Tuesday, May 17, 2011
May 11
OMG, today is my last day at my placement. I finished typing all the names of people who registered for the gift basket at the Marathon. There was a lot of paper and I am glad I am done. It took me a long time. I thought I would never get done. It was frustrated to see that even though I was entering a lot of names the bag was still full. I turned in all projects that needed to be turned in. Then I said my goodbyes to everyone. For the rest of the day I spend it at the front desk with Delre. I will miss them. It was a GREAT and I learned so much from each of them.
May 2
Today is a normal day as usual. My sponsor is not here, so I had to get all the projects done so that I could return it to her since the last week of internship is next week. I am currently working on new events for the new Newsletter. Then I have to pick 3 to 4 events for the weekly 1 minute radio events. I feel tired and frustrated today. I hope it will get better as we go. Today I learned that it is important to know how to manage your time and be productive otherwise you will be bored.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Last Day :(
Wednesday May 11th
I must say, I have some of the best sponsors ever. We started out by going to lunch at Timpone's. The Department Head took myself and Pablo as a congraduations into becoming students in the department for next year, but a few of the professors we have worked with came along as well. Pablo and I both received a bag full of FSHN pens, mugs and luggage tags which were pretty cool. I talked with Dr. Helferich for a while, who is the most successful professor in the department (he's brought in about $20 million of grants in the past 2 years). He gave me some great advice on classes to take and experiences to get involved in as well as how to approach grad/med school. He really pressured me to do a lot of service and other outside activities other than the basic studying that can overwhelm any good student. After lunch we went back to the lab and finished up our iron analysis from the day before. It took a couple hours and since was my last day I wanted to finish the job. Because I stayed late, Dr. Andrade took Pablo and I to Coco Mero which was super generous. We had a really nice talk about college and life in general. I gave everyone my thanks one more time and headed out. Luckily, I will be studying the department next year and I already have so many great connections.
I must say, I have some of the best sponsors ever. We started out by going to lunch at Timpone's. The Department Head took myself and Pablo as a congraduations into becoming students in the department for next year, but a few of the professors we have worked with came along as well. Pablo and I both received a bag full of FSHN pens, mugs and luggage tags which were pretty cool. I talked with Dr. Helferich for a while, who is the most successful professor in the department (he's brought in about $20 million of grants in the past 2 years). He gave me some great advice on classes to take and experiences to get involved in as well as how to approach grad/med school. He really pressured me to do a lot of service and other outside activities other than the basic studying that can overwhelm any good student. After lunch we went back to the lab and finished up our iron analysis from the day before. It took a couple hours and since was my last day I wanted to finish the job. Because I stayed late, Dr. Andrade took Pablo and I to Coco Mero which was super generous. We had a really nice talk about college and life in general. I gave everyone my thanks one more time and headed out. Luckily, I will be studying the department next year and I already have so many great connections.
Iron Analysis
Thursday May 5th
More iron analysis today. We started by picking up our samples in AESB (ag engineering building). The muffler gets over 500 degrees celsius, so we had to let them cool for awhile before we could remove them. We transported them back to the lab (goodness it was hot outside!) and let them cool a but longer in the polar fridge (we went inside for while to cool down ourselves). Once the samples were cool enough to analyize we labelled our tubes and weighed out the ashes into each tube. We then mixed our reagents (chromogen and BHT solutions; highly acidic). We then diluted to our recommended amount and analyzied our samples in the spectrophotometer. It was actually pretty rewarding to do the same procedure from my first couple weeks at internship. This time it was with real samples, but I still feel more confident knowing I've come so far in my research skills.
More iron analysis today. We started by picking up our samples in AESB (ag engineering building). The muffler gets over 500 degrees celsius, so we had to let them cool for awhile before we could remove them. We transported them back to the lab (goodness it was hot outside!) and let them cool a but longer in the polar fridge (we went inside for while to cool down ourselves). Once the samples were cool enough to analyize we labelled our tubes and weighed out the ashes into each tube. We then mixed our reagents (chromogen and BHT solutions; highly acidic). We then diluted to our recommended amount and analyzied our samples in the spectrophotometer. It was actually pretty rewarding to do the same procedure from my first couple weeks at internship. This time it was with real samples, but I still feel more confident knowing I've come so far in my research skills.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Last Day
Well for my last day, my sponsors, both Erica and Jeanine, made some food to bring in for a potluck for me. It was really nice, and the food was great too. One of the technicians came back and told me there was vodka in Erica's pasta dish and that I wasn't allowed to have any. Of course she was joking, and I had some and it was really good. After a short lunch, I set up my final presentation that I had been working on. It was a powerpoint about herbal medicines, and it went pretty smoothly. Erica always seems impressed with my work which is great. After I finished up my speech, they brought in two presents for me. I got a nice card that everybody in the pharmacy had signed which was really sweet. I also got a few small things, a keychain a candle and a pair of earrings. It was very unexpected and I really appreciated it. When I got out of my internship, I went immediately to Walgreens to pick up a gift for them as well. I'm sad to leave them all. :(
Wednesday, May 11
Well today was supposed to be my last day at Follmer Law Offices but I guess I will be coming tomorrow and Friday as well as I have not yet reached my average of 12 hours per week. It's kind of frustrating becasue I have really been looking forward to wrapping up this internship but I know Kent and Sarah could use the extra help. Lately I have been doing a lot of filing and revising letters and documents for Kent, as well as entering client names and files numbers into our computerized file-making system. Kent needs a full list of current clients, as well as files that have been moved to storage or destroyed, and this was one of the main projects he wanted me working on this semester since neither he nor Sarah ever has the time to do it. As I am nearing my last few days in the office I suspect they will really be pushing me to complete it. Sarah is on the phone right now and I think Kent is at lunch so I don't really have anything to do at the moment, hence this blog. Well that's all for now!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
4/25
My day started my day out different because the patient forgot her shoes. So we couldn’t really do anything that was planned. But we did stretch and she walked on the treadmill for 10 minute, then she did 2 sets 10 of calf raises as well as the windmills which is where the patient is working on their balance, 2 sets of 15 of donkey kicks, steps down 30 on each leg, and then we stretched her again but the lower body. (D) I was a little confused because I don’t know how my sponsor was going to respond to the patient. But my sponsor just told her that she could either leave or re-schedule her appointment or that she could stay but when she leaves her feet are going to hurt. So she ended up staying.(F) I know how to go about problems like today.(A)
LAST BLOG EVVVEERRRR - 5/10/11
So the last two days haven't been extremely excciting. I started to clean out and organize my desk because tomorrow is the last day! I still can't believe it came this fast. Yesterday I finished up a few small projects I had been working on earlier in the semester and today I'm doing the same. My sponsor(s) seem to be pretty occupied so I'm just keeping myself busy. Reflecting back on the semester I can honestly say I enjoyed this internship. This truly was a great opportunity and I feel like I am ahead of the game in my career field for students my age. My internship was so happy with my work that they even offered me a summertime job! This is great news because I really needed a second job to help figure out how to pay for my college tuition, and I get to continue my knowledge in the field of law. I'm going to miss being an intern here because I won't have the leisure of choosing to sit in client meetings and go court-watching because I'll actually be getting paid. Most likely I'll have to do a lot more housekeeping and busy work. However, I am still excited about this summer. I guess this is a bitter-sweet ending to our long internship program. Goodbye Blogger! :]
5/10
Today is just a continuation of last week - closing files on JANO. But, there is also a party going on in the office...I have no idea what for but I do know that I get free cheesecake, which is never a bad thing.
Also, tomorrow is my last day at my placement, and I am kinda stressing about when I should give my thank you card and what it should say.
Also, tomorrow is my last day at my placement, and I am kinda stressing about when I should give my thank you card and what it should say.
