Blog 27: Self Reflection

(1) Positive Statement

The aspect of my senior project that I am most proud of is the fact that I incorporated an activity that really allowed the students in my presentation to understand and make their own sanitizer. I struggled with finding an activity that would really incorporate my answers and be enjoyable for the students.  

 

(2) Questions to Consider

a. AE - I feel as though I answered my essential question in a way that allowed my audience to really grasp what I was trying to say as well as really engaging them. I understood my topic well and I feel that, that translated to the people in my presentation.

 

       b. P due to the fact that the combination of the knowledge I gained and how I conveyed in it my presentation with my research quality I feel as though a P would suffice.   

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?

Allowing me to choose where I narrowed my focus as well as how I chose to research everything really allowed me to grow into my topic and enjoy it so much more. 

(4) What didn’t work for you in your senior project?

Changing my topic so late in the game did not allow to go as extensive in my research as I wanted which did hinder me in a way.

(5) Finding Value

My senior project really allowed me to choose biology as a major and apply as so to universities and know what I wanted to do with specificity in anesthesia and medicine in general. Xavier University has accepted me a Biology and Chemistry major and I have decided to accept their offer. 

2 Hour Presentation

  2hr Lesson Plan

Blog 24: Independent Component 2

Literal

(a) “I, Christine Valdivias, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.” 

(b)I have completed 30 hours of work at San Dimas Community Hospital in emergency room. I clean patient sleeping areas, including equipment and re-stalking all the supplies in ach room, I also run specimens to the lab.

Interpretive
The most significant part of my independent component 2 work was really getting to work one on one with professionals in that type of environment, I felt that as much as I spoke with professionals nothing was as good as experiencing it. Along with allowing me to adapt to a medical field environment this also allowed me to be comfortable and confident in my abilities to work in an emergency room and not be afraid of the pressure or responsibility. 

Applied

Working in the emergency room helped me in answering my essential question of "What is the best way to prevent complications as an anesthesiologist?" in showing me how medical professionals perform decontamination techniques when working with patients. Being that ad a medical professional you are working with patients getting to know and using decontamination techniques in a medical setting is of great help.  

3-Column Chart

3-Column

The Product

As of March, my product is that I have been accepted to Northern Arizona University as a Biology major. Being that my first Independent Component was taking an MIT Biology courseware class, I feel that it aided me in my decision in ultimately declare as a Biology major. With a degree in Biology I can then go pre-med and medical schools as well as residency come soon after. 

Evidence: NAU Email.

  

Fourth Interview Questions

1. Did you find any aspect of adjusting to any type of sanitizing routine in your daily job specifically difficult? Ex.? How so?
2.  Do you feel that certain hospitals vary in their sets operating room routines? How so?
3. What are certain aspects of the disinfecting routine you must perform that you would change?
4. Are there things that you have learned throughout your career that have led you to feel this way?
5. Do you see a difference in the way colleagues disinfect their hands or equipment perhaps? If so what?
6. Did you find that your education lacked in what was going to be truly asked of you in this job? If so how?
7. If not what do you think lead to your success and thorough understanding?
8. Do you feel that the school you ultimately chose to attend affected the way that you approached the field? How so?
9. How do you feel the medical will change in the next 10 years? If at all?
10. Are there any situations in which you encountered complications that you did not know how to overcome?
11. If not what do you attribute to being so well prepared for such situations?
12. Was there one prime experience with a faculty member or within that you experienced throughout your education that changed your perspective on your view of the medical field? Or how you went about the rest of your education?
13. If 1 book, what would you recommend i read or research to better prepare myself?  
14. What was the rarest case you have ever experienced with a patient undergoing anesthesia?
15. Do you find that having a personal life/relationship hindered you? How so if at all? 
16. Have advancements in technologies of today changed the way you do your job? How so?
17. Do you find it difficult to separate yourself from difficult patients/cases at times?
18. What extra responsibilities do you find you have that you were no really prepared for?
19. What type of courses do you recommend i take in order to further my education/understanding?
20. Would you have done anything differently concerning your education? If so what? Why?

Independent Component 2 Plan Approval

1.     Write a description of what you plan on doing for your independent study component.

For my second independent component I plan on doing more service learning hours at San Dimas Community Hospital.

