Welcome

Hey! Welcome to my blog about my 2009 summer internship in the electrocardiography lab at Marin General Hospital. I created this blog to share my experiences and what I learned as a member of the electrocardiography team. Enjoy!

My Resume

Profile

I am a current Junior at Sir Francis Drake High School and a straight A student. I participate in school sports and clubs and am a member of the Honor Crew and the California Scholarship Federation.

Activities

Intern at marin general hospital —

summer 2009

During Sophomore year I attended a Youth Health Forum at Marin General Hospital. I immediately decided to apply for the summer internship program that was offered. I was accepted, and this summer am interning in the electrophysiology lab at Marin General. As a part of this internship I attend a career management class and work at the hospital for at least ten hours every week. It is very interesting and educational work that has shown me a lot about hospital life.

Volunteer at the Marine Mammal Center —

June 2008 to present

Every Saturday morning at 6 AM I go to the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, a rehabilitation center and hospital for wounded, sick, or abandoned marine mammals. I work with a crew of adults and youth to feed the animals, to clean the animals’ pens, and to get everything ready for the next crew. It is very rewarding work, and I have been deemed sufficiently responsible to perform difficult tasks such as tubing (feeding with a tube) or restraining elephants seals.

Co president and co founder of the drake Green routes club —

sophomore year

This year three friends and I joined together to create the Green Routes club, a club focusing on being green. We put on one bike-and-walk to school day a month, we help put together green events around the school, and we work to spread general awareness of environmental issues.

Member of the Drake mountain biking club —

Freshman and Sophomore years

Freshman year I joined the Drake Mountain Biking (MTB) club. This club, which is more of a sports team than a school club, meets four times a week after school to go for practice rides in the hills of Marin. We participate in 5 races a year, including the state championships, which are put on by the NorCal high school MTB league. Drake is the biggest and the best team in the league. This team has made me a much more fit and healthy person as well as expanding my social groups and skill sets.

Editor of the Drake mountain biking newsletter —

sophomore year

I was asked to put together a newsletter for the Drake MTB club that would go to all the team members, families, and sponsors, detailing all the events of the year and including other pertinent and interesting information. There are three issues per season. I designed the page layout, and am in charge of gathering the content and pictures and then editing it.

Education

Sir Francis Drake High School — class of 2011 (current Junior)

Skills

Certification in First Aid and CPR, dedication to work, responsibility on the job, excellent memory for details, organization, following instruction, good work ethic.

Internship Description

Being an intern at Marin General Hospital is an amazing experience - I literally get to save lives, deal with patients, and get a nice paycheck. Oh wait, that's the doctor.
Don't worry; if you came in as a patient to the electrophysiology lab I would not be responsible for your care, as that is left to trained professionals. However, you might see me watching the procedures from my spot in the corner. While it is not the most interactive internship as far as patients care goes, it is completely fascinating to get to watch the procedures from inside the room and have it explained to me as it happens. I also get to help with normal office activities and interact with the other people working at the hospital.
I work Tuesdays and Thursdays, and my work schedule is completely dependent on what time the procedures will take place that day. Until the cases start and between happenings I do filing and organizing of patients' charts and the offices. However, when a patient comes in I get to be in the room, listening as the nurses go over consent forms and get the patient ready for whatever procedure they are at the hospital for. I get to follow different patients throughout the day, starting with check in, then the actual procedure, and then to the recovery room. Overall this internship is amazing - I never thought I would get to be in the room while a doctor is implanting an ICD or ablating someone's heart.

Organization Overview and Culture

A hospital is a very strange place to work. When constantly dealing with matters of life and death, the employees there must have a certain persona about them. Due to the serious content of their job they make light of many other things. They are generally a happy bunch of people; making jokes in the procedure room, laughing with patients, celebrating every employee birthday with a party, and over all enjoying their jobs as much as (if not more so) than any other person.
This job is much like any other; there is customer interaction, forms to fill out and get signed, lunch room gossip, conflicts, long hours, and protocol to follow. There are bosses and subordinates, different departments to check up on, and of course friendships formed. However, working in a hospital is different because mistakes are much more serious and protocol like consent forms are followed religiously; any slip up could cost a patient's life or a serious lawsuit. It is a high stress job, yet a very fulfilling and interesting one. Although many of the same procedures are done day after day, every patient is different and every procedure has a certain uniqueness to it - it is that quality that makes working in a hospital such a fascinating experience. Overall the feel of the job is similar to many others, but the fact that lives are being saved makes everything more important and more worth the time.

Career Path To The Top

Step 1: Graduate from High School or get a GED (focus on science classes). While in High School, try to take AP classes to give yourself a head start on your college prerequisites.
Step 2: Go to college and get one of four options: A)Master's degree in Nursing (2 yrs graduate program after getting a undergrad degree in something other than nursing), B) Bachelor's degree of Science in Nursing (4 yrs undergrad), C) Associate's degree in Nursing (2-3 yrs undergrad/JC), or D) diploma (3 yrs vocational learning in a hospital)
Possible colleges with nursing programs: UCLA: $26,522 Stanford: $48,000
Step 3: Pass the NCLEX-RN exam to obtain a nursing license, and get a job!

How My Internship Fits/Does Not Fit My Future

This internship helped me see that I am very well suited for a job in the nursing field. It let me experience a hospital working atmosphere and figure out how I fit into one. It also showed me different nursing specialties so that I am now much more aware of the different possibilities available to someone who goes into the nursing field. And very importantly, it got me contacts in the medical field. If I ever need a reference I know where to go!

Advice to New Interns

• Talk to new people, introduce yourself
  
• Although meeting new people is always difficult, especially when they are your superiors, it makes the internship more interactive if you get to know the people you are working with right away. They are more likely to ask you to help them if they know your first name.
• If you are unsure, ask!
• No matter what the subject, if you are unsure about some aspect of the internship you need to ask a question about it. Your supervisor wouldn't be hosting an intern if they didn't want to teach you. For example, in the cardiac room where the procedures take place I would get to watch everything, however in the beginning I had no idea what was going on. I asked my supervisor to explain something, and once the other people in the room knew I was interested in learning I was flooded with information from many sources (the nurses, the techs, even the doctor).
• Always respect the patients' privacy and the nurses orders
• Be aware that you are working in a hospital. There is always the chance that something serious will happen, and if you don't react to orders right away you could cause a problem. Also, remember that some patients may not be comfortable with you watching their procedure. Be sure to not be in their face, but rather to stand back and give them space.
• Listen to everything
• Even if the doctor is not addressing you personally the information he is saying can provide an insight into the goings-on with the patient. Also, when something is being explained to you be sure that you catch as much of the meaning as possible - the explainer most likely doesn't have time to repeat it all over, and if you listen you are more likely to come up with good questions to ask.
  
• Be helpful and responsible
• These are general tips that apply to all internships; if you are asked to do something, do it, no matter who asked. If you say that you will arrive at noon, be there at 11:55 so you have time to settle in and you can be ready to work by noon. Just in general, do things that will let people trust you. With more trust comes more opportunities to do important tasks.
• Have fun
• Self-explanatory, don't ya think?