New Semester, New Challenges

I realized I have not written a blog post since last semester, and a lot has happened since then. For starters, I am currently in the fall semester of my last year of undergraduate university. It is strange because I am pretty much done with my required major classes, and I am mostly filling in all of the GE classes and requirements that I neglected before. Most of my classes are interesting, but some are definitely harder than others.

I am also continuing to take piano lessons. I love that my teacher now treats me like an actual pianist rather than just a random student taking piano lessons. He encourages me to listen to recordings from different composers as well as consider the emotions and background behind each piece I play. In lessons, he does not underestimate my ability to play, but merely guides me in one direction or another in order to play at my best. This also scares me at times because I feel that he has more confidence in my playing than I do, and I don't want to let him down by being unable to play certain pieces. I am enjoying feeling like a piano major rather than just someone who does it for fun.

In regards to work, I am still working as an EMT for an event standby company. I particularly love working the raves and large music events, as they provide multiple patients to perfect my skills. I still feel new at times, especially when I am working with people that have been in the field for years. However, this only helps me to improve and desire to be as competent as they are. I continuously have the desire to work for an ambulance company where I would see "real patients" as well as work with the fire department, but unfortunately I do not have time at the moment to go through the training process. Hopefully as soon as I graduate I will be lucky and be hired by one of these companies.

In regards to my pre-medical career, I am still on track to apply to medical school this summer. My current fear is that I won't get the required number of recommendation letters, as I tend to be a lone wolf in class and don't necessarily talk to the professors. I have a few people in mind, but I just need to get the motivation to actually ask them to write something for me. I did apply to a pre medical honor society at school, but I didn't get in. I wasn't expecting acceptance anyway, I mostly did it to practice the "medical school style" interview. I feel that I did pretty well and answered most questions to the best of my ability. I think with the outside reading that I do and my knowledge of the health care system that I won't really have a problem answering the difficult questions. Finally, I really need to start back volunteering at the hospital. It is just hard for me to get the motivation to drive downtown on friday and saturday nights, but obviously it is something that will really help me in the field.

In regards to travel and language, I desire every day to return to Argentina. I watch the novelas and news shows from Buenos Aires and I feel some kind of empty hole that would only be filled if I returned. I am currently in a medical spanish class, but I pretty much know most of the stuff just from translating on the job and in the emergency room. Thus, I feel like I really would want to volunteer or work in a hospital in Argentina to enhance my skills. My current plan is to try and sign up for a course through my university in order to fulfill my last spanish class requirement. As it doesn't start until July, I would hope to go the beginning of June to buenos aires and work in a hospital until the program started. This way, I would get to see both sides of Buenos Aires, the health care field and the academic setting. I still dream of moving to Argentina after medical school, but obviously I need to GO to medical school first before this dream can come true! Besides spanish, I am currently using Rosetta Stone to learn some French. I think in my future job I would hope to work for a company such as Doctors without Borders, where French would definitely be needed. Besides this, I always desire to learn more, but I find that I don't have enough time to do everything I really want.

Bueno, that is all for now, I will try to write again soon!

First Day on the Job

I am currently watching an episode of Lost from March. I have been so busy that I have not been able to watch a one hour TV show for almost a month. Most of my time has been spent finishing presentations, studying for tests, and driving back and forth from my house. Luckily, I am currently entering my last week of classes for the semester, the only thing that remains it to take the finals in a week. It is strange that as I have become older, I look forward to summer less and less. I guess it is because I am expecting to be just as busy as I am during the school year. This summer I am taking an MCAT prep course so that I can take the exam the beginning of Fall semester. This combined with work will undoubtedly keep me occupied for summer in its entirety. As to work, I was recently hired by an event standby company as an EMT, and I had my training session today.

