BDLS certificate

2016-01-16-BDLSe_Certificate

 

This BDLS certificate represents my certification for the BDLS course offered at Ohio State. I think this is a very important course for my career development. I am going to become emergency medicine physician so being familiar with with disaster medicine will be a huge plus. I am extremely glad that I did this course because it will give me important background and foundations for residency! Not everyone in medical school gets this opportunity and I think it is a very special opportunity. As I reflect on the course, I think it gave me really good insight into what happens in a disaster. I also learned a lot about SALT triage protocol, how to do the most good to the most number of people.

 

As I look at the LSi objectives covered, I believe that the course greatly adds to my medical knowledge. The knowledge that I gained is very different than what I got during my 3rd year during my core rotations. Therefore I am categorizing this artifact as Medical Knowledge and Skills. I also believe that this course educated me on understanding the physicians’ role in a disaster and also what resources are available during an event. Therefore, i believe it also qualifies as systems-based practice

 

Ultrasound! Having fun in medical school through music!

ultrasound

 

I was part of the ultrasound acapella group during my first and second year of medical school. It was a blast!!! Here is a picture of us singing on stage for Nite Out! This was a super fun experience during 1st and 2nd year. It let me get out of the class room and decompress from the stresses of medical school. I realized early on that devoting all my time towards medical studies would cause me to burn out very quickly. Therefore, I sought to join a group that would help me escape these stresses. Ultrasound turned out to be the perfect group for me. I made a lot of good friends and also had fun singing! My favorite performance was our Disney Medley pictured above! This experience will help me moving forward because residency will be hard. It will be nothing like I’ve ever experienced before. I will need to look for things outside medicine to keep myself from burning out. Especially in the field of emergency medicine. This experience has really prepared me to look for things outside of medicine.

I would have wished to participate in this during 3rd and 4th year, but time on rotations did not allow me to practice with the group. Generally, the group is only has 1st and 2nd years due to the practice schedule. Regardless, I had a lot of fun and will cherish this memory of medical school

Asian Free Clinic

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Volunteered at the Asian Free Clinic as a student coordinator for 2012-2013. Was a wonderful experience taking care of patients. They are so grateful for the help that we give. It was also a valuable experience as a student leader. I helped recruit volunteers to the clinic on a weekly basis to keep the clinic running. If students were not available, i would go every week to make sure the patients got seen.

Out of my time at the AFC, I was exposed to the asian health initiative. They have a pretty extensive hepatitis B screening program in columbus OH. I was fortunate to be invited to many of the screening events, where i helped with patient education. I learned a lot about the patient population at risk for hepatitis B, and some of the available community resources for those who screened positive. Also there were resources available for those who screened negative but were never vaccinated. I was able to bring my fellow medical students along for some of these medical screenings so they could learn what I learned. Overall it was a very good experience! As I reflect on this experience, it really taught me a lot about leadership, taking care of the underserved, and also working with others. I cherish these lessons and I believe they really helped me during my 3rd and 4th years of medical school. These are important things that will help me during residency and even beyond!

This reflection falls under the LSI categories professionalism, interpersonal communications, and patient care. I believe it qualifies for professionalism, since I went to the clinic every week to ensure that all of the patients got seen. They really needed medical care and I felt it was important that they were able to get the care they needed. For interpersonal communication, serving in a leadership role, i had to communicate greatly with the clinic coordinator, volunteer attending physicians, and also other medical students. Patient care is involved when I am directly taking care of patients.

South Africa Global Health

 

 

SA

 

I went to South Africa for a global health elective during the beginning of my 3rd year of medical school. I went with  my fellow medical students and had a great time. I also learned a lot about HIV/AIDS as well as some rural medicine. This was my first glimpse into the world of global medicine. Going to South Africa really gave me a different perspective to a different health care system. Although South Africa had “modern” medicines and procedures, the access to the healthcare was not even. Those residing within the city center were able to to go the main teaching hospital to get modern health care, while villages just a few miles from the city had only access to make-shift clinics. The make shift clinics had only a handful of medicines and no diagnostic tests available. Everyone was treated using the shotgun approach.

 

This trip really sparked my interest in global health, especially as an emergency medicine resident. During my 4th year, I was able to go to honduras as part of PODEMOS. I subsequently rotated at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Mihn City, Vietnam. These all have formed a basis of valuable experience for me. I plan to make global health a part of my residency experience and also as a future career goal

I believe this artifact qualifies under LSI’s practice based and life-long learning. The experience has pushed me to continue seek opportunities to go abroad to learn and give medical care.