5/4/11
vocab- no real vocab again today
(d)Today, I mainly did a lot of manual labor around the back of Bryan's office. All I mainly did was take down older machines, and set them down on the bench to see if they worked. (a)I went through quite an amount of them, an I believe only 4 or 5 actually worked. The ones that worked we pretty much took out what was really good about it, and threw out the older stuff that looks out of date. (f)I felt as if I was helping Bryan clean house in a way. I didn't mind though, the day went by pretty fast and I was actually pretty tired. Internship is winding down, and less things are being thrown at me. Which, at this point, I don't really mind because I have finals and all of that. But Bryan knows that and sees that, so that is why he gives me the tasks that he does in the winding down weeks of the program.
(d)Today, I mainly did a lot of manual labor around the back of Bryan's office. All I mainly did was take down older machines, and set them down on the bench to see if they worked. (a)I went through quite an amount of them, an I believe only 4 or 5 actually worked. The ones that worked we pretty much took out what was really good about it, and threw out the older stuff that looks out of date. (f)I felt as if I was helping Bryan clean house in a way. I didn't mind though, the day went by pretty fast and I was actually pretty tired. Internship is winding down, and less things are being thrown at me. Which, at this point, I don't really mind because I have finals and all of that. But Bryan knows that and sees that, so that is why he gives me the tasks that he does in the winding down weeks of the program.
Monday, May 9, 2011
5/9/10 VOLITION
Vocab Xbox design kits- developer xbox's made for game design
(f)Man today was the best day ever. I went to volition today, which is a local game design place on campus above Kofusion. (d)If you don't know of some of there games, they have made the Saints row series and Red Faction series. I own the Saints row games and getting to see there studio was awesome! I worked with programmers today and they all showed me physics, and graphics programming. They let me test the new Saints row 3 that is coming out in November! That was so awesome, they even asked for tips on what could be improved. (a)They considered my ideas and my input my go somewhere! The whole place was filled with posters of there games, and various old systems everywhere. Most of the day, they shared secrets about what is new, what is old, and what they are coming up with. I felt so special in them letting me play the first 3 levels of the game! The guys were all very nice, and new a lot about programming! They got to show me how the programming transfers code to the xbox as well. It is pretty simple, in that anything you enter auto saves and can be read through the program that is used by the xbox. What a day that was, I would love to go back!
(f)Man today was the best day ever. I went to volition today, which is a local game design place on campus above Kofusion. (d)If you don't know of some of there games, they have made the Saints row series and Red Faction series. I own the Saints row games and getting to see there studio was awesome! I worked with programmers today and they all showed me physics, and graphics programming. They let me test the new Saints row 3 that is coming out in November! That was so awesome, they even asked for tips on what could be improved. (a)They considered my ideas and my input my go somewhere! The whole place was filled with posters of there games, and various old systems everywhere. Most of the day, they shared secrets about what is new, what is old, and what they are coming up with. I felt so special in them letting me play the first 3 levels of the game! The guys were all very nice, and new a lot about programming! They got to show me how the programming transfers code to the xbox as well. It is pretty simple, in that anything you enter auto saves and can be read through the program that is used by the xbox. What a day that was, I would love to go back!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
New Project (5-5-11)
Since Shanon had has been gone, Neil has been having me scan files into the computer. It's pretty long and boring but i keep pushing through them. Neil had told me that Curt was getting this huge atb for me to do. Today he talked to me about it and asked if i wanted to start it, but i said no because i was about to leave. He told me that it needs to be done by the end of Monday so i'm gonna be working hard on it on Monday. The purpose of all this is that i'm expanding on my knowledge and i'm excited for me to learn more.
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Friday, May 6, 2011
Fumbling on the last couple days May 3rd
Today I walked into the office feeling a little out of sync. I just couldn't get into the groove of being amazing, just kidding.[F] Our first patient was a problem patient and it was up to Chuck and I to diagnose her. The patient was experiencing abnormal pain, diarrhea, joint pains, however with the absence of rectal bleeding. This is a simple case of Crohn's disease; however I was so out of it that when Chuck asked what my thoughts were I just could not speak. The patient and chuck both stared intensely awaiting my answer. Nothing came out and Chuck finally said it was Crohn's disease.[D] When we got back to his office Chuck gave me a hard time about missing such an easy diagnosis, any trained monkey would have known the diagnosis however I failed miserably. As punishment chuck has given me 5 diseases and disorders and it is up to me to write reports on them.[A] I feel the punishment fits the crime.[F]
Thursday, May 5, 2011
4/5
Although today was not a good day for everyone else in the office, I found that I was very quick and efficient with the tasks assigned to me. Unfortunately, there has been talk about the dismissal of one of the PA assistants. Her absence hindered everyone’s schedule because there needed to be someone to take on her duties for the day. Apparently this has been a reoccurring issue with this individual but it occurred to me that this can happen to anyone. It is important that one stays committed in a professional firm with all issues set aside and that advantage is not taken of fellow coworkers by unexpectedly taking days off. At one point there were three other staff members compensating for this individual’s absence. This can be detrimental in a medical setting because scheduling is tight and the providers need all the help they can get. The other employees understand that they cannot afford to behave in this way and it will not continue to be tolerated. Overall, it was a frustrating day for everyone but it was a unique experience for me. Because I was able to finish charting early, I was able to shadow one of the PAs, Dave Freeman. Dave was excited to have me shadow him, probably too excited, because he was asking me to do things I was not trained or certified to do. However, I appreciated the hands on experience. He trusted me enough to remove one of his patient’s sutures and was going to have me carry out a trigger finger cortisone injection, but I was hesitant because I have only seen it done once before. He challenged me to do it next time but my time is now limited in the clinic and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to work with him again. My placement welcomed me to come any time during the summer to do further shadowing. This is something I am considering and hopefully more opportunities like this come.
FINAL PROJECT!
5/5/11
NEW VOCAB: I didn't learn any new words this week that I can think of, but I did learn how to insert page breaks on Microsoft Word.
With this being my last full week of internship, Susan gave me one final project to work on: I am putting together a recipe book that includes all the recipes we have used in cooking classes this semester, and recipes that she and her interns used last semester as well (D). She makes a recipe book at the end of each year with all the recipes she used that year, and she thought this would be a great final project for me to work on. She emailed me all the recipes and the book template that she uses every year, and I immediately got to work. When I first started, I didn't think it would be too difficult of a task or that much work, but I was way wrong! First, I tried just copying and pasting all the recipes onto one page, but they were all in different formats, so I had to make sure they were all the same formats. I got so frustrated several times because the formatting seemed to never stay the same for all the recipes, no matter how hard I tried (F). I had a lot of trouble with certain lines indenting that I didn't want to have indented. I JUST finished finally getting all the recipes in the same format and under appropriate categories, but I still have quite a bit of work ahead of me. My next steps are to alphabetize the recipes in their individual categories and make sure that the recipes stay on one page (and don't run over onto a new page). By creating this recipe book, I have learned the importance of allowing plenty of time to complete projects, even if they seem simple on first glance (A)
NEW VOCAB: I didn't learn any new words this week that I can think of, but I did learn how to insert page breaks on Microsoft Word.
With this being my last full week of internship, Susan gave me one final project to work on: I am putting together a recipe book that includes all the recipes we have used in cooking classes this semester, and recipes that she and her interns used last semester as well (D). She makes a recipe book at the end of each year with all the recipes she used that year, and she thought this would be a great final project for me to work on. She emailed me all the recipes and the book template that she uses every year, and I immediately got to work. When I first started, I didn't think it would be too difficult of a task or that much work, but I was way wrong! First, I tried just copying and pasting all the recipes onto one page, but they were all in different formats, so I had to make sure they were all the same formats. I got so frustrated several times because the formatting seemed to never stay the same for all the recipes, no matter how hard I tried (F). I had a lot of trouble with certain lines indenting that I didn't want to have indented. I JUST finished finally getting all the recipes in the same format and under appropriate categories, but I still have quite a bit of work ahead of me. My next steps are to alphabetize the recipes in their individual categories and make sure that the recipes stay on one page (and don't run over onto a new page). By creating this recipe book, I have learned the importance of allowing plenty of time to complete projects, even if they seem simple on first glance (A)
5-03-2011
It has been a busy few past weeks. Along with a couple Community Cinemas and the Freedom Riders event, Sonie and I have been diligently working on our audio pieces. A lot of them have turned out really well and seemed to be ready for the big show! A few will still need some touches and fixes, but mostly I feel confident with how things are turning out. Since Sonie and I divided the individuals up before starting audio work, I was left with 5 interviewees’ audio to edit, as was Sonie. I am really happy to say that by next Monday I am assured I will have all 5 audios done! Time flew by so quickly I can hardly believe it’s been almost 5 months! Tuesday Sonie and I will compile all audio stingers into one large piece to test how it sounds. I already did a mini tester myself yesterday and so far, so GREAT!
