Megan’s Internship & EMT Certification

  1. Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project. Write two or three sentences describing the main activities your STEP Signature Project entailed.

My STEP project consisted of two parts; an internship at Riverside Methodist Hospital and an EMT certification process. During my time at Riverside, I was able to observe trauma physicians and advanced practice practitioners during surgeries, patient visits, trauma bay calls, and behind-the-scenes rounds and charting. During my EMT Certification through Columbus State Community College, I learned and acquired all of the skills necessary to provide basic life support during an emergency situation.

 

  1. What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project? Write one or two paragraphs to describe the change or transformation that took place.

Before beginning my STEP Project, I had no idea what career path I wanted to end up on, and that sense of not knowing was very scary to me. I’ve spent my life up to this point as a planner, someone who likes to know when and where things are going to happen. After seeing a great deal of what the medical world has to offer, this fear of the unknown has almost completely subsided. While I’m still unsure of what I want to make a career out of, I’m much more comfortable after seeing the wide range of opportunities that I will eventually find myself facing. I was able to see up close what different medical professionals do, and how each of their contributions fit into a wider picture of patient care.

I found myself less uncomfortable with the idea of the unknown, because I knew that someday I would know exactly what type of contribution I’d like to make to the medical community. I have a much better understanding of the different roles and specialties of different medical professionals, several of which sparked an interest as a potential career path choice. Before beginning my STEP Project, a lot of stress surrounded the thought of trying to figure out what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing. But after seeing several different types of medical professionals work, hearing their personal testimonies, and experiencing what it’s like to be an EMT, I’ve found that a large majority of that stress has completely dissipated. Originally, my goal by the end of my STEP Project was to have a better grasp of what I want to spend my life doing. While I didn’t quite reach that goal, I’m confident that I came out of this STEP Project better off than I would have if I had reached that goal. At this point, I’m okay with not knowing and I’m actually excited to face the next chapter in my life with an open mind.

 

  1. What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during your STEP Signature Project led to the change/transformation that you discussed in #2, and how did those affect you? Write three or four paragraphs describing the key aspects of your experiences completing your STEP Signature Project that led to this change/transformation.

 

The first life-altering event I experienced during my STEP Project was when I was able to stand in on my first surgery during my internship at Riverside. It was a rib-plating surgery for an elderly man who had fallen and fractured several ribs, causing them to gradually shift and make breathing very uncomfortable and dangerous to underlying organs such as the lungs. I was able to watch as the trauma surgeon on the case re-constructed this patient’s ribcage, which would allow him to breathe comfortably and safely. The surgeon was very educational, allowing me to approach the patient and observe the lungs, the movement of the chest wall, and the insertion of a chest tube. Every movement, incision, and correction he made was done so with an amazing balance of delicacy and confidence. After the surgery I was able to tag-along while advanced practice practitioners completed follow-up rounds, and I was able to visit the patient during his recovery. Although he was sore which was as to be expected, he mentioned already noticing a difference in his ability to breathe and in his quality of life overall. At that moment, I knew that the medical field was exactly the place for me; I knew that I wanted to someday use my hands with that same delicacy and confidence to be able to improve someone else’s quality of life.

Another event that really stuck with me during my STEP Project was when I was an EMT student completing a clinical with a private ambulance company. During my clinicals, I was able to perform assessments on patients and assist in their transport and basic life support. There was one run I went on that will undoubtedly stick with me forever. I was on a private ambulance on my way to transport an elderly woman from a nursing home back to her permanent residence. I was already not looking forward to the trip because I thought it was going to be the most boring, mundane hour of my life spent taking a patient from one location to another. However, it turned out to be one of the most humbling experiences of my life. We were called to a nursing home where we found an elderly woman with dementia who wasn’t able to communicate very well or get around on her own. She had been at the nursing home for only three days, which likely meant that her permanent caretaker was taking a break or on vacation. We loaded her into the ambulance and made our way to her permanent address.

When we arrived, we walked into a small home littered with trash, food, and piles on piles of random items and toys. Two women were sitting in the main living room, surrounded with their daily essentials (food, makeup, electronic devices) and watching television. They didn’t say a word to the patient (their mother) as we carried her inside and up two flights of stairs to the furthermost corner of the house, where a dungy hospital bed sat waiting for her to return. The room she was in smelled of urine and was presumably not visited by anyone other than the patient. Positioning and leaving her in this room was quite possible the most painful thing I’ve ever had to willingly do. It was clear to me that she was not going to receive the treatment that she desperately needed. After leaving the home, we discovered that three reports had already been filed on this home through family services. As I struggled to understand how a system could be so broken, the EMT whom I was there to observe and learn from reminded me of something I will never take for granted. She said to me, “as shitty as it is making $11 an hour as an EMT, you quite possibly could have been the only friendly face that patient has seen today, and that could mean the world to her”. This statement was very moving, as it reminded me that the beauty in healthcare is the impact that the little things can have, even if you aren’t performing a major surgery. Sometimes, it’s the things as simple as a smile or showing some compassion that could increase someone’s quality of life way more than a rib-plating could.

Some of the most important information I gained from this experience actually came from a junior resident (medical student) working for trauma services at Riverside. He told me that the worst possible thing I could do for myself would be to go into medical school with my mind set on a single, narrow path. He explained that this narrow mindset, especially in the medical field, would hinder my ability to learn about other aspects of medicine, keeping me from growing into a well-rounded physician with a wide range of knowledge. Because I’ve always been one to plan, it took me a while to agree wholeheartedly with this statement. Up until that moment, I’d thought that it was necessary to go into medical school knowing exactly what I wanted to walk out of medical school with. But, hearing this type of advice from someone who was in my shoes just a few years ago had a significant impact on my mindset. I slowly became okay with not knowing exactly what the next 10 years of my life were going to look like, to the point where I actually started to get excited to see just what medical school has to offer. The stress that surrounded the big question mark of medical school began to subside, and some of it replaced with confidence and acceptance.

 

  1. Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life? Write one or two paragraphs discussing why this change or development matters and/or relates to your academic, personal, and/or professional goals and future plans.

 

The transformation I made throughout my STEP Project will be extremely useful as I face the next chapters of my life during undergrad, medical school, and so on. I’ve become less stressed about and more excited for my future, which will help me to be able to focus on things other than planning for it. I’ve also been reminded of the whole reason I became interested in the medical field in the first place; for the patients. This transformation has created a new sense of excitement and confidence within that will surely prove to be helpful now and in the future.

As a future medical professional, I will one day be able to look back on this experience and remember why I started down whatever path I end up on, always staying true to myself and my intentions. As a current undergraduate student, the relieved stress that has been replaced with excitement has made studying for organic chemistry and physics completely worth it. As a person in general, this experience has reminded me of the purity and value of simple human interactions that may turn out to not be so simple after all. I will continue to not take these human interaction experiences for granted, as I am a firm believer that they are the true basis of medicine.

 

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