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.]