Sick for the week of May 2...
cold read- reading something you haven't read before, sometimes used in auditions or after a play has been cast
I'm really sick and I haven't been in school much, so I have been to my placement much. Kind of a bummer for my last week. I've still had some work at home. I finished up transferring all of Tom's notes into a spreadsheet and I sent that off to him. Wednesday I felt well enough to go to school and it was my last playwriting class. We brought actors in to do cold readings of our plays. They just sat up front and read the parts. We also had someone reading stage directions for each, that way the actions in the script were made apparent even though the actors weren't using blocking. It helps tell the story, since a large portion of a play can be visual. I had Nic Morse and Noah Gehrmann come in to read for me. Jillian, a girl in my class, brought in two actresses who agreed to read my script as well. It was kind of nerve wracking and I'm glad it's over. We turned in a copy of our script, and Professor Miller took notes and he's going to e-mail us feedback.
I'm really sick and I haven't been in school much, so I have been to my placement much. Kind of a bummer for my last week. I've still had some work at home. I finished up transferring all of Tom's notes into a spreadsheet and I sent that off to him. Wednesday I felt well enough to go to school and it was my last playwriting class. We brought actors in to do cold readings of our plays. They just sat up front and read the parts. We also had someone reading stage directions for each, that way the actions in the script were made apparent even though the actors weren't using blocking. It helps tell the story, since a large portion of a play can be visual. I had Nic Morse and Noah Gehrmann come in to read for me. Jillian, a girl in my class, brought in two actresses who agreed to read my script as well. It was kind of nerve wracking and I'm glad it's over. We turned in a copy of our script, and Professor Miller took notes and he's going to e-mail us feedback.
Wednesday May 4 PROBLEMS
This week has been a very interesting one. Wade is out since he had his baby Tuesday so I am pretty much in charge of the office and letting people who call know that he is out and trying to take care of every situation as best as I can. Monday, Wade was here so nothing much went on that day. Tuesday was my first day by myself, and everything went super smooth, no problems, no voicemails, nothing. It was peaceful. So, I go in Wednesday expecting the samething. Boy, was I wrong! I walked in to many problems. I'm not going to go into detail about them, but I'll tell you about a couple issues I had to deal with that day. I had 4 voicemails, so I had to call all of them back and get all of that taken care of. One of those voicemails was a realitor looking for space for a client, THE WEEK WADE IS OUT! Luckily stuff like that can typically wait a week. Another one was from the roofer doing the hotel roof, he thought someone had stolen his ladder, luckily one of our securtiy guys put it up because he did not know whose it was, and didn't want it to get stolen, so that was also resolved. Another issue we had was with our radio, it wasn't playing the right station, so now we have no radio in the mall until Wade gets back. This is only a little glance into what I had to deal with on Wednesday. Needless to say, it will be great when Wade gets back.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Rehab
May 4, 2011
Vocab:
Aquatic Treadmill- Litterally a treadmill that is surrounded by glass, the machine has a tank next to this treadmill to move the water into and out of the tank.
Today I was assigned to walk two of the dogs that have been staying at the clinic, both had knee surgeries. After I walked and petted them I was able to do the hydro therapy by myself on a great dane. I had to monitor this dog for 30 minutes whie she waled in the aquatic treadmill. The great dane has been getting hydrotherapy for two years now, because she has a hip fracture which healed wrong. This makes her leg rotated, meaning her foot is facing outward. To ensure she continues to use that leg she has been doing therapy. I did the same thing with two more dogs (D). Today I felt like I was helpful because Kim was able o do her paper work while I would monitor, set up, and take out the dogs from the machine. It makes me excited to know that I was able to learn in three days how to handle the animals and machine (F). I realize just how easily dealing with rehabilitation patients is, and how easy it is to work with the aquatic treadmill.
Vocab:
Aquatic Treadmill- Litterally a treadmill that is surrounded by glass, the machine has a tank next to this treadmill to move the water into and out of the tank.
Today I was assigned to walk two of the dogs that have been staying at the clinic, both had knee surgeries. After I walked and petted them I was able to do the hydro therapy by myself on a great dane. I had to monitor this dog for 30 minutes whie she waled in the aquatic treadmill. The great dane has been getting hydrotherapy for two years now, because she has a hip fracture which healed wrong. This makes her leg rotated, meaning her foot is facing outward. To ensure she continues to use that leg she has been doing therapy. I did the same thing with two more dogs (D). Today I felt like I was helpful because Kim was able o do her paper work while I would monitor, set up, and take out the dogs from the machine. It makes me excited to know that I was able to learn in three days how to handle the animals and machine (F). I realize just how easily dealing with rehabilitation patients is, and how easy it is to work with the aquatic treadmill.
4/2-4/5/11
Four of the Carle pharmacies have now been sold to the Walgreens company. For the Carle pharmacists and technicians, this means that they all have to reapply for their positions. For me, I think it'd be much harder to get a job at the main pharamcy. So instead, I think I'm going to apply at the Walgreens pharmacy. It'll be easy then if I want to work at college because there's a Walgreens right down the street from the campus. So then if I'm already in the system, hiring me will be easy. I do still wish I could work at the clinical pharmacy, but I won't mind a job at a retail pharmacy either, hopefully.
So Erica told me that I've completed all of her projects that she had planned. So for my last few days I'll just be doing technicians duties.
So Erica told me that I've completed all of her projects that she had planned. So for my last few days I'll just be doing technicians duties.
5/4
Today has been extremely boring. I have continued to work on updating the closed files on JANO today, which wouldn't normally be a problem...but today IT updated all of the computers, and switched us all over to Word 2007, so technical problems have been interrupting me all day.
Also, many of the files that I looked through today were mistyped or were in the wrong format, some were even missing paperwork! I felt terrible for having to ask Ellen (she's taking the traffic position while the main attorney is on medical leave) for help every 5 minutes.
Altogether I learned that changes no matter how good they sound, always come with complications. I think this is why the SAO has not shifted to an all electronic filing system.
VOCAB:
earnest payment - a deposit showing a persons commitment to a contract, the rest of the $ is due at a later date.
Also, many of the files that I looked through today were mistyped or were in the wrong format, some were even missing paperwork! I felt terrible for having to ask Ellen (she's taking the traffic position while the main attorney is on medical leave) for help every 5 minutes.
Altogether I learned that changes no matter how good they sound, always come with complications. I think this is why the SAO has not shifted to an all electronic filing system.
VOCAB:
earnest payment - a deposit showing a persons commitment to a contract, the rest of the $ is due at a later date.
5/3
Today was certainly not my most densely packed schedule. I began with keying in entries from the Home and Garden show register to win. Jenny sent me a spreadsheet template with the participant's name, adress, zip code, phone number, town, and e-mail. So far I have only keyed in 127 participants and there are over 2000. Not only will it be impossible to finish before my internship is over, but it is also a rather annoying and tedious task.
After I was finished keying in a full stack of register to wins slips Jenny called me into her office to have a short conversation. She informed me she was doing performance evaluations of the other interns and wanted my input for it. Apparently she sensed that they were not working to their full potential and made little or no effort to show me the ropes to entertainment marketing. When I was asked how I felt, I politely agreed. I certainly hope that she doesn't tell the other interns that I felt that way.
After I was finished keying in a full stack of register to wins slips Jenny called me into her office to have a short conversation. She informed me she was doing performance evaluations of the other interns and wanted my input for it. Apparently she sensed that they were not working to their full potential and made little or no effort to show me the ropes to entertainment marketing. When I was asked how I felt, I politely agreed. I certainly hope that she doesn't tell the other interns that I felt that way.