2.     Describe in detail how you think your plan will meet the 30 hours work requirement.

By simply taking more time out of my week to dedicate to going to the hospital I do not see a problem in meeting the additional 30 hours.

3.     How does your independent study component relate to your EQ?   

This independent component study would help with my essential question being that it does have to do with medicine and working in a hospital environment. What better way to gain that type of insight and experience if not volunteering at a hospital and obtaining that kind of firsthand experience with medical professionals and patient environment? Which I why I decided this time around for my independent component 2 I would try do something more hands on as opposed to taking a class at which would surely give me the knowledge but not so much the experience. 

Presentation 2 Rough Draft

20 Minute presentation plan:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wOpD5Gp6ODn82mOYhjyKN4ZY-BAlzCAdb60-FrOgEXI/edit

Independent Component 1

1. Literal

-  I, Christine Valdivias, affirm that I completed my independent component, which represents 30 hours of work. 

-  Explanation of what you completed:

I have completed an entire online MIT open courseware course, printing out and completing reviews, study material, problem sets, as well as quizzes.

2. Interpretive

This course helped me in getting a deeper understanding of what it is at the base of this field that I would like to get into in the future. I believe like most people that you cannot enter a field without testing out the waters first and seeing if you truly liked it this course did that for me, it affirmed why it is I am interested in this area of study in the first place.  

3. Applied

This course helped me in giving me a better understanding of the base knowledge I will need to understand to further understand my EQ as a whole. On the surface sure my EQ seems very straight forward but it is the interworkings of contamination and bacteria as well as skills acquired through an extensive education that allow me to answer my eq. In the MIT open courseware for example I learned about the nervous system and stem cells as well as how cancer spreads in the body all aspect that could very well affect an anesthesiologist in a surgical room and present real life complications form them. Knowing this type of basic knowledge allows you to build on it, further understand and grasp concepts that are important, which is why I feel this course was such a tremendous help to my senior topic.  

Answer 1

EQ: What is the best way to prevent complications as an anesthesiologists?

1. Commitment to being a life long learner

Having a thorough knowledge and understanding of the field you are entering.

2. What possible evidence do you have to support this answer?

- In this first piece of research I found that the amount of schooling necessary to reach the career goal of becoming an anesthesiologist. Being that you need 4-year university/med-school/residency and a continued expansion mandated by the state after acquiring the initial education necessary, commitment to the expansion of knowledge is crucial.    

- Through this second piece of research I found that CRNA’s have the knowledge necessary to do the same jobs the anesthesia providers do, and being that you do not have to pay them the same amount they get paid less. Being informed on all the new technologies, advancements, as well as discoveries it puts you ahead f those looking to take your job.

- This third piece of research helped in bringing to light the difficulty of keeping a patient unconscious and the different techniques as well as signs an anesthesiologist must know about. Being able to identify these signs order to keep a patient safe.   

3. What source(s) did you find this evidence and/or answer?

- “Anesthesiologist” by Melissa Brewer

- “Cost Effectiveness Analysis of Anesthesia Providers” by Paul Hogan

- “The Balancing Act of Keeping Patients Asleep during Surgery”

by Muiris Houston

Science Fair Proposal (Revision)

01. Hypothesis
 - There may be a relationship between the way hands are washed and the amount of bacteria that survives the washing process
02. Identify:
      - Dependent Variable: Amount of bacteria 
      - Independent Variable: Temperature of water and amount of time hands are washed      - Control Variable: Soap used
03. What is the connection between your science fair project and your senior project EQ?
- The connection between my science fair project and my senior project is that as an anesthesiologist the cleanliness of your hands is very important to the safety of the patient to make sure bacteria does not enter any kind of wound during a procedure.

04. How will you perform the experiment?  Include the equipment you plan on using.

- I plan on performing an experiment by scrubbing/washing my hands 4 different times using

1. First as I normally would not altering anything.

2. Second for a time of exactly 5 min. with the same temperature water as the first.

3. Thirdly for a time of 5 minutes as well this time although increasing the temperature of the water to something that is bearable but still hot. (Measuring the temp of the water)

4. Lastly I will use the same temperature of water as the third trial only this time increasing the amount of time I spend washing my hands to 20 minutes.

