Out and About This October!

 October Volunteer Hours: 9

Semester Volunteer Hours: 16

I believe we are more than half way through our 1st semester and I can definitely say that I'm still hanging on!

This past month, I was able to start volunteering weekly at Touro LCMC. My shifts are every Thursday from 4pm-7pm in the Emergency Department and so far, I've completed 3 shifts. I chose to volunteer in an ED because I do see myself becoming a physician in the future and would love to further explore the hospital environment. My tasks consist of dressing the beds once patients have been discharged, helping deliver food to patients, walking patients from the ED to Fast Track and more. I started about 3 weeks ago and I did notice that, sometimes, I may need to ask for new tasks to do simply because everything is usually already taken care of by hospital staff. Despite that, I have had a good time overall because I feel like I'm learning so much. The other day, I was able to read a few ECG/ EKG readings because we happen to be on the cardiovascular unit in class. I was also able to recall the mechanism of action for some antibiotics and therapy treatments used for sepsis (which was plastered on the ED wall) because of what we learned a couple of units ago. Being able to tie in learning in class with learning in the ED has made my experiences enjoyable so far.

As previously stated, we are currently in the cardiovascular unit in class. This unit is taking a little more effort and time out of me simply because I do not have prior background knowledge of it. Also, I do believe it is my toughest unit so far. I'm glad that I'm aware of my challenges so that I am able to utilize all of my available resources and tackle my weaknesses ahead of time. Although I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving and Winter Break, I am also very eager to have a great end of the semester. I'm excited to finish up my exams and independent studies strong!




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