Wednesday, May 4
Well I just walked into the office and now have some free time before I begin my new assignment while Sarah is finishing up a quick email so I thought I would do some blogging. The past few weeks have been somewhat hectic here due to one large case in particular. This is the same case with all the emails that I had to sort through and it is extremely time consuming. Like I mentioned before, it is a divorce case involving some stock in a family owned business that has significant value. The ex-wife is a lawyer, but lives in Texas and is not licensed to practice here in Illinois, hence Kent's involvement. Right now we are focusing on creating motions to allow the Respondent (the wife) to display evidence in trial, as she is barred from doing so at the moment. We are also filing motions to continue and a motion for a mental health examination of the Petitioner (the husband) because he suffered from a severe stroke and Kent believes that he is now incapable of tesitfying at trial. There is a deposition tomorrow afternoon at 130 of the husband's brother that Kent said I could go to, so I am pretty excited about that. It's in Monticello and I have my AP English test tomorrow so hopefully I will get out in time!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
ROAD TRIP! - 5/2/11
Today was not an ordinary day at all. Immediately when I arrived at the office, one of the law clerks told me that we need a few documents filed in the Piatt county's court system. I figured this was a normal task, just running to our court house and back, that is until she said she was going to print out google map instrustions of how to get to Monticello! I have never driven anywhere farther then the distance in Champaign-Urbana by myself before, so I was a little nervous. Luckily I had my own GPS system because I was driving my mom's car. The drive was super easy and went a lot quicker then I expected. I've driven longer distances then that before, but I have never traveled by myself so I was happy that I was able to get there so easily. Monticello is really small and old and their courthouse was tiny compared to ours! They have like 5 people working in their circuit clerk's office as compared to the many people working in Urbana's. I successful got the documents stamped, signed, and filed and was back in the office in just a little over an hour. I really enjoyed this task and I would be glad to travel for the office soon!
Department Head for the Day!
Tuesday 4/26
The Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics (ACE), which is another dept. in the College of ACES, had their annual Administrative Assistants Day Luncheon. Unfortunately, the department head, Dr. Ellinger :), was on a business trip and felt uncomfortable making his secretary set up her own party. I was called in as Interim Head for the day. It was awesome! I got a big corner office with a giant desk and really comfy chair. But I wasn't able to enjoy it for very long as I had to get to work. Melissa, the Head's secretary, had written me a list of things to do. I had to run a few errands to pick up food during my lunch, so I started laying everything out nicely. All the staff and graduate students in the entire department would be coming to there was a lot of food. I set out table cloths, arranged a fruit plate, a vegetable plate and some cheese and crackers. I also set out cookies, cupcakes and ice cream. I set up a drink station making punch, coffee and tea. Luckily, everything was set up before the party started at 2:00. They presented awards to all the secretaries, some of them with over 20 years of service to the department. They definitely deserved it too. I've observed them on a regular week day and they always seem busy and stressed. When everyone had left I cleaned up and Melissa thanked me again. She was really appreciative someone else had to do the busy work for once.
4/28
Mrs. Sherrick came to see me today! I showed her my usual routine, along with the projects I have been working on throughout the week.
I was continuing with the research for the Circuit Clerk and the files that she had given me, and when I had made copies of all of the paperwork and written up the orders I delivered them to the Judge handling these cases. This ended up being a very slow project that took 2 weeks to complete because no one had any idea what should be done. So we would do one thing, and then think "what should we do next?" and if that next step was wrong then we wouldn't find out till the next day when we had to redo everything that was done the day before. Also a few of the files I saved on my computer went mysteriously missing so I had to rewrite some of the orders for the return of exhibits. I was extremely frustrated with this project, and when we finally took the files/paperwork to the judges I was elated.
The second project that I was working on is closing files for the attorney that is on medical leave. She taught me how to do them before she left so it wasn't difficult, although there were a lot of steps to remember and get confused on. This was a relatively easy task due to the repetitiveness of it, and I haven't forgotten how to do it so I am pleased with myself.
This week has taught me that if you fail, try, try again. Eventually you will find your way through and you will have learned more than if you had just followed a standard method.
VOCAB:
Exhibits: an item/document formally presented to court.
I was continuing with the research for the Circuit Clerk and the files that she had given me, and when I had made copies of all of the paperwork and written up the orders I delivered them to the Judge handling these cases. This ended up being a very slow project that took 2 weeks to complete because no one had any idea what should be done. So we would do one thing, and then think "what should we do next?" and if that next step was wrong then we wouldn't find out till the next day when we had to redo everything that was done the day before. Also a few of the files I saved on my computer went mysteriously missing so I had to rewrite some of the orders for the return of exhibits. I was extremely frustrated with this project, and when we finally took the files/paperwork to the judges I was elated.
The second project that I was working on is closing files for the attorney that is on medical leave. She taught me how to do them before she left so it wasn't difficult, although there were a lot of steps to remember and get confused on. This was a relatively easy task due to the repetitiveness of it, and I haven't forgotten how to do it so I am pleased with myself.
This week has taught me that if you fail, try, try again. Eventually you will find your way through and you will have learned more than if you had just followed a standard method.
VOCAB:
Exhibits: an item/document formally presented to court.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Friday April 29
After seminar today I was able to attend a meeting with Wade. This was to show a potential tenant a few different space options. Luckliy Mrs. Franklin hadn't had her baby yet, if she had, I would have done this on my own. Doing these walk throughs with potential tenants are kind of fun. The people we showed on Friday though were kind of picky. They wanted to see a lot of things changed, had many questions, and didn't really seem to be very easily pleased. Overall though they didn't seem to uninterested in the spaces. This was a good experinece to see. Wade handles people very well, and in situations I personally would feel overwhelmed with, he always has a good solution that helps me to see it a different way.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Job Opportunity plus new accouting info!!! (4/26 & 4/28)
SO thursday started out pretty slow. Mrs. Shirreck dropped by which was a little but of a surprise on the account that i haven't been doing much lately. It was nice of her to stop by and see how everything was going. After she left, I didn't really have much to do so Sharon found me little things to do like making labels and putting new papers in one of the old binders. Then when Neil was free, he told me that a partnernship was becoming a soleproperiter and so he had me do accounting processed that i actucally new how to do. He told me that i needed to write journal entries for the accounts that had been debt/credit. It was pretty simple and i was happy i could do it. The greatest news i heard all week was on Tuesday when Neil said he is going to hire me once the intership is over with. He was pleased with all the work that i had done and that it was all correct also. I was so excited. He said that he would help teach me the bookkeeping of accouting because that's what most students are lacking when they go to college. I learned that it's important that you do everything to the fullest and make sure you use your full effort. It's amazing what could happen when you do. :):) I can't wait to start learning more.
4/28/11
Vocab- No real vocab at all this week, we mostly did things that I have done before.
(d)Bryan had me go to Central Office with him today to set up a machine with dual moniters. It was originally a mac so it was an easy fix to just hook up. We changed the files a few weeks ago to convert them from mac to PC. I installed the machines by myself while Bryan went and got lunch.(d) It took a while to adjust the screen settings, but everything else was a breeze. I did the typical instillation of the updates as well as the upgrades. When Bryan got back I went back to the office and we installed a printer for a secretary in the office at the high school. Then we went back to his office and he helped me brainstorm ideas for my final project. (a)So for the rest of the day we pretty much worked on creating ideas. Bryan had some personal things to attend to so I stayed in the library and worked on my final project. (f)I have a lot of slides done and everything looks pretty good.
(d)Bryan had me go to Central Office with him today to set up a machine with dual moniters. It was originally a mac so it was an easy fix to just hook up. We changed the files a few weeks ago to convert them from mac to PC. I installed the machines by myself while Bryan went and got lunch.(d) It took a while to adjust the screen settings, but everything else was a breeze. I did the typical instillation of the updates as well as the upgrades. When Bryan got back I went back to the office and we installed a printer for a secretary in the office at the high school. Then we went back to his office and he helped me brainstorm ideas for my final project. (a)So for the rest of the day we pretty much worked on creating ideas. Bryan had some personal things to attend to so I stayed in the library and worked on my final project. (f)I have a lot of slides done and everything looks pretty good.