After each individual trial I will dip my hand in a petri dish with nutrient agar in it and incubate each dish. After the incubation process is done I will swab and use an enterotube acts as an insert you run the swab through the tube, the enterotube is a tube containing twelve compartments and fifteen tests, each containing the appropriate media for each test.  (Three compartments run two tests each section having a different test for different bacteria’s and as you read of the results you find the bacteria that is most prominent.

Materials:

-       Petri Dishes (4)

-       Nutrient agar

-       Thermometer

-       Brushes (4) [Used for scrubbing]

-       Stop Watch

-   Enterotube (4) [One time use only]

05. Which category will your project be listed under?
- My experiment falls under the category of microbiology; it is an experiment studying the study of bacterial transmission.

Third Interview Questions (Revision)

 

1.    Do you think that anyone who would like to enter this field needs to have certain

2.    What is the hardest thing you find you have to do when you go to work every day?

3.    Did you find that it wasn’t what you knew but who you knew that helped you in getting you residency? Or was it fairly easy?

4.    What is it that you find makes for a good anesthesiologist characteristic wise?

5.    Is it important to communicate with other departments in your profession? How important is it if at all?

6.    What do you think is most important in the success as an anesthesiologist?

7.    How often do you need to attend some sort of seminar to update your knowledge on your profession?

8.    With the demanding schedule of an anesthesiologist do you find it a hindrance in the type of job you do? Do you find that being tired affects your performance?

9.    Do you work closely with other anesthesiologists or do you find that you don’t come in contact with other anesthesiologist often? Do you think this affects, for example implementing some sort of new technology that you are not completely clear on and not having that other person to ask?

10. How often are you accompanied by any anesthesiologist in an operating room? Did you find it helpful?

Independent Component 1 Plan Approval (Revision)

(1) Write a description of what you plan on doing for your independent study component.

For my first independent component I plan on completing the course work available online for an Introduction to Biology class from MIT.

(2) Describe in detail how you think your plan will meet the 30 hours work requirement.

The course work that I have chosen to complete has lectures/course notes/assignments/tests enough material to study that will more than suffice for the 30 hours.

(3) How does your independent study component relate to your EQ?   

Taking a Biology class I feel correlates to my over all senior project of anesthesiology because in order to get any further in the schooling aspect you must have a complete and thorough understanding of the basics and this Biology course covers principles of biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, and cell biology a lot of the basics.

Blog 12: Service Learning

Q:Where are you working for your service learning?

- For my service learning I am working at San Dimas Community Hospital.

 

Q: What is your contact?

Kathleen Rivero

1350 West Covina Boulevard San Dimas, CA 91773

(909) 599-6811

 

Q: Services performed?

- I was only recently given service learning at this hospital so I am in the process of learning what it is I will be doing. All i know is that I am to be assigned to volunteer in the Emergency Room of this hopsital to assist those that work in that department in any way possible.

ESLER Blog

Choose 2 ESLER’S that you believe you have met throughout your senior project.

-          Throughout my senior project I think that the 2 ESLER’S I have best met are being a good lifelong learner as well as communicator.

Effective Learner: Throughout my senior project even before I decided to change my senior topic Ms. Melogno has continuously told me to get better research were authors of that work are clear and those publishing the works have clear credibility in their work and I feel that my quality in research has definitely improved as my work has continued throughout the year.

Effective Communicator: After changing my senior topic I had to then go into the medical field and find an establishment that would allow me to do my service learning. Being that it was so late in the game I was told that I wouldn’t be able to get service learning until January, and then come January the establishments that had once said they would allow me to volunteer there did not. I was forced to show continuous interest in calling continuously, showing up at establishments to talk one on one and show volunteer coordinators that I was serious in my endeavor to find a place to volunteer. Doing all this I do believe shows that I am an effective communicator and through it I now have a hospital that has recently allowed me to volunteer there as a result.

Third Interview Questions

1. What kind of study ethic did you have during school?
2. Did you find your professors to be very helpful?
3. While in school did you study in study groups or alone most of the time?
4. What swayed your decision in choosing your school for the profession that you have?
5. Do you find your job to be a very high pressured job?
6. Was is easy to find a residency? Did your school work with you to find it?
7. How is your work schedule scheduled?
8. What was the most common reason that you seen while in school that people did not finish their schooling?
9. On average how much sleep did you get a night?
10. Is the work load that your given throughout school a lot? or is it that you need to manage your time better? If so how?