Blog 11: Lesson 1 Reflection

1. What are you most proud of in your lesson, and why?

I'm glad that I didn't stumble as much as I was worried about and the fact that I made time. The day before I was really nervous about this presentation because I was mainly worried about going over time and forgetting what I'm supposed to say. During my presentation I definitely felt better that I had people's attention throughout.

2. What assessment would you give yourself on your lesson? Explain why you earned that grade using evidence from the component contract.

Throughout my presentation, I felt that I remembered to keep eye contact with the audience and the only time I looked at my notes for reference was to read a definition. I moved around the front and brought a desk to the front so that I'm not just stuck behind the doc cam flipping through pictures. In addition, I brought several topic related props and explained what each one was and how it works along with pictures to demonstrate (epidural with a model spine, a laryngoscope, and 3 different kinds of breathing tubes). I also referenced the book Anesthesiology by Randall S. Glidden which I used for my hook activity and I cited the definition of anesthesiology from a web source. Towards the end I talked about my mentor and showed a picture of me with him at my mentorship. I shared a story about one of the most interesting experiences I've had so far at mentorship. These were topics covered in the component contract and for these reasons, I think I should get an AE for this presentation.

3. If you could go back, what would you change about your lesson?  How can you use that knowledge to give a better Lesson 2?

I would want to take time to speak a little slower because at times I felt a bit rushed from looking at the clock counting down and it made me nervous. I felt that sometimes my nerves showed from looking at the timer, but I feel like I did better that I initially thought I would. For next lesson, I'd work to improve that. I'd put in even more practice to ensure that my content would be right on par with the time constraint and I'd want to show even more about what I've learned at mentorship that I did not have the opportunity to do this lesson.

Blog 10 - Interview 2 Reflection

This is a short video of my mom preparing propofol, a medication used to induce relaxation and unconscious,  for surgery. :)

INTERVIEW LINK

1. Please explain how you are spending your mentorship time (Is it at a workplace or somewhere else?  Are you shadowing?  Are you able to do tasks that are meaningfully related to the topic?  If so, what?  Are there other people who are experts in the location?  Etc...)

Whenever my mentor or my mom are on call at the hospital and I am available, I go to work with them. Every time I go, I observe a variety of surgeries being performed and with each individual case, there are varying forms of anesthesia required for the best patient care. I shadow my mentor mostly as he goes through his typical routine. I would be right next to him as he reads through and explains patient charts and history, consults the patients before surgery, and as he is performing anesthesia during the surgery itself. Each procedure is different and I got used to the routine my mentor goes through while on the job. There are often other anesthesiologists in the anesthesia call room, which is where they wait to be called for the next case. I get to interact with a lot of medical workers ranging from the nurses, tech scrubs, and even surgeons because my mentor would be sure to introduce me to everyone involved in each case. I find it really cool that by now, some of the staff recognize me at this point since I'm often there to observe.

2.  How did you find your mentor?  How did you convince this person to help you?  

Actually, my mentor is a longtime family friend. He and my mom went to the UCLA Anesthesia Training Program together and have been friends ever since. I just asked him if he could be my mentor because I felt that he had a lot of knowledge in the field and would be a good teacher that I can shadow throughout my days at mentorship. It's become a great learning experience.

3. How would you rate your comfort level with your mentor at this point in your relationship?  How does this relate to the time you've spent so far at mentorship/with this person.

I get along very well with my mentor, because I have known him for most of my life. Whenever I have any questions even during a procedure, he never hesitates to answer my question thoroughly and to the best of his ability. Once we start a new case,  he would explain to me what kind of surgery it will be and why he chooses to perform a certain kind of anesthesia for that particular case. He would then show me how he does it how he continuously monitors the patients. Sometimes the staff or surgeon would explain what they do as well and I feel lucky to have this amazing opportunity in which several professionals in my field of interest are willing to offer their advice.

4. What went well in this interview?  Why do you think so?  What do you still need to improve?  How do you know?  How will you go about it?

Because I've known my mentor for so long, I mostly knew the answers to the questions, however there were a couple things I did learn about him through this interview. I'm not afraid to ask him questions if I would like to know more about a topic I'm confused about. The only thing that I could see as a minor issue later on is not knowing what to ask, as I have a tendency to come up with questions that are broad which I'm typically used to. Asking more detailed questions could be a little difficult in the future.

This is a closer look at one of the drawers in the medication cart in one of the operating rooms. The cart can only be unlocked by authorized personnel, such as an anesthesiologist, by fingerprint.

