Week #7

Sara Johnston
29 March 2007
MIDS 201

Journal Entry #7

Today was a busy Clinic day. It was also the longest I’ve ever stayed at the Clinic at one time- over 3 hours. The reason it ran so late was not that there were a lot more patients than normal, but that none of the doctors showed up on time. One doctor was supposed to be there at 3:30 and another at 4:00, but both did not show up until close to 5:00. Appointments started at 3:00. I know that these doctors work all day long, and then come and volunteer their time at the Clinic, but if they are going to be late, would a phone call hurt? One patient, the first one in line, was supposed to be at work at 5:00. That was the time she finally got to see a doctor, after waiting for 2 hours. This got me to thinking about a large political issue- nationalized healthcare. The benefits of free or very cheap healthcare are obvious- everyone will have access to the medical attention that they need. The drawbacks are not so obvious- if many more people are now needing those same, limited amount of services, there will be a lot of waiting around for them. People in Canada come to the U.S. and pay for medical services so they can get them in a timely fashion. Should these people at the Community Clinic have to wait extra-long to see a doctor just because they have lower incomes than the rest of us and can’t afford insurance?


I also got to go around with Dr. A today. We only saw a few patients, and I didn’t do much but observe, which is still a very valuable learning experience- just listening to patient-doctor interactions.


There was also something I noticed today: when we, the few Honors students, started volunteering at the Clinic, there was a high school girl there. After our being there a couple of Thursdays, she has not been there since. I wonder if we scared her off, or if she felt like she wasn’t needed anymore. I would hope that volunteers wouldn’t offend other volunteers. You would think that an excess of volunteers would be better than a shortage, but perhaps not if older volunteers feel threatened by newer ones.

Journal #6

Sara Johnston
21 March 2007
MIDS 201

Journal Entry #6

I went to the Clinic on Thursday over Spring Break during the adult clinic, and today, Wednesday. I’ll talk about today first because it’s short and not that exciting. Last week, Doris, one of the nurses, asked me if I would be in this week. When I told her yes, she was glad and gave me a task to do: stamp the Clinic’s name, address, and phone number on appointment cards. I’m sure this is much, much cheaper than having business cards made. So, I spent two and a half hours stamping cards. I did not mind this at all. It was quiet, because when I arrived there was a staff meeting going on. It had started before I got there, and let out just as I was leaving. I think they have those meeting every other week, and its nice to know that they keep themselves constantly updated on everything concerning Clinic operation. Also, when I got there the front doors were locked, so someone had to come open them for me from the inside. I wonder if they keep the doors locked on days they don’t have patient clinics. But it still really doesn’t make much sense- it makes them seem not very accessible and open to the public and new clients.

Last Thursday I got to see more patients with Dr. Arvelos. I also did some rooming of patients and filing of charts. I got some hands on experience this time. One patient, a larger person, was complaining of swelling in their legs and feet, and thought it was from bad circulation. (I know “they” is grammatically incorrect, but I’m using it to protect patient confidentiality) Dr. A said it wasn’t bad circulation, just loss of valves in the veins that help pump blood back up to the heart, caused from standing at work all day. He said if his assistant, me, could feel a pulse in their feet, they didn’t have bad circulation. He showed me where to find the pulse, and I felt it. Another patient needed refills on breathing medication. They told Dr. A that they were going to have to quit sheet rocking, because it was worse for their lungs than smoking. Dr. A said that wasn’t true, but the patient refused to listen. Dr. A listened to their lungs, and then gave me the stethoscope and told me to listen. I don’t have much experience with one, and thought I just wasn’t listening in the right place. I told Dr. A I didn’t hear anything, and he said that was correct, that the patient didn’t hardly have any lungs left. One patient complained of severe headaches, and a bad knee. When the doctor flexed and rotated their knee, I helped hold them because it hurt.

It felt really good to do some work these past two times, instead of just mostly standing around. I also got some more experience in my (hopefully) future career. After the first couple of times I volunteered, I did not think that I would get much medical exposure and experience, just office work. But now I’ve gained more than I thought, learning how difficult patients can be, and how defensive people can be towards their doctor.

