Day two! Today was super exciting. I gotta say I had a killer outfit on so it kinda got me excited for the day. BLS/CPR training took 4 hours this morning which was SO long but was extremely enjoyable. Going through this for the second time, I thought I wouldn’t gain anything but boy was I wrong. I felt that my CPR skills exponentially expanded this time around. I learned the correct form of pressing down on the right spot of a person in case of CPR. I also learned all the different compression-breath ratios. For adults over the age of 8 years, it is 30 compressions and 2 breaths. For children and infants the ratio is 30:15 if you are the only helper, but if you are with someone else it is 15:2. The other thing we trained was for choking purposes. I really enjoyed practicing that on the infants because I know that working with children is my passion so I got to really picture myself in that setting. Even if I do not end up working with children, the training will definitely be helpful in the future when I have children of my own. Fortunately, we all passed the training and went on to lunch!
Shortly after lunch, the amazing Sarah came to answer our many questions about Clinical Observations. I loved that MedEx cared about fitting this into our schedule a few days before we began rotations because it showed that the coordinators and interns truly care about making us feel comfortable and clear headed about our experience. Sepsis with Nurse Ulrichm was very informative. He began with an overview of the history of sepsis and shifted the focus to the definition of sepsis. It is that it's not the infection itself but it’s the body's response to the infection. What was really shocking to me was that COVID patients actually died from sepsis and not the actual virus. That was a fascinating connection because I thought about how each person’s body responds to the virus very differently so that thought was directly correlated to sepsis.
The next activity we had stored for us was my favorite. Our tier got divided into groups of three while Tier IV got divided into groups of two. Then the groups paired up for the purpose of mentoring. Talking to Kayla, our Tier IV mentor, was amazing because it helped me see into my future. She was so vulnerable off the back and was so open to answering any questions we had. She calmed my anxiety about the MCAT and helped me get a clearer understanding of the timeline.
Lastly, our amazing interns ended the day with an activity they called “highs/lows.” This gave all of us the opportunity to share what was on our mind, whether that be something good or bad. What made this really fun was two things: 1) our new bear mascot (name is tbd) that served the purpose of a talking stick. I absolutely LOVE dad jokes and it made my day when Allen was giving instructions on something and said “bear with us” pointing to the bear. 2) the “hype it up hype it up” chant we would say after every “high” shared. It was lovely hearing where everyone was at mentally and knowing that we are all in the same boat.
Also today was Hump day Hangouts. What better way to start off the tier than by having an ice cream party with a side of pool table competition? It was so fun getting to see everyone outside of the professional setting. I got to get to know everyone a little more and see their competitive side, like Lydia bolting the ping pong ball at me when she was one point away from winning. Also, Amari seriously needs to consider playing pool professionally because she is way too good to play at the top floor of a medical school in South Carolina w/out any recognition. After everyone left, it was just the roomies and I talking to THE Allen and THE Kathryn. We found out about all of their handwork that they have put into making this program to be as amazing as it is. Thank you for all that you guys do <3.
Can’t wait for tomorrow!!