Blog 9 - Advisory Prep 3

[Last time I went to mentorship, I observed the removal of a gall bladder. On the left is the surgeon, and the right my mom, the anesthesiologist.]

1. State whether or not you currently have a mentor, and what the status of your interview is with that person (I have completed the interview, I have scheduled the interview, I have not scheduled the interview, etc).

Yes, I do have a mentor. I have already conducted my interview,  I just need to transcribe.

2. At this point, your research is probably guiding your studies toward more specific areas within your topic.  Name the area or two you find most promising and explain your reasons.   

After these past few months, I've found an interest in the safety of anesthesia and I'm leaning more towards this aspect of anesthesia. What I've observed is that safety is the most important caution that any anesthesiologist considers. It gives me a lot of options to talk about

3. What kinds of sources do you think will help you in the next month to gain more research depth?  Where will you go to get them?


I plan on interviewing more experts in the field to get their insight. There are a lot of doctors at my mentorship, so I plan on asking if I can talk to them. I will also continue with my mentorship and observe more surgeries. It's the best source I have because I get to see the things I read about in action and it's very exciting.

4. Write down a possible EQ.  Please don't worry about wording other than ensuring that it provides the option for multiple correct answers.  At this point, the senior team is most interested in understanding your thought process.

How does an anesthesiologist best ensure a patient's safety and comfort for surgery?

[Prepping the medication for the surgery.]

Blog 8: Independent Component 1 Proposal

[Example of what is taught in CPR class.]

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

For 3 hours every Sunday I work in OB at San Antonio Regional Hospital. I help the nurses provide for the patients and I could get the chance to observe the anesthesiologists that come by to give patients epidurals before c-sections. I was also considering signing up for a CPR class, as it is something that all people going into the medical field should know. I also would like to shadow my mentor more at work because every time I go to visit, there's always something new to learn about the job. These are the main ideas I've had about this component, however I'm not exactly sure how to showcase my topic well. I don't know exactly what my best option would be.

Link to CPR Class

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

At the hospital I volunteer at, volunteers are required to log in their hours before each shift, so I would be able to keep track of my hours through that. I'd take pictures (with permission) of the patients/doctors as I observe and document the highlights. If I'm able to take a CPR class, I would spend the hours taking the course and show those hours via pictures and my progress. By shadowing my mentor, I would log the hours by writing about each surgery I observe each day and summing up what I've learned. 

3.  Explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

Ideally, shadowing my mentor is where I feel like I gain the most knowledge. Being able to see what he does on the job really helps me see the things I read about in action and I'd document the most interesting experiences. I'd want to observe as many surgeries as I can in the process. In addition, he often performs epidurals as well while on call. But both shadowing my mentor and volunteering at the hospital are great resources for experience in different aspects of anesthesiology. Taking a CPR class would be beneficial because resuscitating a person is one of the basic skills an anesthesiologist or any doctor should know.

4.  Update your Senior Project Hours log.

  

[Anesthesia jokes are great.]

Blog 7 - Second Interview Preparation

[Top: Me and my mentor in the Operating Room at Desert Valley Medical Hospital. Middle: My mentor showing me around the operating room on the first day of my mentorship over the summer. Bottom: Most recently, when I went to the hospital, I followed my mentor around while he was on call throughout the weekend.]

1.  Who is your mentor and where do they work?  If their workplace does not reflect their expertise, what makes them an expert?

My mentor is Dr. Richard Kakes who has been an anesthesiologist for over 20 years. He is Board Certified and is very experienced after several years in the field. He did his anesthesiology residency at UCLA. Additionally, he works at the Desert Valley Medical Hospital in Victorville, CA. 

2.  What five questions will you ask them about their background?

1) Why did you ultimately choose to go to UCLA for your residency?
2) What keeps you going in the field of anesthesia?
3) Why did you want to be an anesthesiologist? What influenced you?
4) Have you always wanted to be an anesthesiologist? If not, what did you want to be before?
5) Do you have any routines before and after a surgery? What are they?
6) What do you love most about being an anesthesiologist?
7) What other places have you worked at before Desert Valley?
8) Have you ever had any other jobs?
9) How did you start working at Desert Valley?

Blog 6 - Advisory Prep

[Top: Prepared medications for the hip surgery. Middle: The patient's being cleaned and put under anesthesia. Bottom: An x-ray is used to see where the fracture is.]

