Walking into the Clemson Nursing Building at Prisma Health, I had no clue where to go, what to expect, and no idea if I was overdressed, underdressed, or completely out of the picture. From the very first step into the building, MedEx Tier I was an experience I could have never imagined. Everything was so much more than I could have hoped for and my first day at MedEx will be an experience I will never forget.
Welcome to MedEx/Icebreakers
We started of the day with an introduction presentation about MedEx rules, community, and atmosphere. They went into deeper detail about making a Wix website, which was helpful until I tried to write this blog post and ended up having to create five different websites to try and get it to work. (Not that I'm bitter or anything). They also explained what to expect during the next four weeks and some things that I need to know for college. At the end of the presentation, we received out badges and jackets. The girls from my G5-G6 cabin at CSE were having a fit over seeing their counselor in a lab coat.
We played a few Ice Breakers to get to know people's names and it got pretty competitive. We stood in a big circle and created and adjective that corresponds with your name. Then you would state your adjective and name (mine was Contemplative CJ) and everyone else's adjective and name before you. Then we played another game where our interns held up a blanket and one person from two teams would stand on either side of the blanket. The interns would drop the blanket and the first person to guess the other person's name correctly wins the point. It was a lot of fun and helped me learn names pretty early.
Philanthropy
We then had two speakers come in to speak to us about philanthropy. I learned the difference between operations and philanthropy. Operations is what it takes in a budget to survive; whereas philanthropy is what is takes in a budget the thrive. I also learned that philanthropy is mostly fundraising and community awareness. The speakers showed us ways that we can participate outside of just donating money. We can also donate our time and energy to awareness projects and community wellness. I learned that donors can be anything from grateful patients to big corporations to alumni and foundations.
One of the speakers said something that I just could not forget. It was so eloquently spoken and meaningful.
"A rising tide raises all ships" - Lisa Stevens
I really enjoyed our philanthropy lecture and hope to take Mrs. Stevens words to heart as a move on with my MedEx journey.
Dr. Thames
Later on in the day, we had Dr. Thames come in to speak to us about the purpose of MedEx as a pipeline program. She really opened my eyes to the severity of our health in South Carolina as well as our shortages of medical staff. I learned not only the Prisma Health purpose statement, but also how Prisma strives to live by that statement: Inspire Health. Serve with Compassion. Be the Difference. I think that this statement can go further than just the health care community and is one that I truly believe I could manage on a daily basis.
"Never close a door" - Brenda J. Thames, EdD
Tour of Clemson Nursing School
One of our final activities of the day was to get a tour of the Clemson Nursing School. The facilities were absolutely amazing, and you could tell that it had been well taken care of. We got to go the simulation lab and see simulation mannequins for childbirth, infancy, and toddler. We then went into the "bays" where there were multiple mannequins each to represent a patient. (I thought it was quite funny that all the boys went up and tried to shake the mannequin's hand. Boys can be quite immature in life.) We then got to go see the anatomage table where we say the different bodily systems and even dissected an eye. We played a game to spot all of the organs in the body. I was very proud of myself because I have yet to take anatomy and physiology, but I still managed to do really well with the game.
Little Research Projects
We ended the day with our little research projects. We got into groups of 4-5 and each group was assigned a topic. My groups topic was The Opioid Crisis. We decided to split the project into different sections based on different opioids and each person was assigned an opioid. I received Morphine which has been a bit difficult to research because most people forget about it as they have moved closer to other drugs like heroine and oxycodone.
Quote of the Day
"Thomas Edison's last words were 'It's very beautiful over there'. I don't knnow where there is, but I believe it's somewhere, and I hope it's beautiful." - John Green, Looking for Alaska
Concluding Thoughts
My first day at MedEx was something I was definitely not prepared for but something I will never forget. I realized how much I truly enjoy lectures and it has started to reassure me of the path I want to take with my life. I hope that over the next few weeks I will not only learn about the medical field but also about what to expect with a medical major in college. I feel very much left in the dark by my school about a lot of my college questions and concerns; however, today, our interns answered a lot of my questions and eased my mind on a lot of concerns. I can't wait to come back for day two. I give day one 4 out of 5 stars.
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