Coming back from the weekend, I was super excited to come in today, but I was also super tired. My mom and I had gone on a girl's weekend with my best friend and her mom. We went tubing and shopping (and came back with some extreme tan lines from my Dexcom and Insulin pump). As great as our trip was, I was happy to come back to Medex for another great day.
GTech Field Trip
We spent most of our day at Greenville Technical College. We got to take a tour of some of the medical buildings there and get some hands-on experience in each building.
1.
My group started out in the dental school. We got to see some x-rays, clean some teeth, and tour the clinic. While I'm not very interested in dental hygiene, I enjoyed the general hygiene portion where they did hand-washing skills. The entire time I was thinking about the time my dentist gave me a chemical burn just before my Bat-Mitzvah. We still don't know exactly what caused it, but I also felt bad because it was our dentist's first time working with me (because he had just taken over the office). He felt so bad and kept calling my mom and me to see how I was doing and make sure that it was healing okay. Sometimes, my body can be so weird, but it is funny to see that the nurses in the clinic always talk about it when I come in. He can't seem to live it down. However, I have noticed how he takes different precautions now to adapt and make sure it doesn't happen again. During the tour, I liked seeing the different techniques and options that dentistry has for cases like mine.
2.
After that, we went to the paramedic simulation lab. We got to practice tourniquets, CPR, and splinting. They were all techniques that we had learned before, but it is always good to keep up those skills. I enjoyed hearing about the training that EMT/Paramedics have to go through, as well as the differences between what EMTs can do vs. what Paramedics can do.
3.
Our final stop was at Respiratory Therapy. We got to try on a jacket meant to help patients cough up anything in their airways. The jacket worked by squeezing and vibrating the chest. It was hilarious to listen to people talking while they had it on. We also got to look at pig lungs, mechanical lungs, and intubate a mannequin. The pig lungs were super cool to look at because I got to truly see how lungs work. When I moved over to the intubation station, I tried to intubate without the Glydoskope with a camera on it. The instructor loved me because I got it first try. She said that I should really consider respiratory medicine because I was so good at intubation. She said that most students enrolled in the actual college program couldn't get it done that quickly and accurately. I will admit that respiratory medicine is not off of my list, but anesthesia is still ahead of it (and with anesthesia, I can still intubate). I then moved over to see some mechanical lungs and my instructor taught me what all of the graphs on the machine mean and how to read them. It was fascinating to combine one of my favorite subjects in school with a real-life situation to use it. I love reading graphs and it was amazing to see them being used in the field I want to work in. It truly gave me an idea of how to incorporate what I am learning in school with real-life situations that I will encounter in medicine.
Quote of the Day
"There will never be another like you. You realize that, don't you? Billions of people will come and go in this world, but there will never be another like you" - Marie Lu, Champion
Final Thoughts
Today was a lot of hands-on experiences which is my favorite thing to do. I loved seeing everything come together. I feel as though I have had all of these puzzle pieces in my life just lying around, but they are finally coming together. I am not only learning real-life applications and future possibilities, but I am learning things about myself as well, I am learning to love myself completely and become confident in myself. I truly believe that this program has been one of the best things to happen to me. My mother has said that she has never seen me come home so happy every day. How can I not be happy with the opportunities that MedEx is giving me? I can't wait for day twelve. I give day eleven 4 out of 5 stars.
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