January 21, 2019
I was unable to meet my mentor, the same one from the previous semester, last week because she had somewhere she needed to go: however, I did start my mentorship last week, so I will be discussing about what I did last week. On Friday, January 19, I observed my mentor and her patients while they were either having a check-up or talking about a problem. On that particular day, there were more sick visits than usual. The most memorable experiences I had that day were observing Dr. Sierra discuss her suggestions in Spanish with her Spanish-speaking patients and observing a wart removal that was done by a freezing method. The two were both interesting to witness. I will make up my hours next week on Tuesday, so I will not miss out or get stuck behind. This semester, I plan to do the same as I did last semester to continue building up my professional relationship with my mentor. I do have an idea of what I want to do for my final project, but I do not know specifically for the product just yet. I hope I will have a solid plan soon. Until next time!
January 28, 2018
This semester, I plan to focus on educational development such as reading, writing, and learning how to do certain activities at certain ages. I would like to create an educational children's book and a recording related to the book as my product. I am still working out specifically what I want the topic should be. I do have a few ideas in mind, so whenever I go to my mentorship site, I could ask my mentor for advice on which option is the best for my semester project. Since I do have the same mentor as last year, I aim to shift my thinking from nutrition to education when I observe Dr. Sierra and her patients. I still want my product to be creative and exciting at the same time, so I came up with creating a children's book that could show creativity, and a video that could act as a unique accent to the product overall. Until next time!
February 4, 2019
My mentor's interaction with her patient inspired me to get the project idea I have now. I heard that a doctor is a teacher who provides information for their patients. I really liked that aspect of thinking and wanted to work on a matter that would focus on helping and teaching patients what they need to know in order to be where they need to be (growth and health wise). Since I did nutrition last semester, I decided to do something in a broader sense, which is pediatric development. Of course, nutrition is an important factor in a child's life; however, education, fundamental life skills, and many more play a significant role as well. I will be focusing on how children develops and what their activities should be at a certain point in their life. Moving on to my experience at the clinic, I would have to say that it was the most interesting day out of all the days I had visited. I observed patient and mentor interactions as usual, gained some information that I could include in my semester project, and witnessed many different cases/ worrisome visits. Regarding the subject that stuck with me, I cannot say since it is confidential information; however, I would like to reiterate that it was very interesting. Until next time!
February 11, 2019
During my recent mentorship visit, I observed Dr. Sierra and her patients as usual. I did not really get to see or experience anything new or interesting as I did two weeks ago. Everything was pretty much the same since the check-ups were either a well check-up or a sick visit. Despite not being able to see something new, there was an interesting occurrence that I would was not really related to the patients specifically. Before I say it, I have to explain the layout of the site. Where I stay and observe Dr. Sierra and her patients is on one side of the clinic. On that side, there are three rooms for Dr. Sierra's patients while the other side running perpendicular is for another pediatrician. Regarding the interesting event, the room in the middle was said to be cursed. It was not really cursed but that is what the nurses were saying since it had four consecutive patients who were tested positive for the flu. Yikes. It was a lighthearted joke amongst everyone, but thankfully it did not continue. It would have been terrible if it did. Even if I did not experience a lot of new/ interesting things that day, I did learn a lot. I learned the basic symptoms for the flu and noted that when prescribing medicine, Dr. Sierra always makes sure to explain what it does so that it will help parents be at ease that their kids will still experience feeling ill but will get better very soon. Until next time!
February 18, 2019
Regarding my mid-term PowerPoint project, I put in a significant amount of effort. Even though there were some slides from the last semester's PowerPoint that I reused, I still had to come up with ways to display my information and incorporate my new topic; however, I would not say I put in as much effort as I did during the first semester. Since I now know what is expected of me, I did not stress as much. I went through the process already. It also helped that I am still shadowing Dr. Sierra. As a result, I did not have to do too much when setting up the basic information necessary. With my new material, I had to find ways to convey what I wanted to say since I did not want to write paragraphs on my PowerPoint. My mentor helped me by showing me a literacy milestone chart which is exactly what I needed for my semester project topic and giving me advice on what educational subjects I want to write about for my product. Also, she would always answer my questions whenever I ask. With the knowledge and suggestions she gives me, I hope to convey it well through my semester project. Even as the due date for the Final Semester Project approaches, I hope to gain as much information needed. Until next time!