1. What has worked well for you concerning senior project this year?  What has made it a positive experience for you?  

So far this year I've had some pretty amazing opportunities regarding my senior project. I feel so lucky to be able to follow my mentor through the OR to observe actual procedures and watch my mentor at work. I've already had some interesting experiences, such as the most recent time I went to do my mentorship, I was watching my mentor do anesthesia for an elderly patient receiving hip surgery. The elderly patient's teeth were already loose and as my mentor tried to intubate the patient, a tooth just popped out and casually the nurses nearby just picked it up and put it in a little cup to give to the patient afterward. It's things like that that have made this project so much more enjoyable because most of the time I do observe procedures, the doctors doing the cases talk to me and allow me to ask questions as they work. During that hip surgery, the surgeon was open to me asking any questions and as he continued with inserting screws into the patient's fractured hip, he explained what he was doing and my mentor would explain how he maintains the patient's vital functions.  

2. What are you finding difficult concerning senior project?  How can you adapt to make that portion work better for you?  How might the senior team help?

Though I'm able to get so much information whenever I go to my mentorship, I can't go as often as I would like. Not only is my mentorship all the way in Victorville, but most of the time, surgeries are scheduled during my school hours during the weekdays. There are very few cases that happen during the weekend when I'm actually free, so I can only go once every other week or so. Even if we get off at school around noon, it's still quite the drive from school to Victorville, and by that time, cases are already wrapping up. This puts a lot of pressure on me to get more mentorship hours in because I really do want to gain more knowledge while I'm actually at my mentorship, but I don't want to get too stressed over not being able to go as often as even once a week sometimes.

Blog 5 - Interview 1 Reflection

[Top: Dr. Lorna Wood (the first person I interviewed) standing by an anesthesia machine in the OR. Bottom: A surgeon performing a small procedure in the recovery room.]

Interviews:

Interview 1 - Dr. Lorna Wood
Interview 2 - Dr. Nathan Remolona

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?  Is there anything I would do differently for other interviews?

From the interviews I conducted, I can thoroughly say that you have to be really interested in anesthesiology to successfully pursue it as a career. It's definitely something you have to be committed to because it takes a lot of sacrifices. As Dr. Wood was telling me, you give up time with your family in order to be an anesthesiologist. Taking calls isn't easy because of the crazy hours spent doing cases. Not just that, but just to become a doctor in the practice, you have to go through rigorous training. Dr Remolona explained that the years spent in medical school are all about studying and hardly any social life. It only gets tougher with residency training because anesthesiology is a specialty that takes specific skills. As he said, it takes up 80 to 100 hours of work per week as an anesthesia resident. Overall though, I'd say that it is a very rewarding career though, because I could tell that the people I interviewed truly enjoy what they do and they're truly dedicated to being anesthesiologists.

2. Did I get additional resources and contacts?  What is the most useful?  Why?

When I asked Dr. Wood about who I should talk to for more information, she actually suggested that I interview one of the nurses that help out with anesthesia. Anesthesia done during surgery is done by a team after all, so I really look forward to interviewing a nurse about what it's like to help out the anesthesiologists during procedures. Dr. Remolona suggested that I find a current anesthesia resident to interview because it could give me a better sense as to what it's like to be pursuing the field with the science we have today. He felt that getting to talk to someone going through all the emotions and hard work can help me figure out if that's something I will end up doing myself in the future if I want to be an anesthesiologist as well.

3. What makes my interviewee qualified to help me? 

Dr. Wood has been an anesthesiologist for over 30 years. I have actually known her for many years of my life and I have seen her in practice before when I was younger. She is a very well experienced professional in the field. Dr. Remolona has been a practicing cardiac anesthesiologist for over 20 years now and is Board Certified, meaning he is qualified as a specialist for his expertise in the field.

[Just a funny cartoon I found while browsing :) ]

Blog 4 - House Advisory Prep 1

[These are some pictures I took at the Chino Valley Medical Center when I went to interview an anesthesiologist.]

Write a short explanation of what you are hoping to accomplish through your senior project topic.  You will be sharing out on what you've written here with your house advisory and classmates on Friday, 9/11.  Don't forget to start off with an interesting visual!

Through my mentorship, I hope to learn about what makes an anesthesiologist. The academics, the study, but also importantly the experiences. Observing surgeries and watching the procedures closely are things I find to be the most important aspect of my senior topic. Standing right next to the anesthesiologist is the most fascinating part of this project so far and I hope to have many more opportunities in the future. I want to be able to shadow my mentor throughout the year and be able to understand what it's like to be in the field working with patients and helping them get through surgery safely.

Also I hope that my experiences this year will help me figure out what I want to do as my career in life and what I should be aiming for. Currently, I'm not completely sure I want to be an anesthesiologist, but I do know that I want to end up somewhere in the scientific field. Hopefully by the end of this year I'll have a better idea of what I want to major in when I get to college.