April 28
FileMaker Pro- a program that is supposed to help manage events, people, and inventories you can compile lots of different sorts of information (ie figures from a spreadsheet, photographs, annotations etc.) into one document.
I've finished my KCACTF edits that Bridget gave me. She told me that my first draft was good. She only had one thing that I should clarify. I finished those edits and e-mailed him the final copy. He'll use the press release I wrote at his comittee meeting on Wednesday. It's neat to see something I did have a legitimate value in the grand scheme of planning things. Ms. Sherrick visited. Tome showed her my next project. I'm using FileMaker Pro to compile all of the photos, room dimensions, attributes and obstacles of the rooms I surveyed for the KCACTF festival at the beginning of my internship. He also printed out all the notes he took while at the 2011 festival. He had his wife's iPad and just took notes in Apple's calendar. For most entries he noted where the workshop/seminar/meeting he was at in Michigan could be held at Krannert. He also made notes of things they could've used, things he didn't like, and little misceallaneous things (like needing coat racks in the rooms... it will be in January). I'll be transferring the information in to an excel spread sheet, and I assume later into FileMaker. It's neat to see my very first project come full-circle.
I've finished my KCACTF edits that Bridget gave me. She told me that my first draft was good. She only had one thing that I should clarify. I finished those edits and e-mailed him the final copy. He'll use the press release I wrote at his comittee meeting on Wednesday. It's neat to see something I did have a legitimate value in the grand scheme of planning things. Ms. Sherrick visited. Tome showed her my next project. I'm using FileMaker Pro to compile all of the photos, room dimensions, attributes and obstacles of the rooms I surveyed for the KCACTF festival at the beginning of my internship. He also printed out all the notes he took while at the 2011 festival. He had his wife's iPad and just took notes in Apple's calendar. For most entries he noted where the workshop/seminar/meeting he was at in Michigan could be held at Krannert. He also made notes of things they could've used, things he didn't like, and little misceallaneous things (like needing coat racks in the rooms... it will be in January). I'll be transferring the information in to an excel spread sheet, and I assume later into FileMaker. It's neat to see my very first project come full-circle.
Week of April 18
Gender- a societal norm attributed on the basis of sex; typically males are "guys, men, boys" females are "girls, women..." A character (or a person's for that matter) gender is not biologically tied to their sex, but social settings often give this appearance.
I made my presentation on "Radio Free Emerson" on Wednesday. It went very smoothly. I was a little nervous because our presentations didn't have specific guidelines. It really was up to the individual. I aced it though; it was clear and concise and had some good discussion points. We talked about the usual theme, character development. I noted some character inconsistancies. There's one character "Meryl" who's particularly weak in terms of penmanship. There does not seem to be motivation to her actions as anything more than a plot device. Come to think of it, most of the females were unrelatable and seemed more like plot-tools than well-rounded characters. Their actions really are there almost entirely to push the plot along but there is no deeper, or consistent, thought behind it. The author is a man. I think he's young too, I read something about him being in his mid-twenties. I think "Radio Free" was originally produced at his college. If he was in my writer's workshop I'd advise he work on how he writes his women. Mr. Miller actually has an excercise to help flesh out characters that are inhibited by gender. Just write your character as the gender you are most comfortable with and then make adjustments. Gender may affect thought process but it does not inhibit the ability to think.
I made my presentation on "Radio Free Emerson" on Wednesday. It went very smoothly. I was a little nervous because our presentations didn't have specific guidelines. It really was up to the individual. I aced it though; it was clear and concise and had some good discussion points. We talked about the usual theme, character development. I noted some character inconsistancies. There's one character "Meryl" who's particularly weak in terms of penmanship. There does not seem to be motivation to her actions as anything more than a plot device. Come to think of it, most of the females were unrelatable and seemed more like plot-tools than well-rounded characters. Their actions really are there almost entirely to push the plot along but there is no deeper, or consistent, thought behind it. The author is a man. I think he's young too, I read something about him being in his mid-twenties. I think "Radio Free" was originally produced at his college. If he was in my writer's workshop I'd advise he work on how he writes his women. Mr. Miller actually has an excercise to help flesh out characters that are inhibited by gender. Just write your character as the gender you are most comfortable with and then make adjustments. Gender may affect thought process but it does not inhibit the ability to think.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
April 28 young Dr. J
Today I was able to witness and sigmoidoscopy. This procedure is short terms is sticking a scope into a patients anal canal and proceed with viewing the inside of their colon. From what I can sense from the patient it is a horribly uncomfortable experience. However after awhile the patient began to calm down. Within this specific patient I was able to witness a fatty tumor, diverticulitis, and hemorrhoids.[D] Usually sigmoidoscopies are boring, as the nurses told me, but luckily for me I was able to see three different abnormalities. [A] I spent my whole day in GI today instead of school, and I learned more there than I have my whole senior year! [E] Mrs. Sherrick also paid a visit to Chuck and I and hopefully took amazing pictures.
April 20
These last couple of days with Chuck has been very intriguing. I've been exposed to plenty of things, even though I no longer get to see surgeries. I exchanged the option of seeing for actually learning.[A] I'm able to take plenty of notes on patient symptoms and various other diseases. Today we observed a patient who had Barret's esophagus. In previous blogs I explained what Barret's esophagus is. However as a reminder it is a disease where the esophageal tissue mutates and mimics the stomach tissue.[D] The only way to combat this is to keep a close watch on the esophagus and do endoscopies on the patient every 2 years for the rest of his life. The patient was awfully sad upon hearing the news and did not handle the news well at all. I was asked to leave the room as Chuck spoke with the patient to calm him down and explain other changes that must occur within the patient's life. It was unfortunate I could not see how Chuck delivers bad news to patients. [E]
April 26
Today I learned that my sponsor is going on a vacation with her husband and will be back the last week of my internship. Now, I was to work by myself. She called me to her office and gave me a four projects that she wants me to get done by the time she comes back. Well to start, I am working on making the signs for restaurant who are being part of the Wooden Nickel Program for the Marathon this weekend. Since there was a lot of restaurant, I had to make sure that each sign came out perfect and professionally made. It took me two hour to get all the signs done. Then I had to place them in a box so Libby would be able to drop them off the next morning. Today every CVB's staff are really nervous. We are barely talking to each other except for when one needs help with something. I can believe the Marathon is in 4DAYS. It has been a stressfull week so far and I know it will get worse as we get closer to May 30. This experience has made me learn how important team work is in a business or anything one may do. It is important that a group of people share the same vision if they want to succeed at what they are doing. It was not easy but we came in together and made sure that everything is done right for that day. I am excited and cannot wait to be surrounded by energetic people. Even thought I am not a fan of running or jogging, I will enjoy watching others doing so.
April 20: OMG
CCEDC: Champaign County Economic Development Corporation
CCCC: Champaign County Chamber of Commerce
SCORE: Service Corporation Of Retired Executives
Today has be a stressful day. I have been working on the CVB's News Letter for now three days and since it is going out today, I am really nervous to see and hear what people would think of it. When working on this project, I first thought that it was going to be the easiest thing that I have to do for my entire enternship program but it turned out to be different. First, I had to come up with a list of events that I thought was going to get people's attention. Then create a script that would make people want to read the articicle and this was for all of then. When I was done, I had to present it to Libby. I was happy that she liked my idea and was okay with me sending them. It took me at least 5 minute to press send but I did it and it is over. The News Letter was send to over 2,000 people. Now, I have to wait and see how many people read the article and what they thought about it. A lot of people in the CVB, CCCC, SCORE, and CCEDC told me that they like it and they found it interesting. So, that took off a load of stress but I am sitll anxious to see what the reaction will be tomorrow. Doing this project made me realize that there is no small job or contribution. All work should be appreciated.