The training session occurred at an extremely large Latino event Downtown. I expected that with half a million people there would be a large amount of injuries or illness, but surprisingly I only saw about 4 or 5 patients in the span of 5 hours. A few were actually transported to the hospital whereas the others were given first aid and released. Being that this was my first day, I was interested to learn more about working in the healthcare field and what types of people I would encounter. As I expected, I was the only female healthcare provider, as the EMT's, paramedics and firefighters were completely male. The only other female in uniform I saw was a police officer. This of course created a strange dynamic, as all of the males had a way of joking around and talking to each other that was very...masculine. It was strange to be standing in a group of 8 people and be about a foot shorter than everyone else. Of course, being a female does have its advantages in the field, as female patients tend to want to talk to other females. I was also able to use my Spanish with a few of the people we saw, which was very helpful as I was given the opportunity to do more than just observe on my first day. I still need to work on charting, as this was not included in any training I have received, but overall I think the first day went rather smoothly. I am looking forward to finding out if I need to do any more training sessions or if I can start signing up for shifts. I would prefer, of course, to work with other people the first few times, as I am still relatively inexperienced. I think this opportunity will allow me to see healthcare from a different perspective. I am planning to work for a 911 response ambulance in the near future, and I am hoping that this job will get my foot in the door for jobs with more responsibility and independence.

Updates

Wow, it is extremely strange to see that I only have posted twice within the past three years, and both posts were almost exactly a year apart. Maybe it is the time of year, with finals coming up and projects to do. It seems my mind is always uneasy during this time, trying to relieve the stress of finals week by focusing on other topics. As I have not written in two years, I decided to at least give some updates, as it is always fun to go back later and read what I was involved in and what I was thinking at the time. So...

University

After a talk with a doctor at a nearby hospital, and his recommendations regarding applying to medical school, I decided to apply to USC. The application process would have been a lot easier if I had not decided 5 days before the complete applications were due. Nevertheless, as I have been focused on applying to medical school, I did have a list of all of my activities and essay points that I was able to use on my application. And... I was accepted! At first, it was difficult to decide if I wanted to continue at my current university or transfer to the new school, but after some debating I came to the realization that USC would be a better choice for my future. As I am almost done with my first year, I feel that I can comment on my experience so far. I have found that the students and professors are not very different from those at my previous university. The level of knowledge required is similar, but the classes are simply much larger! As I transferred into a major that was very similar to my old one, I have not had to devote a lot of my time to science classes. Therefore, I have had more opportunities to finish my other classes and pursue a Spanish minor. Spanish and the Latin American culture are my true interests in school, and if I could find a way to integrate this interest with that of medicine, my life would be complete. I have already had some opportunities to do volunteer work and practice my medical and spanish skills. Initially, I attempted to do another trip with Global Medical Brigades through the USC branch. However, I found that the organization was very different than what I was used to, and I found it hard to get along with the people on the trip. I therefore decided that my resources would best be used elsewhere.

Volunteering

When researching the school, I thought one of the most interesting programs was the Trojan Health Volunteers. This of course involved volunteering in some sort of medical capacity in the area and then commenting on experiences. As my previous experience had been in a family health clinic speaking spanish, I decided to do something more drastic and work in the Emergency Department. My time in the ED has been one of the most amazing experiences I have had so far during university. I have been able to see and speak to a wide variety of patients in both English and Spanish. I have seen grief, excitement, chaos, new life, and dangerous situations. Most of all, I have been able to learn more about the health care field, especially in an urban environment. I hope to continue working at this hospital, as I have been able to see procedures that most students don't even get to see until residency. Although at times it may be boring, and the staff may not trust you to do anything, but I feel that I am the type of person that is willing to walk up to a situation and integrate myself. I think that this is an important character quality that a medical student must have, as standing back waiting for someone else to act does not save lives.

Spanish and EMT

My spanish skills have greatly improved, and I have been able to use them almost fluently in a variety of situations. My travel to Latin American countries has helped, and my work as a translator in the hospital setting has greatly improved my patient interaction. I believe that if I continue to practice and become involved in the culture that I will be able to be completely fluent within the next year or two. Because of my spanish and my interest in Emergency Medicine, I decided to become registered as an EMT. Along with 20 other crazy university students, I spent the entire winter break, sometimes 12 hours a day, studying and preparing to work on the ambulances. After passing the national registry and becoming registered in my county, I have actually been hired for my first job in the health care field. I am just in the training process at the moment, but I am hoping that my skills will be sufficient enough so that I can continue to work for the company. My first work assignment is standby at a large Latino event, and I am extremely excited to use my Spanish!

Well, at the moment, I need to finish two presentations for tomorrow, one in Biochemistry and the other in Spanish. Therefore, I must leave this blog. Hopefully my next post won't be three years from now.