Week 3
My third week of my internship was awesome, though I didn't get to do as many ride alongs with the ambulance I was able to see how the ambulance is run and how the billing works. At the beginning of the week I was able to go on a couple really remote calls, they were all related to drinking problems. I was unable to do anymore ride alongs after the first day that I was back because I had not renewed my internship contract for that week. For the rest of the week I mainly focused on doing office work for the ambulance service. They had call sheets that had been backed up for months and I helped them organize and enter the data into computers. The call sheets are what the EMTs fill out when they go out on a call; A call sheet has all of the information on the patients age, complaint and a couple sets of vital signs that are taken on the ambulance, the number of times that vitals are taken depends on how long the ride is. These sheets also have all of the the things that were done in the ambulance and how far the ambulance traveled, this is important because it is how the ambulance company knows how much to bill people. Organizing the call sheets was very time intensive because if there was even one error with the milage of the ambulance or with information about the patient then that sheet had to be sent back to the person who filled it out and they would then have to come in and redo all of the call sheets that were messed up because of their error. Organizing those sheets took a couple of days but I was able to get them all done which I think was a huge help to the ambulance service because it usually takes weeks to get all that done when there is only one person working. The office work was during the day, so I still had a lot of time to be in the ER later in the day and at night. Since Fort Defiance is such a remote place, most of the ER doctors commute from all over the country and work a couple weeks at a time. It was a really great experience, getting to meet doctors from all over the country with totally different backgrounds. The lifestyle that they are living is very appealing to me; A lot of the doctors working down there will work two or more weeks in a row, which is a ton of work, but then they get a couple weeks off, there are not a lot of jobs out there that allow you to do that.
Week 1 Part 2
The other side of my internship is the cultural experience that I am getting being on the Navajo reservation. I have traveled to third world countries including Thailand and Indonesia and this experience has been much the same; The incredible part is that it is in the United States and many people have no idea that such poverty exists. Don't get the wrong idea though the Navajo nation is a beautiful part of the country, from the extravagant red sandstone rock formations to the vast expanse of high desert. The country side is one thing but the housing situation is quite another: Scattered communities of houses, if you can call them that, surround the Window Rock area, the capital of the Navajo nation. The majority of the houses are run down trailers, many of which have neither electricity or running water. Others hogons, which are traditional, circular houses made of mug and grass: Though now a days they are made out of ply wood. I was able to go inside many homes like this when picking up patients in the ambulance; most were heated by a central wood burning stove and often times there were five or six people living in a one or two bedroom house. Despite their dire living conditions, the Navajo people are some of the most friendly people that I have ever met not to mention their great sense of humor. The poverty on the Navajo nation is shocking, I think that the problem is that most people don't have any idea what a big issue this is, this could be due to the fact that most people avoid the reservation. Once people are educated about the poverty it would not be that hard to change. The Navajo Nation gets ample funding to at least instal a water and plumbing system, but the government is corrupt and the money is being spent on the wrong things. In order for change to happen people need to be educated about their situation which I hope can happen in the near future.
Week 1
My first week on my Link Internship was an amazing experience. On a day to day basis I have been riding along with the EMTs on the ambulance which has ben a great educational and cultural experience. I have also been able to get into the ER quite a bit when I am not on calls with the ambulance; all of the doctors have been very welcoming and happy to teach me about medicine, though much of it is way over my head. During the first week it was one of the busiest weeks the hospital has had all year and there were a variety of different classes. The first day that I came in I thought that it would just be an orientation day but it turned out to be one of the most exciting. The day started out with a call for a 10-50, which is police code for an intoxicated person, who was complaining of stomach pain; It turned out to be a GI bleed. later that day we had a call to the prison for an inmate who was having seizures, I got to hold him down in the back of the ambulance because he was being very combative. We had a couple other calls that day for intoxicated people, but the real excitement was in the ER: There was a man who fell on a stick and it went six inches into his leg right above his knee, I got to watch one of the ER doctors stitch him up and put a drain in it, so that it would not get infected. Later that day a lady, who had gotten in the middle of a dog fight, came into the ER with most of her calf muscle torn off and a broken leg; it was very interesting to see the muscles in her leg I have never seen anything like it. The next couple of days were less eventful, there were a lot of intoxicated people with internal bleeding, but it is hard to tell if their ailment is real or if they just want to get out of going to jail. On Tuesday evening however I went out on a call for a stabbing; it turned out that he was only hit in the head with a pipe but it was still an exciting call, I got to listen to him telling me his whole life story on the way to the hospital, he was very intoxicated. On Thursday I missed out on what would have been by far the most exciting call: The EMT's that I was working with went out to re-fuel the ambulance and while they were gone I heard a call come in over the radio for a pregnant lady who was giving birth on the way to the hospital. The ambulance met her half way and they rushed her to the hospital; By the time she got to the ambulance bay the baby was crowning and it was delivered right there in the ambulance! I got to watch that part so I didn't completely miss out. Afterwards I had the fun job of cleaning the ambulance, which we did every time we went out on a call. It was an extremely exciting week and I can't wait to come back next week and see more new and exciting stuff, though, this next week I will mostly be working on my project. This will involve doing paperwork and whatever else they need around the EMS central office in Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo nation.