Week 5

Sara Johnston
8 March 2007
MIDS 201

Journal Entry #5

I went to the Clinic on Wednesday. I hoped that when I showed up they would have enough things to do to keep me busy for a couple of hours. The Volunteer Coordinator had returned from her vacation, so that gave me some hope. Upon my arrival at 1 PM, everyone was eating Charlie’s Chicken. The first thing they did when they saw me was instruct me to eat. After that, I looked around for something to do. Because it was not an adult medical clinic day, I figured there would just be a bunch of paperwork and things to file. I was correct. Each month, volunteers start a new sign-in sheet. I was assigned to put the sheets from February into the volunteer folders. I punched holes in them so they would fit in the brackets in the folders. Once I started opening the folders, I saw that the majority of the old records sheets were not in order and were not held in place by the brackets. The folders were grouped by last name, but not alphabetically in order in each group. So, being the super-organized Honors student that I am, I put all the folders in alphabetical order, and punched holes in all of the time sheets and put those in order in the folders. That pretty much occupied my two hours.

One older volunteer, probably in her 60s, was pulling charts for the next day. I asked her if she wanted any help, and she rudely told me that we would probably just end up tripping over each other. As I was filing the sign-in sheets, she was putting the charts in stacks for the times of their appointments: 3, 3:30, 4 and so on. Instead of just stacking them with stickie notes on each of them with the time of their appointments, she was putting on the clips with the order of the patients, which is not supposed to be done until the patients are there and triaged. When she was told that she needed to take all the clips off, she complained that someone had told her earlier to not put stickie notes on the charts. I had the smug satisfaction in knowing that if I had pulled the charts, I would have done it correctly. That’s what that old lady gets for thinking that a younger person would not be of any use.

Wednesdays are dental clinic days. As I was walking down the hall looking for Kathy, the volunteer coordinator, I heard a familiar voice: Steve Menke, the dentist that day. I know him because my brother and his sons played sports together, and I have been skiing with him through a mutual family. I stuck my head in and said hi. He and his assistant were putting stitches in a girl’s mouth. There was a girl in the other chair, waiting her turn. She looked terrified as she watched them stitch up the girl’s mouth and wipe blood off of their tools on her protective paper bib. I think she should have been kept in the waiting room, not watching what was about to be done to her. I had my wisdom teeth removed last year. If I had had to watch it done to someone before the procedure was performed on me, I would have run from the room screaming.

Week 4 at Community Clinic

Sara Johnston

3 March 2007

MIDS 201

Journal Entry #4

I went to the Clinic on Thursday, which is when the Adult Clinic is held. It is supposedly the busiest day of the week, but I have yet to see that. This is the second Adult Clinic I have been to, and the second time I have been told that it was unusually slow. The Volunteer Coordinator was gone this week on vacation, so there was no one designated to find something for me to do. When I arrived at 3, Austin Ahles was already there helping triage patients- weighing them and taking them to nurses to take blood pressure and vitals. When a doctor arrived, I helped call patients back and put them in exam rooms. Other than that, I mostly just stood around for three hours. I did not get to go around with Dr. A to see any patients: there were so few patients left by the time he arrived, that he only saw one or two and was gone before I even knew he was there. I did put a new garbage bag in a trash can that was full; I cleaned off the counter after a glass of tea was spilled; and I showed Sara Burton how the filing system works, because it was her first time coming to volunteer.

Any time anyone at the clinic asks me why I am there, I tell them I am with the MSSU Honors Program and that I am fulfilling my service-learning requirements. The next question is then always “Are you a nursing student?” When I reply no and tell them that I am pre-med, they always seem disappointed. I wonder if this is because nursing students have already had hands-on clinical training and know more about procedures, such as taking vitals. That is not my fault- that is what I’m at the Clinic for: to get my feet wet in the medical community and learn about what goes on there. There are also students there from the Franklin Tech medical office programs doing internships. One student in particular is always there when I am, and she stands around just about as much as I do.

I also met a celebrity on Thursday. I had seen him at the Clinic before and thought he looked familiar, but it was not until he introduced himself that I knew who he was. He told me his name was Howie, and I immediately knew he was Howie Baby from the local radio stations. He left radio a few years ago, and is now a full-time preacher. He is the chaplain for the Community Clinic. I asked him if he missed being on the radio, and he told me no, that he had a greater calling now. At 3:30, Howie made an announcement that prayer would start in one minute. He then said a prayer over the intercom system. This was the first display of religion I had seen at the Clinic. I had seen a few signs mentioning that the Clinic incorporated faith-based values and a couple of angel statues on top of the dusty shelves that contained the patient charts, but the clinic-wide prayer was the first active demonstration of religiosity. Because I am not a religious person, I felt slightly uncomfortable when the whole clinic paused to hold hands and pray. It made me wonder if any of the patients felt uncomfortable, and if any did, if they were kept away by the Christian values that the Clinic holds. I would hope not, but it definitely gave me something to think about.