Blog 3 - First Interview Preparation

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  Why?

• Initially I would like to interview my mother regarding the extra questions I typed up because she is an anesthesiologist herself and a very valuable resource to my project. However, if I'm able to schedule a time to meet up with one of her friends, Dr. Lorna Wood who is also an anesthesiologist, I would take the opportunity because she is very knowledgeable about the topic and has been in the profession for over 20 years.

2.  Five questions will be assigned to all seniors to ask.  What additional questions do you plan to ask?  Ask open-ended questions.  

• Knowing what you know now about anesthesia, would you still choose to be an anesthesiologist?
• What's the most difficult thing about being an anesthesiologist?
• What's your most memorable experience while on the job?
• Why did you want to be an anesthesiologist?
• What's the most important thing you learned while in medical school regarding your job now?

Blog 2 - Summer Mentorship

1. List the contact name, phone number, and organization of the person with whom you volunteered.

Contact Name: Richard Kakes, MD.

Phone Number: (310)469-1290

Organization: Desert Valley Medical Group

2. What qualified this person as an expert in your topic choice?     

He is a Board Certified staff anesthesiologist, who is currently in private practice. He graduated from the UCLA Anesthesia Residency training program. He has been a general anesthesiologist for nearly 20 years.

3. List three questions for further exploration now that you've completed your summer hours.   

1. How can anesthesia be made safer for patients?

2. How can patients be more informed about the importance of anesthesia?

3. Can the basics of anesthesia be taught to students in school and not just medical school?

4. What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

I learned just how important anesthesiologists are during surgery. They are just as important as the surgeon because they relieve their patients of pain and the stress of having an operation. I saw this multiple times throughout my mentorship hours this summer and I wish to learn how they are able to keep their patients safe and comfortable. 

5. What is your senior project topic going to be?  How did mentorship help you make your decision?  Please explain.

My topic will be about anesthesiology. My mentorship really got me thinking about what I could do for my senior project and I was intrigued at the level of expertise required to be an anesthesiologist. It fascinated me that they could just wake up a patient pain-free and comfortable that had just been cut open for an operation and I want to continue to learn more about this topic.

Link to Mentorship Hours

Blog 1 – Senior Final Lesson/Interview Reflection

1.  What three lessons were most helpful for you to see, and why?

Elijah Garcia - Editorial Publishing
I found his presentation to be the most helpful because I will be one of the editors-in-chief for next year's yearbook staff. His lesson not only gave me ideas for what I could do for my senior topic regarding yearbook , but it gave me a glimpse into what lies ahead for me in managing my future position.

Hasan Khan - Cardiology
Hasan's presentation was very helpful and gave me an insight as to how I could approach doing anesthesiology for my senior topic. His mentor was a cardiologist and he was able to observe him throughout his mentorship. The advice he presented about his mentorship was very informative.

Liliana Yzaguirre - Medicine
Liliana's presentation focused on how a patient feels while in a doctor's office, and though the topic I am considering does not typically take place in a doctor's office, it was still insightful to get the perspective of what a patient would feel. A patient's satisfaction still has relevance to any doctor, so it was very helpful.

2. List one thing that you learned about the senior project in interviews that will help you get off to a good start?

I learned that a lot of the things I had planned to hopefully do next year, I would have to set aside in order to prioritize my senior project. I wish I could focus on medicine for my senior project, since I find great interest in it, however, I have responsibilities as editor-in-chief that I would need to attend to.

3. What topic(s) are you considering, and why?

I am considering a topic related to yearbook, such as editorial management. I would pursue this because I would be editor-in-chief for the yearbook staff next year and that position has many responsibilities. Another option for me is anesthesiology. I am greatly influenced by the work my mom does as an anesthesiologist herself and I am passionate about the sciences.

4. What EQ do you think might be interesting to consider in guiding a project like this? (Please don't worry about any sort of formula...we want this question to come from your genuine interest).

Yearbook: How can an editorial staff be best managed in order to efficiently produce a well-published book?

Anesthesiology: What is the best way an anesthesiologist can ensure that his or her surgical patient will be relieved of pain through the administering of anesthetics?

5. What are some ideas you have about finding summer mentorship?

For anesthesiology, I would be able to find a summer mentorship through the doctors that my mom works with. She is friends with many other anesthesiologists that I have known growing up and I plan to shadow one of her friends and see what he does at work. For yearbook, I'm not completely sure where I would do my summer mentorship, however, I would be attending yearbook camp along with  Mr. Strand and other yearbook editors during the summer.