About Me

Major: Biology

Minor: Medical Humanities and Health Studies

Grade: Sophomore

Career of interest: I plan on pursuing a career in the medical field and will be applying to the IU School of Medicine, as well as the College of Osteopathic Medicine here in Indianapolis by the end of the next school year. I am considering going into pediatric dermatology or ophthalmology.

My Experiences and Skills

The most impactful and relevant experience I have accrued thus far are my patient care technician position and my Sunday School volunteer teaching. I have been a patient care technician since November of 2020 at Ascension St. Vincent Carmel, IN and have found that this position has greatly impacted my knowledge in bedside care and administering treatments, as well as teamwork. Some of the skills I've learned in the past year of working there include; monitoring patient vitals and EKG signals, assisting nursing staff with administering basic treatments to patients, collecting fluid/specimen samples and performing blood draws, utilizing hospital program to chart patient information, practicing sterile methods and appropriate hazardous disposal, and assisting patients with daily necessities (hygiene care, feeding, bathroom assistance, grooming, etc.). I have learned multiple aspects of what I like and dislike because of this job. I have discovered that I enjoy working directly with patients and that patient care is something that I enjoy. It is a rewarding job and I would like to see how other hospital positions differ and their perspectives on patient care. When patients would be getting noticeably better and starting to get back on their own feet, it would encourage me to keep going and it would make me feel gratified. On the other hand, working on a COVID-19 unit has taught me a lot about the difficulties in the medical field. There can be times of hardship when the unit was completely full, and every patient room I went in had to put on layers of PPE and had to re-dress every time I left and came into a new room. Some patients would consistently get worse overtime and it became an emotionally draining job. Another aspect that is difficult about the job is that not everyone around me was doing their best to provide good care for patients and it became frustrating as I was trying my hardest to provide the best help I could. Ultimately, patients would complain about other staff and their overall care was subpar and some would even become sicker. This made me realize that teamwork is more than just concurrently working with those around me; it was also communicating about a patient's wellbeing and the care that we each have been providing and working together to maximize it. Overall, this job made me want to pursue the medical field, regardless of some adversities. As for my Sunday school volunteering, it has mostly influenced my leadership skills and has made me more accustomed to public speaking, as well as multiple other useful skills. I have learned to allocate tasks to other people who work with me and to communicate months ahead on our plans and divide our work. I am in charge of scheduling people for their lessons, as well as planning events for Christmas, Easter, summer camps, and more. As the head of the class, I've gotten the experience of communicating to parents, as well as speaking with different age groups and learning how to effectively communicate and teach them. These work experiences have helped me to incorporate learned skills into other workplaces and to better my work ethic. I have also been a teaching assistant for two semesters now in the Introduction to Biology (K101) laboratory class. It has allowed me to improve my leadership and teaching skills. I have gotten to collaborate with PhD students and with other college students that are just starting their biology career. This teaching experience has allowed me to review biology topics and basic laboratory procedures multiple times. Students' questions also help me rejog my memory on subjects I may have forgotten.

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