February 25, 2019
In my opinion, I believe growing is an interesting topic by itself. It interests me how a person could be so small to fit in a pair arms and grow to become a person that could hold another who was the same size as them many years back. When I was younger, I enjoyed going to my pediatrician's check-up since I liked seeing how much I weighed or how tall I was compared to the last appointment. Yes, I could have checked everything at home, but I was young. I did not think that my parents would have the same equipment at home to check for my weight or height. I just knew that I would get my answer by going to the pediatric clinic. As I got older, my aunt who was aiming to become a pediatrician herself would always tell me about her studies and experiences. My aunt being my role model, I decided to become just like her. Even though a part of me wants to become a pediatrician because of my aunt, I grew to learn that I want to become one for myself. Seeing Dr. Sierra interact with her patients and the problems they come in for is also interesting. There are some cases where the patients may seem to not share the same values or situations that is just so bizarre (that one case that was VERY interesting), but overall, I got to learn and experience new lessons that I could apply in real life. This nine weeks, I got to learn how to perform a wart removal, the necessary precautions/ activities to do when becoming a parent, and connecting my knowledge from school to the patients' situations. Just this past week, I was learning about the immune system in Anatomy and Physiology class. When I came to the clinic Friday, Dr. Sierra said terms correlated with the immune system, and I knew what she was talking about. I was so happy that I was not clueless since there are some advanced terminology, she says that I do not have any clue what it means. However, since the immune system ties in with sick patients very well, I was able to connect the knowledge I gained better than before. I am so glad I took Anatomy and Physiology and ISM at the same time this year. The two courses helped me learn so much and gave me very useful information that I could apply to the real world. I hope to learn even more in the future. Until next time!
March 18, 2019
I believe my greatest strength in completing my semester project is to not let my mentor and the other workers at the clinic down. I do not want to disappoint them since I have been with them for almost a whole school year already. I want my finished project to be as satisfying as my last project. For my biggest weakness, I would have to say that it is procrastinating. In a way, me procrastinating is inevitable. The reason is because I do not put off the semester project by entertaining myself all day every day. I just have so much projects and assignments from other classes that I have to prioritize those activities first. Of course, I try to chunk out my semester project as much as I can so that I do not have so much to do all at once before everything is due. To overcome and strengthen my weaknesses, I will try to finish all of my assignments as fast as I can so that I can get to working on my semester project. I can also mentally or physically plan out what assignments I need to do so that my time with each subject with be beneficial to complete. I can do this throughout the week. Also, I could dedicate a half of a day of my weekends to do schoolwork so then I don't have to worry when the next week comes.
March 25, 2019
Over the past two weeks, I learned about how child development thanks to researching and jotting information for the research project. I gained knowledge about the process and advantages for kids to read and learn from reading, certain motor skills achieved when they reach a specific age range, and types of delays that could inhibit their learning. With reading, they can start forming words through the visuals and sounds from the books and their parents reading them aloud. The process of story time would help their imagination, creativity, and comprehension expand and develop as well. Some of the motor skills that they will eventually learn correlates to their physical growth and development. For example, when a baby finally learns how to sit, their developed back muscles actually play a part in helping them sit by themselves since it supports their form. As for the developmental delays or disorders, I learned about three specific types: reading disorder, stuttering, and disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DDMD). All relates to how it will impact the child's learning and their future regarding their studies or cooperation with others. From my mentorship experience, I learned about that birth control is used in various ways. Before, I only associated birth control pills as a way to prevent pregnancy. Thanks to being exposed to the medical world, I understand that the pills could help with hormones and the menstrual cycle. With the information I acquired as a result of the research, I can use them to know what to expect when I become a parent. I could look out and be aware of what my kids should or should not do. It could also help me further in the future when I am in the medical field as well. I hope to learn more as this year is getting closer to ending. Until next time!
April 1, 2019
Regarding the ISM class and my mentorship activities so far this year, my most memorable experience would be succeeding in presenting my final presentation and product to my mentor and evaluators last semester. I would have to say that I am extremely satisfied with my performance because I struggle with public speaking every day. I am always anxious, waiting and wondering if my teachers are going to call on me to speak in front of the class. I remember going to the malls with my friends and being so petrified of speaking to the workers that I did not want to order my food and even settled on skipping lunch. In the end, my friends had to order my lunch for me. Even though I am still terrified of public speaking now, I am glad that I kind of got over my fear for my presentation. It made me even happier that my mentor and evaluators praised me for giving them an excellent performance. I hope to have the same courage I did back then, so I could present to them when the next semester presentation comes. My least enjoyable experience would have to be near the beginning of the year where I had to present my mentor poster to the class. At that time, I did not consider practicing what I was going to say. I hated that and thankfully practiced when I had to do the 15-minute final semester presentation. With my recent mentorship visit, I observed Dr. Sierra and her patients as usual. The difference with my recent visit and the previous ones was that I was turned away multiple times. Usually, it would just be one patient; however, this time, at least 3 did not want me to be in the room. I understood their reasons and I respect them, but it was quite funny to me since it did not happen before. I tried to imagine myself in the patients' position and found it kind of unpleasant to have so many people in the room during a doctor's visit. I applaud those who consented to me being in the room. Until next time!