CCCC: Champaign County Chamber of Commerce
SCORE: Service Corporation Of Retired Executives
Today has be a stressful day. I have been working on the CVB's News Letter for now three days and since it is going out today, I am really nervous to see and hear what people would think of it. When working on this project, I first thought that it was going to be the easiest thing that I have to do for my entire enternship program but it turned out to be different. First, I had to come up with a list of events that I thought was going to get people's attention. Then create a script that would make people want to read the articicle and this was for all of then. When I was done, I had to present it to Libby. I was happy that she liked my idea and was okay with me sending them. It took me at least 5 minute to press send but I did it and it is over. The News Letter was send to over 2,000 people. Now, I have to wait and see how many people read the article and what they thought about it. A lot of people in the CVB, CCCC, SCORE, and CCEDC told me that they like it and they found it interesting. So, that took off a load of stress but I am sitll anxious to see what the reaction will be tomorrow. Doing this project made me realize that there is no small job or contribution. All work should be appreciated.
April 13
Today was a great day. I had an Expo at the Illini Union. Since my sponsor was not able to make it, I had to go with Kip, the sport director. When I got there, I helped set up the table then we sat down and waited for the crowd to come in. Sadly there was not that many people. I had the chance to answer a few questions about Champaign County and the CVB to students. It was not hard than I thought but only different. It was different to actually be in direct environment and being in directly in contact with the community than working on a desk in front of a computer like I usually do . It was a relaxed day today. I spent most of the time learning more about Kip's job. The best part of all was knowing that the Marathon is only two weeks away. Kip asked me to work with him on the CVB table during the Marathon. I am excited to see what would happen. By the end of the day, we started giving away free pen to every student who was interested to get one. Outside, there were different clubs selling food and there was also music. When all the pens were gone, we packed our stuff and went back to the office. During this experience, I learned that it is not easy to try to sell your company or product to the members of the community, especially when they are college student. Most of them had music on, so they did not hear us most of the time. They kept walking as if nothing was happening. I really enjoyed being out of the office today because it made me see and understand other people's prospective of the CVB's job in the community.
Coming to a Close :(
NEW VOCAB: CSSD- Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics
MS- Master of Science
One thing I realized first hand this week was the importance of using proper titles in emailing people at the U of I. It is REALLY IMPORTANT! Here's my experience this week: I emailed Karen Plawecki, the director of Dietetics at the U of I, to inform her that I had accepted my admission to the Parkland Pathways program to U of I and am excited to participate in the Dietetics program. But I addressed it to Karen (because I'm so used to addressing my emails to Susan and her interns by their first name). When she emailed me back, she said great, but it is best to refer to people at U of I by their proper titles. I felt SO embarrassed (F)! I totally knew to do this, but I forgot! Now I don't think I will ever forget again, but fellow interns, remember the importance of using proper titles!
MS- Master of Science
4/28/11
I can't believe this was one of my final weeks at my internship! I'm going to be so sad when it is over. I have enjoyed this semester so much (F)! Now that it is toward the end, I have had much fewer projects to work on than I did in the beginning. This week, I did whatever "mini assignments" Suan needed me to do. On Monday, I looked up nutritional information for Subway, Steak n' Shake, Wendy's McAllister's, and Taco Bell. Susan is putting together a handout for the U of I cross country team about healthy meal options at fast food restaurants. So I looked for 8-10 healthy options per restaurant, typed them out, and emailed them to Susan (D). Yesterday, I also proof-read some handouts that Susan had created and helped answer a client's question about lycopene in dried tomatoes (D). One good thing about having some down time this week is that it has given me a chance to work on my portfolio, which as been helpful.One thing I realized first hand this week was the importance of using proper titles in emailing people at the U of I. It is REALLY IMPORTANT! Here's my experience this week: I emailed Karen Plawecki, the director of Dietetics at the U of I, to inform her that I had accepted my admission to the Parkland Pathways program to U of I and am excited to participate in the Dietetics program. But I addressed it to Karen (because I'm so used to addressing my emails to Susan and her interns by their first name). When she emailed me back, she said great, but it is best to refer to people at U of I by their proper titles. I felt SO embarrassed (F)! I totally knew to do this, but I forgot! Now I don't think I will ever forget again, but fellow interns, remember the importance of using proper titles!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Week of 4/11/11
I have a pretty interesting story to tell…. This day was the most amusing days of all the days I have been at my placement. I received some real excitement. Here it goes… So when I first entered the hospital, I noticed that a security officer as well as other health care workers on the first floor were wearing masks. Also, the security officer was guarding the door to the emergency room. Later, I found out that someone had sprayed mace on the floor, thus they put the floor on lock down, which explains the security officer guarding the doors. This is only the beginning of my day. My sponsor and an health assistant was assisting a patient of hers, when we heard a loud scream, “Help! Help! In room 8!” The health assistant ran out of the room into the hall and answered with “Where are you?” (she almost fell in the process) and she ran in the direction of where the yell came from. The patient my sponsor was currently assisting says, “Well go help her” and my sponsor replied with “No I‘m gonna help you in bed first.” She was thinking, we don’t want two accidents (because he had a risk of falling) so getting this patient situated became her priority. Shortly after putting the patient back in bed we also rushed to the room in which the yell came from. There was a heavy weight patient on the floor with nurses surrounding her. To assist with lifting the patient the charge nurse called for security but they were all monitoring lock down on the first floor. As another nurse entered the room one of the other nurses in the room said, “Join the party!”. This room was filled with staff, 7 nurses and healthcare assistants total.
Nurse: “Girl what are you doing down there!”
Patient: “They pushed me” as the patient pointed to the other nurses.
Nurse: “I know you’re full of it”
Patient: “Why I got to be full of it!”
Nurse: “Oh because I know you’re full of it like I am” HAHA The charge nurse brought a lift in the room to get the patient off the floor.
Patient: “What is that!”
Nurse: “A lift!” Apparently the patient was using the commode, and when trying to raise up after doing her business “her foot slipped”. Since the security guards weren’t available to help, the charge nurse called for males, to help. One of the nurses bended down and we heard her pants ripped, the room filled with laughter. Seems like something you would see on t.v. Once the males put the patient on the lift and used it to put the patient back on the bed, the first thing the patient said was, “Where’s my toilet?” I was blown through the roof at this point. Soon after I left earlier than I usually do, to attend the recruiting juniors internship meeting. WHAT A DAY!!!
4/4/11 Did You Know Cont'd....
For those that have asthma, and use an inhaler…If your doctor has not already informed you…it is not only important to thoroughly rinse your mouth after using your inhaler but also the inhaler itself! You are told to rinse your mouth after using your inhaler usually to get rid of the inhaled medication in your mouth after that puff. Otherwise it has been said that it can leave a bitter after taste in your mouth, lead to a hoarse voice or fungal growth. About the same health risk can become present if you don’t rinse the inhaler as well. Most people do one or the other. It is important to do both as they become apart of their hygiene routine. If you do not rinse your inhaler after using, you increase you chances of developing a fungal infection in your mouth OR a yeast infection. GROSS! Symptoms of this can be white foam in your mouth. I was disgusted when informed of this. At my placement, the subject came about because one of my sponsor’s patient’s with asthma, used a inhaler but did not take precaution of using the correct hygiene. His wife expressed that he had been using the same the inhaler for years, but did not use the healthful methods because they were unfamiliar with the health risk it could cause, and were not told to do so. My sponsor immediately informed them of the health risk. Advise anyone you know that has asthma and utilizes an inhaler to through with the sanitation needed to maintain good hygiene when using their inhalers.
3/28/11 Did You Know....
