And the Story Continues..

Now that school is over for the semester, I will be spending more time at the clinic. I absolutely love this time of year, and am becoming more and more excited every single day as Christmas and New Year’s is quickly approaching!

At the clinic, we have been helping to spread the holiday spirit by decorating for Christmas, with beautiful trees and lights on every patient care floor. The trees/lights were graciously given to the clinic by a private donor, and we hope to be able to spread the spirit of generosity and of giving to patients during this holiday season.

Again, I feel completely grateful for the experience that I have had at the San Jose Clinic. I hope that I have been able to touch the patients’ lives, as they have mine. It has been incredible to see the resilience in many of the patients; the determination to battle disease and to become healthier. If this is a taste of what medicine is all about, then I know that I am headed down the right path in the years to come for a fulfilling life!

End of the Semester

Finals week is right around the corner, and with that comes the great anticipation for finals week to be over (YAY!), the ESA meeting in San Diego, MATCH results, and finally, all of the Christmas and New Year’s festivities!!

I had previously anticipated that this upcoming week would be my last week of the semester at the San Jose Clinic, but I’ve since changed my mind! I think it makes more sense now that without schoolwork to keep me busy, I should be able to spend more time at the clinic – and so that’ll be what I will be doing! In making the brochure to educate patients, I was able to gain so much more knowledge on hypertension, the second most prevalent chronic condition present in patients of the clinic.

Something important that I learned was that hypertension, as well as many other chronic illnesses, is not only treated with medication, but also takes a great deal of commitment on the patients’ parts to make the necessary lifestyle changes to better their condition. A particular lifestyle change for hypertension patients is diet and exercise. Salt consumption has to be tightly controlled, and patients are encouraged to get in at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise every single day. Furthermore, foods high in cholesterol and fat content are an absolute no. I am so proud of patients that are able to stick with their diet regimens, because it definitely isn’t an easy thing to do!

'Tis the Season of Giving

I am incredibly excited about the holiday season!! Thanksgiving was fantastic. I spent a lot of quality time with my family -- that combined with tons of delicious food and well... it just doesn't get any better than that!

I also found out this past weekend that my dad is the new spokesperson for St. Luke's Hospital! (REALLY!!) It feels as if it were yesterday, but it has been more than a year since my dad received his new liver. The transplant team at St. Luke's Hospital did an amazing job. Due to their expertise and care, and the kindness of a complete stranger, we are blessed to have this additional time with my father. Anyway, so flash forward more than a year... my family received a phone call last week from one of the lawyers at St. Luke's, offering my dad the opportunity to be one of the new spokespersons for the Transplant program at St. Luke's. Since then, my dad has had a few photo ops (Yes, really... those who know my dad and know his personality got a pretty good laugh out of this -- my dad is the last person you'd ever expect to be in front of the cameras with makeup on!!), and he has some upcoming radio shows and fundraising events that he will be attending. Most importantly though, he is the living, breathing example of how care, love, and generosity in this world truly makes the world a much better place. If it wasn't for his doctors, and for his organ donor, my dad would not be here today with us.

Through the experience of being days away from losing my dad, and finally experiencing the miracle that saved his life, I have developed a greater appreciation for the medical profession, and for those individuals who have dedicated their lives to serving and helping people. I feel that my time at the San Jose Clinic has been very worthwhile, because I was given the opportunity to help make lives better with the service that I provided as a pharmacy technician. Although next week will be my last week at the clinic during this semester, I plan on returning during the Spring semester, and continuing to help out with what I can at the clinic.

And while we are on the subject of giving (& since it IS the season of giving), I decided that I would drop by the blood bank to donate blood this afternoon (after I enjoyed all of my Black Friday shopping of course!!). I am a Committed for Life donor with the Regional Gulf Coast Blood Center, and I try to donate blood once every quarter of the year. I have tiny, tiny veins in my arms, so every time I come in, the nurses go through the same procedure: they place the blood pressure cuff on me, then the rubber band around my arm, and finally, they give me a pulse ball to squeeze in order for my veins to pop up. Often times before, the nurse would have found my vein, but would lose it in the process of inserting the needle. Because they can't withdraw the needle once it has been inserted, they always have to lift the needle up underneath my skin and try to find the vein and puncture again. (This isn't as painful as it sounds, but it's nervewrecking & an uncomfortable feeling, and I am eventually left with a bruise on my arm!) Today's donation experience went well though. The male nurse did just fine with finding my vein, and before I knew it, I was on the way out of the blood bank with that "feel good" feeling, knowing that I've been able to contribute. :)

Turning 22!