April 8, 2019
Regarding my recent mentorship experience, I would have to say that the events that occurred were the same as usual. A very active patient came that day, and it just made me realize more and more how patient a pediatrician must be. The child might be running around, trying to get the doctor's attention while the latter is speaking with the parents. There are also a certain point in which the pediatrician has to give their attention to the child so that he or she would not scream his or her head off. I admire Dr. Sierra for having so much patience when it comes to little kids wanting to speak constantly. Also, on that day, I noted that I saw a well visit, a sick visit, and even a physical exam that is required for school when students want to join an athletics program. I am pretty sure that I have seen many of the different visits before, but it was one of the several times that I actually noticed. It was pretty interesting to see patients' visits vary in different categories. With my final presentation powerpoint and product, I feel that I have to do little to finalize it. Regarding the powerpoint, I have to fix it and update the slides since now I will have to include my weebly and product. With the product, I still have edit and record some of the sounds for my video. I had trouble with coming up with sounds that would fit and sound better than the other trials I have been trying out. I hope to finish by the due date since I am fairly close to being done. Until next time!
April 15, 2019
I was unable to visit my mentorship site because personal reasons. I do plan to make up all my missing hours as soon as I can. Possibly this week if I come to the clinic Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. I have already planned everything out with my mentor. Normally, I visit on Fridays; however, because of meetings, holidays, and many other outside factors, I have to see Dr. Sierra on Tuesdays. To answer the prompt, I will just discuss what I learned over the course of the year. For the hundredth time, I learned that being a pediatrician requires lots of patience and lots of love. The two factors could be for the little ones and the parents since both are sometimes difficult to deal with. More on the field, I realized that I would need a large amount of knowledge to diagnose patients. Each patient is different. Sometimes their symptoms are the same, but the way they describe their pain or situation could be confusing. While the patients are speaking, Dr. Sierra or the doctor in general would have to link and come up with the possible sickness as quick as possible. They would have to ask even more questions to confirm their suspicions and pinpoint the correct cause of the symptoms. Another thing I learned from my experience at the clinic is that teamwork is everything. The nurses take the patients in and inform Dr. Sierra of why they are here. The scribe writes the notes to alleviate the work the doctor would have to do later. Lastly, Dr. Sierra diagnoses the patients. If their situation is too advanced, Dr. Sierra would refer them to the specialist she believes the patients' need. I admire everyone's work. The days at the site are usually the same. Families come in, either sick or well, and Dr. Sierra treats them. There are only certain occasions where there is an outlier to observe and learn. An example would be a wart removal or parents' uneasiness of my presence. All in all, every moment was enjoyable. Until next time!
April 22, 2019
My recent mentorship experience was the same as usual except there were more teenage patients compared to young elementary age patients this time. I observed my mentor and the patients' interactions, the procedures that are done when getting ready to meet and speak with the patients, and the necessary questions to receive or pinpoint to the right answer. There was this one patient who came in and complained about being fatigue all the time. The patient stated that she was always tired. Her mom said it was because of Gilbert's Syndrome; however, Dr. Sierra had to refute that since Gilbert's Syndrome does not really make a person tired ALL the time. Also, the person who has that syndrome would not even know they have it. She then asked the patient lots of reasons why she might think is the cause of her fatigue. In the end, it was mostly because she does not sleep as much as she should. Coming to that conclusion, Dr. Sierra had to explain the consequences of a lack of sleep and provide methods for the patient to help fix her sleeping routine. Another patient was dealing with depression because of a death of a loved one. She did not want to talk about it, but Dr. Sierra made sure to let her know that she would be there if she needed a person to talk to. Overall, I feel that my experience at the clinic was amazing. It was eye-opening. There are so many cases out there that I do not have any clue about, and I am glad that I got to learn of it from Dr. Sierra and her interactions with her patients. I would say that my fall semester with Dr. Sierra was much more exciting since everything is so new to me, but my spring semester with Dr. Sierra was more meaningful since I now know the whole procedure and everyone at the clinic. I am no longer as nervous to talk to them as I was the first time when I met them. Lastly, I would take the meaning of patience and perseverance from my ISM experience. Patience as a daughter, a student, a friend, a person. Seeing how many people come in sick and wishing to be healthy makes me realize how grateful I should be for the life that I have and that I should not end it because of irrelevant obstacles that would only appear as a fraction of my future. I should diligently work for what I want and try to overcome any hardships that storms my way. Dr. Sierra always reminded me that life would get better even if there is many difficulties blocking my path. I am grateful for Dr. Sierra, Scarlett, Megan, Mrs. Click, and my family for being by my side during the journey this year. This is the last!