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.