Blog 13: 10 Hour Mentorship Check-In

[My mentor and I preparing for a surgery.]

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?

I'm doing my mentorship at Desert Valley Medical Hospital in Victorville.

2.   Who is your contact?  What makes this person an expert?

My mentor is Dr. Richard Kakes. He has been an anesthesiologist for with over 25 years of experience.

3.   How many  hours have you done during the school year? (Summer Mentorship Hours and Mentorship Hours should be reflected separately in your Senior Project Hours log located on the right hand side of your blog).

25 hours (mentorship hrs.) + 30 hours (IC hrs.) = 55 hours (mentorship hours + independent component hours)

4.   Succinctly summarize what you did, how well you and your mentor worked together, and how you plan to complete the remaining hours.

I have observed several surgeries with different anesthesiologist (mostly with mentor) and with each case being different, I have the opportunity to ask questions and my mentor explains thoroughly what he does and why he chooses to. I'm never afraid to ask questions of any of the anesthesiologists I have sat through surgeries with. To complete the remaining hours, I plan to continue this as I have learned a lot through observing real life situations.

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