. I think she was just feeling so bad and wanted someone to make her feel better, no matter who it was. We gave her good medicine so hopefully she can be on her way again. Today we also had our first young patient. I guess since there is a pediatric section, we don't really get to see young people. She was 17 so I guess that was too old for pediatrics. This patient was also very rude and very short with the doctor (I'm assuming because she is just young and a bit immature) however the doctor remained professional even though the reason for her visit was a little strange and the doctor didn't really know what to tell her without offending her. She pretty much got sent home with the "prescription" of "stop wearing sweaters while its still hot and wear deodorant!" Dr. Bellows also spoke to me today about his time as a doctor and how when he first began his surgical career, anesthesia methods and monitoring devices were MUCH different than they are today. I guess we never really pay attention to how lucky we are to have so much technology and how much safer and effective it has made medicine. I really enjoyed my time at the clinic today and hope to continue to learn and experience more.

its 7:00 am already?? SNOOZE!

Hello again!
Well today is my third trip to San Jose. To be completely honest I did NOT want to wake up to go to the clinic today. I felt so tired and sleepy and I was so comfortable in my bed...well, it was just one of those days. Yet, I sucked it up and went anyways. Again I was with Dr. Bellows and we saw 3 patients in the 2 hours I was there. I see many, many patients go in and out of the other rooms which makes my little station look that much slower. Don't get me wrong, I truly do like going, but how do I put this.... AH! I know. It's kind of like cell lab. When you are doing stuff everything is so exciting and fun but its the waiting that gets ya. So I have a lot of waiting in between patients and sometimes I feel bad because I know the patient has been waiting in the room forever. The Dr isnt' purposely doing this nor is he just goofing off, he is just very diligent and thorough which is understandable as well. Today I also had to do no translations because all 3 patients spoke English yet he let me go in with him anyways. We had some interesting cases, and today was the first time there were some awkward moments in the room. I guess I could see how having a young (and attractive HAHAHA) female in the room when you are a male patient with certain issues could be a little uncomfortable for them. I told the doctor later if he ever needed me to step out the room to not be afraid to tell me so. He said if that were ever the case he would let me know, but he said everything is natural and I had to learn sometime. Again, I appreciate all the time he has put into teaching me. I did however along with the doctor step out of the room in once case as he handed off an unpleasant type of medical examination to one of the medical assistants. Poor guy. lol. But overall the patients today were very kind and welcoming even though they really had no use for me in there. Until next time..

...so much better!

Hello,
Well this was my second week going into San Jose and I must say it went WAY better than my last trip there since it felt like I was going to roll over and die last time. My trips to the clinic have thus far been pretty... well... eventful. Today when I got there in the morning the power was out. Random I know, but there was no lights, the patients were all waiting in the dark, and the alarm was going off. So for the first about 30 minutes, it was just a lot of waiting since we weren't allowed to have patients in the clinic area. Once the power came back on, the charting system was still down so everything had to be done the old-school way... that's right, good 'ol fashion handwritten charting and prescription writing. Everyone seemed pretty bothered by this so I guess we really take for granted how easy computers have made our life. Anyways, I was able to go in with Dr. Bellows to see 4 patients before I had to leave. This is the doctor I will be translating for on a regular basis. He works a little slow on the computer since as he put it, they are not things of his time, but he is very knowledgeable and takes the time to explain to me what he is doing, what he is looking for, possible diagnosis, and possible treatment and future direction which I appreciate since I am learning a ton of new information. Today, 2 of the 4 patients had diabetes. I am especially interested in this since I have lost a large portion of my family to this disease. Hopefully I can learn more specifically about this disease. Oh, and during one of the consultations, the doctor told one of the patients that if their blood sugar drops too low then excessive sweating, weakness and shaking could occur. I then remembered what happened to me the last time I was there. We later spoke of it and he said that that is what probably happened to me and to carry around candy with me in case it happened again. No arguing with the Dr. on that advice :) Until next time..

Did that just happen??

Hello again,

So today was day 1 of volunteering for the San Jose Clinic. All my classes are around 11:00 am so I had forgotten what Houston traffic was like at 8:00am. So after fighting my way through traffic, I arrived at the clinic, fumbled around and waited patiently until I found Samantha since it was my first day and I had no idea where to go. She then told me that the doctor I was assigned to would not be coming in today and she warned me that today may be a slow (kinda boring) day for me. BUMMER! A nurse then told me that she had reassigned me to Dr. Finkle, an orthopedic surgeon, and I would be assisting him today. My spirits were high again. I saw him tell the girl working behind the desk all the notes that he would normally chart and she typed diligently as he spoke. I had always seen doctors chart their own stuff, I found it interesting they did it this way. He then briefed me on my first patient: a woman, mid 40's with herniated disks with already having had surgery to have some other ones removed. He asked, and I translated basic questions like: how is the pain, is it spreading, when it it worse etc. He then gave her a basic check up and found that a nerve was pinched causing her right leg strength and reflexes to be significantly less than the left. Since she was already on medications and had been exercising, losing weight, and not lifting heavy objects, there was nothing immediate that could be done for her. Again BUMMER! Doctor recommendation: live with it or get surgery. When she heard her options I saw her happiness slowly fade. She told me she could not afford having surgery but she was in a lot of pain which broke my heart. It made me realize that I had been taking for granted the simple ability to go to the doctor for any little incident and know I would be able to receive any treatment necessary. It's hard to believe that not all people have that liberty and must factor in other things; their job, kids, house etc before their own health because of the finances. BUMMED again.. and then BOOM! It happened and out of nowhere while I was speaking to the patient. I started feeling EXTREMELY hot and started to sweat profusely. It looked like I was running a marathon outside. I began to feel very weak and shake. After leaving the patients room, I rushed to the restroom and noticed I was completely pale and I started to black out a bit. I tried to gather myself together and went outside and sat down and began feeling better. The next patient was an English speaker but the Dr. invited me to watch anyways. I went in and as I was standing in the corner...BOOM... it was happening again. I excused myself from the room, went up to Samantha and told her (and she could very clearly see) that something was wrong and I would have to leave. She was understanding but I was still very confused as to what was going on. I grabbed and orange juice because I didn't know what else to do since it didn't seem like any kind of medicine would help and was then on my way to our cell exam. Great timing for my body to breakdown like that right? Anyways, I slowly started to feel better throughout the day and other than my mishap at the clinic, I can tell I am really going to enjoy and learn a lot at the clinic. Until then...