Yesterday was my 22nd birthday! I officially feel OLD! (really!)

The pharmacy seemed more busy than usual today. I think many of the patients have been coming in for their refills, since the clinic will not be open for a couple of days during Thanksgiving week. I previously mentioned that I learned about the drug called Enalipril last week, and its use by patients who have hypertension. Today, I learned that Enalipril is also a renal protectant, and it is often prescribed to diabetics, because patients with advanced conditions of diabetes often incur kidney failure. That explains why I have often filled Metformin + Enalipril prescription combinations for diabetics!

With Thanksgiving right around the corner and the holiday season very near, I am more aware of all of the blessings in my life. I am lucky to have spent the last 22 years of my life as a fairly healthy individual. The more I volunteer at the clinic and hospitals, the more I realize how much disease can affect other people's lives, and I become more grateful for the health that I have. I am excited for the holiday season, and the chance to spend some great quality time with my family & friends -- the most incredible support system that I think anyone could possibly have.

Truly a Learning Experience

Over the past few months, I have learned so much while working as a pharmacy technician at the clinic. I feel incredibly lucky to have not only had the opportunity to serve those who seek immediate healthcare, but to also learn a great deal about pharmacology!

As I previously mentioned, a large number of patients at the clinic suffer from Type II diabetes. I have been able to pick up on some of the common medications that are used to treat this condition, including Metformin and Glyburide. I have lost count of how often I have filled prescriptions for these two medications. However, when I came in to volunteer yesterday, I noticed a new type of medication that I filled a number of prescriptions for that day: Enalipril. I asked the pharmacist about the medication, and learned that it was an ACE-inhibitor, used to treat hypertension. I also learned that hypertension/high BP is a condition that was also very prevalent amongst the patients at the clinic. The reason why I must not have encountered this drug before was because I hadn't been in the pharmacy on the days that the volunteer cardiologist was on site at the clinic.

It truly feels great to be able to serve and benefit others, while at the same time learning and expanding my knowledge on a subject that I will need to know for medical school in the very near future! :)

Reflections from San Antonio

Today, I was in San Antonio for an interview at the medical school. During the course of our interview day, we had the chance to tour the facilities at the UT-San Antonio Health Science Center, including the institution's major academic buildings and main hospitals.

San Antonio is home to a very large Hispanic population, and we learned from the fourth year medical students that the most prevalent chronic disease amongst the patient population is diabetes. This reminded me of the San Jose Clinic, in which the patient and disease profiles is very similar to that of San Antonio's patient and disease profiles.

I am excited to be in my last week of medical schools interviews, and just that much closer to entering medical school, and receiving the training to become a competent physician. I thoroughly enjoy interacting with patients right now, as a pharmacy technician at the San Jose clinic and a volunteer at MD Anderson and Memorial Hermann. However, I hope to one day, not only be able to interact with these patients, but to also have the knowledge to be capable of finding solutions to their health problems!

Immediate Help

I spent 3 hours volunteering in the pharmacy this afternoon. The pharmacy was slow today, and I went about the usual business of filling prescription orders and watched as our pharmacist counseled our patients on the various medications. Work at the pharmacy today was nothing out of the ordinary.

However, it was the drive home from the pharmacy that impacted me greatly. As I was driving my usual route home on Fannin, towards my apartment near the museum district, I saw an ambulance vehicle parked in the opposite direction of traffic. Cars began to veer to the side lanes, in order to pass the ambulance. As I drove past the scene, I saw two paramedics, attending to a homeless person laying on the side of the street, right beside a bush. The person looked lifeless, and witnessing this caused me to become extremely sad.

Winter is quickly approaching, as is evident by the extremely cool/cold temperatures during the nighttime. It always bothers me to think that there are still countless of homeless people in our city, who have to bear the cold every night, with no shelter to go to. I couldn't help but to think this particular person's condition may have been caused by the cold, and perhaps the lack of a decent diet.

I feel that these individuals are the ones that need the most immediate help in our community. Although I haven't been able to do much for the homeless, it is in my plans for the very near future to find a way to provide healthcare for this population, even if it is just working at a homeless shelter's clinic a couple hours of the week.

In the meantime, my volunteer job at the San Jose Clinic has enabled me to provide to another population of people, who are also in immediate need of medical help, but who all lack access to basic healthcare. It is such a rewarding experience to know that I have helped to change some of these patients lives, for the better!