My third week of my internship was awesome, though I didn't get to do as many ride alongs with the ambulance I was able to see how the ambulance is run and how the billing works. At the beginning of the week I was able to go on a couple really remote calls, they were all related to drinking problems. I was unable to do anymore ride alongs after the first day that I was back because I had not renewed my internship contract for that week. For the rest of the week I mainly focused on doing office work for the ambulance service. They had call sheets that had been backed up for months and I helped them organize and enter the data into computers. The call sheets are what the EMTs fill out when they go out on a call; A call sheet has all of the information on the patients age, complaint and a couple sets of vital signs that are taken on the ambulance, the number of times that vitals are taken depends on how long the ride is. These sheets also have all of the the things that were done in the ambulance and how far the ambulance traveled, this is important because it is how the ambulance company knows how much to bill people. Organizing the call sheets was very time intensive because if there was even one error with the milage of the ambulance or with information about the patient then that sheet had to be sent back to the person who filled it out and they would then have to come in and redo all of the call sheets that were messed up because of their error. Organizing those sheets took a couple of days but I was able to get them all done which I think was a huge help to the ambulance service because it usually takes weeks to get all that done when there is only one person working. The office work was during the day, so I still had a lot of time to be in the ER later in the day and at night. Since Fort Defiance is such a remote place, most of the ER doctors commute from all over the country and work a couple weeks at a time. It was a really great experience, getting to meet doctors from all over the country with totally different backgrounds. The lifestyle that they are living is very appealing to me; A lot of the doctors working down there will work two or more weeks in a row, which is a ton of work, but then they get a couple weeks off, there are not a lot of jobs out there that allow you to do that.
Week 1 Part 2
The other side of my internship is the cultural experience that I am getting being on the Navajo reservation. I have traveled to third world countries including Thailand and Indonesia and this experience has been much the same; The incredible part is that it is in the United States and many people have no idea that such poverty exists. Don't get the wrong idea though the Navajo nation is a beautiful part of the country, from the extravagant red sandstone rock formations to the vast expanse of high desert. The country side is one thing but the housing situation is quite another: Scattered communities of houses, if you can call them that, surround the Window Rock area, the capital of the Navajo nation. The majority of the houses are run down trailers, many of which have neither electricity or running water. Others hogons, which are traditional, circular houses made of mug and grass: Though now a days they are made out of ply wood. I was able to go inside many homes like this when picking up patients in the ambulance; most were heated by a central wood burning stove and often times there were five or six people living in a one or two bedroom house. Despite their dire living conditions, the Navajo people are some of the most friendly people that I have ever met not to mention their great sense of humor. The poverty on the Navajo nation is shocking, I think that the problem is that most people don't have any idea what a big issue this is, this could be due to the fact that most people avoid the reservation. Once people are educated about the poverty it would not be that hard to change. The Navajo Nation gets ample funding to at least instal a water and plumbing system, but the government is corrupt and the money is being spent on the wrong things. In order for change to happen people need to be educated about their situation which I hope can happen in the near future.
Week 1
My first week on my Link Internship was an amazing experience. On a day to day basis I have been riding along with the EMTs on the ambulance which has ben a great educational and cultural experience. I have also been able to get into the ER quite a bit when I am not on calls with the ambulance; all of the doctors have been very welcoming and happy to teach me about medicine, though much of it is way over my head. During the first week it was one of the busiest weeks the hospital has had all year and there were a variety of different classes. The first day that I came in I thought that it would just be an orientation day but it turned out to be one of the most exciting. The day started out with a call for a 10-50, which is police code for an intoxicated person, who was complaining of stomach pain; It turned out to be a GI bleed. later that day we had a call to the prison for an inmate who was having seizures, I got to hold him down in the back of the ambulance because he was being very combative. We had a couple other calls that day for intoxicated people, but the real excitement was in the ER: There was a man who fell on a stick and it went six inches into his leg right above his knee, I got to watch one of the ER doctors stitch him up and put a drain in it, so that it would not get infected. Later that day a lady, who had gotten in the middle of a dog fight, came into the ER with most of her calf muscle torn off and a broken leg; it was very interesting to see the muscles in her leg I have never seen anything like it. The next couple of days were less eventful, there were a lot of intoxicated people with internal bleeding, but it is hard to tell if their ailment is real or if they just want to get out of going to jail. On Tuesday evening however I went out on a call for a stabbing; it turned out that he was only hit in the head with a pipe but it was still an exciting call, I got to listen to him telling me his whole life story on the way to the hospital, he was very intoxicated. On Thursday I missed out on what would have been by far the most exciting call: The EMT's that I was working with went out to re-fuel the ambulance and while they were gone I heard a call come in over the radio for a pregnant lady who was giving birth on the way to the hospital. The ambulance met her half way and they rushed her to the hospital; By the time she got to the ambulance bay the baby was crowning and it was delivered right there in the ambulance! I got to watch that part so I didn't completely miss out. Afterwards I had the fun job of cleaning the ambulance, which we did every time we went out on a call. It was an extremely exciting week and I can't wait to come back next week and see more new and exciting stuff, though, this next week I will mostly be working on my project. This will involve doing paperwork and whatever else they need around the EMS central office in Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo nation.
Reflection and Anticipation
I will be doing my Link internship at the Fort Defiance Indian Hospital which is located on the Indian Reservation in Arizona. I will be riding along with paramedics and following around doctors. The main goal of this internship is to decide whether I want to pursue medicine as a career or whether I need to find a new path. I am very excited to do my internship, I have followed around veterinarians before but I think that this will be a whole different experience especially since I will be on the Navajo reservation. I am not totally sure what my project will look like yet but It will be something either having to do with the science behind the injuries and patients that I am seeing or about the culture of the Navajo people, or possibly a bit of both. Whatever it ends up being I am sure that it will be very interesting and I am very excited to embark on this journey.