Interdisciplinary care elective or Adv. Competency

I participated in the interdisciplinary care elective during my 1st and 2nd year of medical school. It was a very eye opening experience, as it was the first time I was exposed to working as a team in a health-care environment. The course involved working with pharmacy students, nursing students, RT, social work. It was very interesting learning the different perspectives that each specialty brings. We also had clinical scenrios and I was very surprised how much I was relying on my colleagues to come up with the best plan for the patients. The course was very valuable in teaching me how to work with different medical professionals. It really helped me with I was working with them during my 3rd and 4th year of medical school.

Part of the experience was shadowing a nurse during a shift. This was an extremely valuable experience as now I know how much stuff a nurse has to deal with on a daily basis. Too often, do I see one of my residents bad mouthing the nursing staff during 3rd year. I believe it is because they did not have the experience I did during medical school. I now know that the nurses  might be overworked, or have an extremely tough patient. They might be just having a bad day. They have an extremely difficult job that physicians do not always see. I am now very understanding when working with nurses and i believe it really does help the team morale and function.

Another part of the course, we did a simulation with other health-professional students. I was the physician in the simulation, with members from nursing, pharmacy, and RT helping out. It was the first time that I was in the center of attention, giving orders for patient care. It was fun and educational, and I was surprised how much I relied on my fellow healthcare team. They also equally relied on me to give guidance. The interprofessional communication with everyone sharing their expertise really helped us come up with a good plan for our patients. It is more important than ever to work with the medical staff. Gone are the days where the physician has to know every thing and the only person involved with the care of the patient.

I believe this meets the requirements for LSI’s interprofessional communication. The course really taught me how to communicate with my fellow medical professionals. These communication skills have served me well during 3rd year and will continue during residency.

Personal Statement.

I still remember the night when a young Somalian woman was brought to the Emergency Department by her husband in labor. She did not make it to the Emergency Department, and the child was delivered in the parking lot. Although the delivery went smoothly and the mother was stable, the initial resuscitation of the baby proved to be more difficult. The emergency physician worked hard with the team to ensure the baby was properly resuscitated until the NICU team could arrive. It was later confirmed that the baby had transposition of the great arteries.

This patient encounter is a perfect example of why I am fascinated by emergency medicine. During my third year of medical school, I found it difficult to decide on a single specialty because I enjoyed every rotation. I loved the cerebral aspect of internal medicine, but was also captivated by the procedural aspect of surgery. I appreciated the complexity of caring for adults with multiple comorbidities, and I was excited for the challenges in working with pediatric patients. It turned out that the fast-paced environment of the Emergency Department was the perfect fit for me.

As I reflect on my strengths, I believe that I have qualities that will help me succeed as an emergency physician. I am compassionate and a great advocate for my patients. I also learned important lessons about leadership and teamwork during my time as the student coordinator for the Asian Free Clinic. This experience taught me how to bring together a team of medical students and physicians to care for a much needed population. While caring for my patients at the Free Clinic, I also learned to advocate for my patients by connecting them to appropriate resources in the community.

During my training as an emergency physician, I plan to develop my clinical skills to be able to handle any patient that walks through the Emergency Department doors. In addition, I have a special interest in ultrasound as a bedside tool. I am currently developing my ultrasound skills through a year-long ultrasound course at Ohio State, and have been able to apply these skills clinically. For example, I had one patient during my Intensive Care Unit rotation who was hypotensive. I performed a quick bedside echocardiogram, which showed a pericardial effusion causing tamponade physiology. This led to the patient receiving a pericardiocentesis. I have seen first-hand the utility of being able to make quick, focused medical decisions based on ultrasound findings. I am eager to continue maturing these skills during my future training.

I look forward to embarking on the road to becoming an emergency physician and I am excited about all the challenges this journey entails. My goal is to be able to take care of any patient who presents to the Emergency Department, whether it be a laboring mother, a sick neonate, or a patient with abdominal pain. I am happy that I have found something I am truly passionate about and I am confident that a career in emergency medicine will help me accomplish my future goals.

 

 

 

 

I am using my personal statement as career development tag for LSI. I believe it is a stepping stone on my quest to a residency program. It explains why I chose emergency medicine as my specialty and my goals in the future. As I reflect on my personal statement, I believe it communicates the type of physician I want to become in the future. I hope that I stay true to my goals as i progress forward.