Have you noticed that all the displayed digital clocks in Carle Foundation Hospital are in army time? Well, it sucks for those who can not read/tell army time. These clocks are usually posted up on the walls in the hallways. The regular clocks would be in the patients' rooms. About IV’s… What does IV stand for? What are some of the conveniences of using IV in hospitals? IV stands for Intravenous, which simply means within a vein. IV’s are essential because if a patient can not swallow medications, an alternative to taking pills would be inserting the medications in the IV. If a patient is experiencing pain and are in need of pain medications… then inserting the pain medications into the IV works faster in relieving the pain. This is because with the help of an IV needle, medications needed for the patient go directly in the bloodstream. They can last up to 3 days usually. Are there any alternatives to IV’s? Yes there most certainly is, and it would be PICC lines, which stands for a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter. They can lasts for many week and/or months. Still, you can insert medications needed for the patients in the PICC line. It is also convenient because it minimizes number of pokes, no longer would have to be poked for something like a blood test. I briefly watched the insertion of the PICC line. It is a very sterile procedure. As they find the veins they watch from a x-ray and place jelly of the area in which the PICC line would be inserted.
4/25-4/27
This week was really busy. All I did was help out with the technician work. There wasn't a free moment on Monday and Tuesday while I inputted and filled scripts. On Wednesday, it slowed down just a little, but I actually prefer it when there's a lot to do. The time passes quickly. During the times when there was bad weather, there were lots of weather alerts over the intercom that intimidated me a little bit. And it doesn't help that there are no windows in the pharmacy, so we couldn't see what was going on outside. On Tuesday, Erica gave me a new assignment, a paper on the debate over medical marijuana. Not my favorite part of the week, but it's due next week, so I guess I'm actually gonna have to do homework this weekend. I'm almost done with my portfolio though, so that'll be a weight off my chest. I'm going to ask Erica and maybe even email the director, Greg, about working at the pharmacy over the summer. I hope I can get in an application soon.
4/26/11
Today was an eventful day to say the least. We saw sixteen patients in the afternoon which is nothing we’re not used to at this point. The patients varied in age and injury. Dr. Williams found himself treating a toddler for a supracondylar radius fracture in one room and carrying an out intra-articular (in joint) shoulder injection in another room. These types of cases tend to set Dr. Williams back in schedule a bit especially if the patient is refusing to cooperate like the toddler with the broken arm. Often other cases need more tentativeness from the doctor’s part, where further investigating is needed in order to find the cause of the problem. In cases such as these, the doctor rules out the bigger “problems” first. An infection, for example, is a problem all physicians dread because it can lead to the loss of a limb or death if it is not identified early. Infection is always a factor to consider when assessing a patient with continued pain after a total join replacement. If a doctor is able to rule an infection out, he or she would then look for any defects in the mechanisms of the replaced joint—this can be done by reviewing 3D radiograph images such as CT (computed tomography) or bone scans.
Among the other injuries we saw today, were ankle sprains, hip fractures (which require surgical intervention through intramedullary nailing), coracoid and acromion fractures as well as ATL (anterior talofibular ligament) tears. It was exhausting for the staff to catch up after the multiple setbacks but the afternoon had its up’s too. I was especially surprised with myself because I was able to handle an embarrassing situation professionally. As Dr. Williams was helping a patient off the examination table, the patient passed gas but I was able to compose myself and not show any sign of disgust or disrespect. I guess we all will have to be put in similar situations at some point and it’s important to reflect positively upon the person you are and the place you work in.
Clinical Skills
April 27,2010
Vocab:
Bloodless Castrator- Tool that can be used to castrate bulls, applies a small latex band around the scrotum to stop blood circulation on scrotum.
Butterfly needle- A short needle with a small diameter attached to a thin, flexible tube. Usually used for hands, wrists or on people with smaller veins.
Catheter- A hollow flexible tube for insertion into a body cavity, duct, or vessel to allow the passage of fluids or distend a passageway.
IV machine- pump intravenous fluid to patients with catheters
In the clinical skills lab I was able to obtain a lot of hands on experience that I have never before tried. The clinical skills lab is designed for veterinary students to be able to improve their technique in various different procedures with various different simulators. I was able to suture a cow's cut using real suturing materials on a board with thick cloth. To my surprise cow's skins are hard to get through, it took me about three strong pushes on the needle to get it through the skin. Then I learned how to use two different castration tools used on bulls (bloodless castrator, castration clamps). The coolest one was the bloodless castrator because I had to tighten the band that was put around the scrotume, so tight that the band was a little bigger than an M&M. After this procedure the bulls scrotum would fall on its own in 20-40 days. After this I worked on drawing blood with different types of needles. There were three different pads that each contained veins that had different difficulties. I started out with the standard needle and syringe on the easiest vein pad and because I was able to hit the vein on my first try I was allowed to try different needles and the other vein pads. I am unsure of the names and sizes of all the needles I do know one was the butterfly needle, and I was able to learn how to properly put a catheter and then bandage the leg to prevent the catheter from moving. My last task was learning how to use the two different IV machines. I learned how to connect the catheter to the fluid line and how to control how much fluid is pumped at a time (D). I was very surprised and excited that I was able to do all of these things and will be able to continue to practice them or even learn new things in this rotation (F). Experienced veterinarians really make everything seem a lot easier than it is which is why it is very important for the new students to have a way of practicing procedures before having to do them in live patients (A).
Vocab:
Bloodless Castrator- Tool that can be used to castrate bulls, applies a small latex band around the scrotum to stop blood circulation on scrotum.
Butterfly needle- A short needle with a small diameter attached to a thin, flexible tube. Usually used for hands, wrists or on people with smaller veins.
Catheter- A hollow flexible tube for insertion into a body cavity, duct, or vessel to allow the passage of fluids or distend a passageway.
IV machine- pump intravenous fluid to patients with catheters
In the clinical skills lab I was able to obtain a lot of hands on experience that I have never before tried. The clinical skills lab is designed for veterinary students to be able to improve their technique in various different procedures with various different simulators. I was able to suture a cow's cut using real suturing materials on a board with thick cloth. To my surprise cow's skins are hard to get through, it took me about three strong pushes on the needle to get it through the skin. Then I learned how to use two different castration tools used on bulls (bloodless castrator, castration clamps). The coolest one was the bloodless castrator because I had to tighten the band that was put around the scrotume, so tight that the band was a little bigger than an M&M. After this procedure the bulls scrotum would fall on its own in 20-40 days. After this I worked on drawing blood with different types of needles. There were three different pads that each contained veins that had different difficulties. I started out with the standard needle and syringe on the easiest vein pad and because I was able to hit the vein on my first try I was allowed to try different needles and the other vein pads. I am unsure of the names and sizes of all the needles I do know one was the butterfly needle, and I was able to learn how to properly put a catheter and then bandage the leg to prevent the catheter from moving. My last task was learning how to use the two different IV machines. I learned how to connect the catheter to the fluid line and how to control how much fluid is pumped at a time (D). I was very surprised and excited that I was able to do all of these things and will be able to continue to practice them or even learn new things in this rotation (F). Experienced veterinarians really make everything seem a lot easier than it is which is why it is very important for the new students to have a way of practicing procedures before having to do them in live patients (A).
