Today, I felt comfortable walking through the front door. It has become almost natural to come up to that classroom and (unlike some classes I have taken, or places I have been) I am still enthralled by what is to come. There are some lectures that I still can't move on from; the information I gained just keeps playing over and over again and I wish that some of these lectures could have gone on longer.
Child Life/Therapy dogs
We had a lecture today on child life. She spoke of a few things that stood out to me.
One Voice - where a hospital has one person relaying all of the information to a child and their family.
Positions of comfort - healthcare workers make sure a child is in a position that is comfortable or calming during a procedure.
Play - there are three types of play: Therapeutic play (coping with something that is happening in the hospital), Medical play (playing with medical things to make the child comfortable with them), and normative play (just normal play)
I never realized that there were so many components at play when it comes to a child in hospital. While child life may not be an option I'm interested in, it was interesting to hear how they help a child and learn about other careers I may encounter in pediatrics. I think it is amazing that there is this option for children in the hospital. This lecture also made me realize the fears that children may have in a hospital and realize that there are ways to help them get over those fears.
Phycology/Neurology/hRA Review
After the child life lecture, we had a lecture on phycology. The phycologist that spoke focused on not giving up and reiterating the fact that you don't always have to take the path most traveled. While I didn't learn a ton about the profession, I learned that not everyone must be perfect. I think that if enough people tell me it, I may start to believe that I don't have to be perfect and that I can always do what I love.
After that, we had a lecture on Neurology. This lecture was extremely fun, and the speaker was extremely entertaining. The main thing I took from this lecture was how important deductive reasoning and a love for reading is. Luckily, I am pretty good at deductive reasoning (although it could use a little work) and I am obsessed with reading.
Finally, we went over what our hRA results mean. I loved being able to know what all of these numbers mean and things I can do to help them. The main thing I took away, was the plate diagram. I had seen the plate diagram so many times before, but what made this different was that she explained how to adapt it for breakfast (complex car, protein, fruit). It was eye opening to see the percentiles of things such as weight, height, and BMI. I have tried so many times to lose weight and this lecture sent me with more ideas to try (and if not lose weight, then at least create healthy habits.
Quote of the Day
"It turns out, somehow, there are a tremendous number of things to be optimistic about." - Hank Green
Final Thoughts
Today's lectures and activities were very interesting. While they might not have been careers I would consider, they opened my eyes to other departments I may encounter. The child life presentation gave me insight into many of the issues and fears that a child can have in the hospital and some things that can be done to ease them. (I can also use some of the tactics she mentioned to help me at my job as well). Overall, the day was pretty relaxed, but very informative. I can't wait for day eight. I give day seven 4 out of 5 stars.
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