4.27.2011 Tuesday April 26th's Community Cinema opens my eyes once again.
Yesterday was yet another fantastic Community Cinema and this time around we viewed "Bhutto" about Benazir Bhutto, the first elected Muslim woman to office. Bhutto was the Prime Minister for the republic of Pakistan, and ultimately was assassinated by the country's corrupt presidential regime. Before this film I knew virtually nothing about Benazir, and had only heard her name a handful of times. What I received most from this film is just how much Pakistan has suffered politically for virtually its whole existence. Benazir Bhutto was so inspirational, regal, beautiful, intelligent; and just like all other great leaders who have been assassinated, her life was ended way too soon. The film was the longest one that we've viewed so far (an hour and fifteen minutes), however, it seemed to move quicker than some of the others just because of how captivating and intriguing it was. It was 40-plus years of Pakistani history, but overall the other viewers (and I agree) believed it was done excellently for how much information needed to be included. I knew absolutely nothing about Pakistan before watching "Bhutto", and just as "Pushing the Elephant" enlightened me on the struggles in the Congo, this film instilled a new sense of awareness within myself about the country of Pakistan. I loved the strong sense of culture illustrated in the movie whether it was the traditional music being played as background audio, or hearing one of the languages Urdu being spoken; I feel this film was created FOR Pakistan, not ABOUT Pakistan. This movie allowed for me to learn about a totally different world outside of my comfy Urbana life, and how the struggles Bhutto and her nations faced/are facing are real. I don't know if this is the motive, but every Community Cinema film I've viewed has really tugged at my heart! Probably the thing I loved most about the movie is being able to hear and see Bhutto talk. She was so powerful yet beautiful at the same time, I was just in awe. Although Bhutto was an educated woman in politics (something absolutely unheard of) she also believed in maintaining traditional values. She kept her hair covered, never shook hands with men, and was arranged to be married since she was in such a high position of power within society. Her headscarves and traditional clothing, jewelry, and makeup only added to her regal appearance, and seeing her transform throughout her life I would say Benazir Bhutto remained one of the most beautiful people I have seen. We had a great discussion after the film, and two of the audience members were of Middle Eastern descent. One woman was from India, and a man was from Pakistan. They both provided expertise, experience, and enlightenment towards the film and their personal opinion of Benazir Bhutto. The major reason I love these Community Cinemas is for interactions like this. Overall I feel kind-of upset that Bhutto's life was ended before I was really old enough to understand and have an interest in world politics. This film was a small glance into the renown Bhutto family and their legacy with Pakistan. My only hopes are that I can learn more, and that this film will touch others when it airs on tv as it touched me.
Wednesday, April 27
Well so far today has been a relatively normal day. I have gotten everything done that Kent, Sarah, or Jake has asked me so I have some free time for the moment while I wait for Kent to revise some motions for me to edit. So far I have been creating files for one of our larger cases. Yesterday I finished another abstract of some medical records for a demand letter. This project took forever, but was low priority on my to-do list so I have been working on that when I complete all my other assignments. Since I have only gotten the chance to work on it when I'm done with everything else I have been doing it for about 3 weeks for maybe 20 minutes a day. I am really glad to have it over with though, because although demand letters are interesting, this case and its medical records were pretty boring. It's really crazy how much money these clients can ask for after being injured by another person accidentally. The average number for "settlement proposals" (demand letters) is 3 times the amount of the medical bills! That means that although these clients were injured, they are making profit on those injuries! Many of these people are not seriously injured, or simply had pre-existing conditions that were "aggravated" by the accident, giving them the right to a settlement.
I have a feeling that as these last few weeks pass by Kent will have me doing alot more in the office, especially in the housekeeping department. I know there are several hundred or more file entries that need to be entered into the File Maker program on the computer and Kent said that he would like to have those done sometime soon. I am not exactly looking forward to that project, however it will be easy and I'm sure it will pass the time quickly.
Although I will miss my placement and all the people and things I have learned here, I must say I am looking forward to completing my internship. I definitely wouldn't change anything about it if I got the chance, but I'm really looking forward to just being able to go home and relax after lunch!
I have a feeling that as these last few weeks pass by Kent will have me doing alot more in the office, especially in the housekeeping department. I know there are several hundred or more file entries that need to be entered into the File Maker program on the computer and Kent said that he would like to have those done sometime soon. I am not exactly looking forward to that project, however it will be easy and I'm sure it will pass the time quickly.
Although I will miss my placement and all the people and things I have learned here, I must say I am looking forward to completing my internship. I definitely wouldn't change anything about it if I got the chance, but I'm really looking forward to just being able to go home and relax after lunch!
Monday, April 25, 2011
MONDAY- 4/25/11
Family Service- service that provides assistance with filing family abuse cases. For example, elder abuse.
Today was a really busy day...well it has been so far. When I first got to the office I had to finish a big stack of scanning for Shayla and I had to do it in a tedious way because some documents were stapled together. Then she told me about one her clients who was having family issues. She wanted me to call the Family Service line and see if they could file a case for elder abuse. I was actually excited to call them instead of dreading the use of phones like I usual. I like talking about cases with other people because it makes me feel really professional to be in the middle of the contact between Shayla and the other people in her case. After hearing the details of the case they decided they would call me back. It was really satisfying when our receptionist, Connie, buzzed my phone and let me know so and so was on the phone for me. This task placed a lot of responsibility on me but I think I handled it very well. After that, one of the paralegals, Brenda, had a GINORMOUS, stack of papers to be scanned. This took foreveeerr, but I didn't really mind because I had something to keep me busy. I am now going to tell Shayla what I learned from the Family Service line and see what our next steps in the case are.
Today was a really busy day...well it has been so far. When I first got to the office I had to finish a big stack of scanning for Shayla and I had to do it in a tedious way because some documents were stapled together. Then she told me about one her clients who was having family issues. She wanted me to call the Family Service line and see if they could file a case for elder abuse. I was actually excited to call them instead of dreading the use of phones like I usual. I like talking about cases with other people because it makes me feel really professional to be in the middle of the contact between Shayla and the other people in her case. After hearing the details of the case they decided they would call me back. It was really satisfying when our receptionist, Connie, buzzed my phone and let me know so and so was on the phone for me. This task placed a lot of responsibility on me but I think I handled it very well. After that, one of the paralegals, Brenda, had a GINORMOUS, stack of papers to be scanned. This took foreveeerr, but I didn't really mind because I had something to keep me busy. I am now going to tell Shayla what I learned from the Family Service line and see what our next steps in the case are.
Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser!! (4/17/11)
Last Sunday, I had the opportunity to help with a spaghetti dinner fundraiser to raise money for the Eastern Illinois Food Bank. I was excited for the night to finally arrive because Susan, her college interns, and I had been planning it for a couple months and working hard to get everything organized! The dinner was from 5-7PM, but I had to arrive at 3:30PM to start cooking food. When I first arrived, Kelsey (intern) was making a giant pan of brownies, and there were several other desserts displayed on the counter, to which I added a couple bags of homemade cookies I had prepared the night before (D). Her interns, sister, and daughter were preparing salad, cutting bread, and making lemonade. Susan had 4 giant pots of water beginning to boil on the stove. While I was waiting for water to boil, I had to open tons of jars of pasta sauce, season them, and pour them into crockpots to simmer. Then, when the water was boiling, I was put in charge of cooking the pasta-LOTS and LOTS of pasta-I have never cooked that much at once in my life before!! At first I was a little overwhelmed, but after I got going, I got into a routine. We ended up filling 5 gigantic metal pans completely full of pasta. One thing I learned was the importance of pouring olive oil onto the pasta if it is going to be sitting around for awhile-otherwise it sticks together terribly and is very difficult to serve to people (we found that out the hard way :/ ) From 5-7PM we served dinner to many people and were able to raise close to $1000 for the food bank, which is awesome! I felt so satisfied because I knew all our hard work was worth it in the end. Though scrubbing the pasta sauce pots was not so much fun (the sauce had burnt to the bottoms of the pans), I think that the dinner was very successful, and I am happy that along with feeding a great meal to many people, we also were able to help the food bank!
Burning Stuff
Wednesday 4/20
Iron is definitely my favorite nutrient to analyze. We started by weighing out triplicates of raw CSB samples into crucibles (little, white porcelain bowls). Unfortunately we don't have the type of furnace we need in our lab in Bevier so we were going to have to transport all 20ish samples to the Ag Engineering building across the south quad. This means we had to get creative with our packaging. We cut out slots in cardboard and placed it in a big white container. We put a crucible in each little slot and then drew a map in our lab notebook. You can't label the crucibles (it'll just burn off) so the map we drew as to which sample was which was very important. All CSB tends to look the same even though it's from different companies or different parts of the world.
The next part of our adventure involved trekking through some sweet underground tunnels. I never even knew there were tunnels connecting so many of the buildings underneath the quad and even underneath the streets! After reaching AESB, we climbed some stairs, found our lab and starting loading our samples into the furnace. Again we had to make a map in our notebook to make sure after everything got burned we would know which samples were which. After 18 hours of burning at over 500 degrees Celcius (that really hot!) we will be able to evaluate the iron content of the samples. The heat will destroy all of the CSB sample besides the metal in it (which is iron!). Even though this whole process took about 5 hours, it was a fun and adventurous day.
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