December Xtra Blog

Well winter break has certainly been very interesting. Now that I have a new phone, I can post pictures on my blog. And it  has been a very nice and relaxing break that I needed. I have been exposed to many things regarding the medical field including and excluding my senior project. I was able to go to mentorship with my doctor much more in winter break than I have before. I researched how to take good notes while shadowing from a few websites. Apparently what I do with Dr. Muthiah in my mentorship is what medical students in residency do: clinical observation (except that I don’t prescribe or even try to give or suggest any medications XD). So I am really glad thank God that I have this opportunity. While I was doing this research, I found out that I could use my journal of notes from shadowing possibly for writing my personal statement for medical schools. So I decided to search up what the prompt is. It is: “Use the space provided to explain why you want to go to medical school.” It’s pretty vague, so it will be interesting once I actually start on it. I looked a little further into medical schools and it is quite competitive and tough to get in. The reason is because you have to have a very high GPA, MCAT score, and really well-written personal statement. And if that is good enough, then you are invited to an interview which is the ultimate deciding factor.

Well other than that, I was able to finally start on my independent component as well. I was able to do an hour in the Cath Lab. I was able to 8 hours in the Cardio-Pulmonary Physical Rehab center. I made new friends, gained new connections, and good advice for my future and senior project. This one college graduate named Hoang was a volunteer here and he gave me a lot of great advice. He told me the key to success for entering graduate school: it’s research. He told me that everyone would have 4.0 GPA and high MCAT scores, but medical schools like to choose people who have done research and have their names on academic papers. They want to know which students know how to make money. It doesn’t matter what kind of research you do, as long as you get your name on many papers possible; but don’t spread yourself too thin. Hoang told me an interesting thing that many pre-med students do in college to raise their GPA; they take 1 unit kinesiology sports courses to boost their GPA to make up for an A- or a B. He also told me the sad and cruel reality of college and the world of today. He told me that it is all about money nowadays. No matter where you go, it is about the money. Hoang wanted to tell me this because he said he didn’t know this as a high school student, so he wants to pass this knowledge onto me.

For connection-wise, I will be able to shadow a nurse named Kathy for a few hours in the future. She is the nurse for patients that are about to go into open-heart surgery. So that will be an interesting experience. Unfortunately, I will not be able to watch Dr. Kaiser or Dr. Jane do open heart surgery because I am not a 4^th year medical student.

Gloria and Cecilia who worked in the physical rehab center helped me narrow down my senior topic. They told me that I should focus on open-heart surgery and how to treat patients who have undergone it. Several answers for my EQ would be: 1. Quit smoking. 2. Change lifestyle. 3. Medications. 4. Attending Physical Rehab. 5. Exercise. I am really glad because I have finally narrowed my topic down.

And finally one of the biggest things I was able to do in winter break was watch two cases (surgeries)! In the first one, Dr. Discepolo was changing the battery of the pace maker in his patient. And in the second surgery, Dr. Merla was doing an EP Study (Electro-Physiology Study) and also inserted a new pace maker in his patient. 

Me in scrubs right before entering the surgery room

A souvenir I received: the box for a pacemaker

Well other than that, today marks the day that I got my driver's license exactly one year ago. Happy New Year to all of you!

November: Extra Blog

For both my research checks and my Critical Thinking class, I have been researching medical conspiracies. I am interested in learning about the arguments people make for this and against this. From my critical thinking class, I want to learn what fallacies and illogical arguments are being made as well. I have found out that there are 6 main fallacies that exist currently. One is that people believe the government wants to dump dangerous waste into our water systems under the guise of "water fluoridation". Another is how people believe the government intentionlly infected African Americans with HIV. The third one is people believing that vaccines cause autism and the government knows this. The fourth is that our government is keeping back the cure for cancer so they profit out of it. The 5th is that the government performed illegal experiments on people. And the sixth is that cell phones cause cancer.


I am more interested in learning about, "The Medical Establishment Wants to Keep us Sick" though. There are many conspiracies out there that say the medical establishment gives us medicine we don't need, they purposefully leave something in us so we can come back for another checkup, and also that they withhold cures from us. I will be conducting more research on this.

Blog 10 - EQ

Content

1.   Review this.  Confirm by stating "I reviewed the rule of three for writing an EQ."

Essential Question 
Once a topic is chosen, the student will develop a working essential question.  The purpose of the working essential question is to help the student build a strong foundation of research which will allow him or her to create an essential question that encourages depth and rigor in the chosen topic.  An essential question must:

• Provide a framework for studies (It calls for breadth and depth of research, Is not a yes/no question)
• Take a stance (It allows you to argue some point, Cannot be a recitation of facts or a list)
•  Format (It is specific, The wording makes sense)

2.  Review the following EQs and

• Tell us if each meets the rule of three.
• Tell why they do or don't.

 a.  What is the most important factor in healthy weight loss?

No. Because it does not have a clear stance you can argue for

 b.  What is most important to securing a conviction in a criminal investigation?

Yes. You can research this. You can take a stance. Wording makes sense.

 c.  What is most important in creating a hairstyle that best satisfies a customer?

No. It is too specific. 

 d.  How can an anesthesiologist best treat chronic pain?

Yes. It is researchable. You can argue a point. It makes sense.


3.  Based on your review of the rule of 3 and your experience with assessing four EQs, please write another draft EQ for your senior project.  The senior team will be meeting with students shortly for EQ revision and approval; you are expected to bring your research notebook to that meeting with your EQ draft written inside in pencil.

How can a cardiologist effectively combat cardiovascular disease?

Blog 9: Lesson 1 Reflection

Content:

1. Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your Lesson 1 Presentation and why?

I am really glad that I was able to mention and fulfill the requirements to the rubric for the Lesson Plan. The reason is because I was on a such a tight schedule because I was studying for my critical thinking midterm which made it hard for me to work on this, but thank God I was able to still work on it.

2. Questions to Consider
a. What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 1 Presentation (self-assessment)?

AE P AP CR NC

P.

b. Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 1 component contract.
I fulfilled all the requirements that the contract asked for. Had I spoken in a more confident and fluid (smooth) way, I believe the AE would be fair to ask for.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 1?

The articles I chose (Angina, Atherosclerosis, and Coronary Artery Disease) and talking about my mentorship.

4. (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 1?

Prepare more and rehearse a few times beforehand. And talk more confidently, relaxed, and smoothly. 

October Extra Post

At last I finally was able to do my first mentorship today. I had gotten confirmation of who my mentor was in the summer, but he is such a busy man that it was hard to make a schedule on when I could come to shadow him. I witnessed myself today how busy of a man he is. I went to his clinic, Chaparral Medical Group, which is literally right in front of the Pomona Hospital. I went inside the waiting room where all the nurser and offices of the cardiologists were (my mentor worked in this area). I was talking to the nurses and asked for Michelle, who is the medical assistant of Dr. Muthiah. In the meanwhile while I waited, the nurses were having fun by teasing me and they taught me a new word: "baller". They asked me if I wanted to become a doctor and I said yes smiling and they said I was going to become a baller. I honestly didn't even know what that is, so I asked for the meaning. This one nurse started cracking up and then told me that it is someone that makes a lot of money. The nurses and staff are very friendly and nice, so i'm glad I will be working with them for my future mentorships. I finally got to see my mentor again and almost immediately he took me into his next patient's room. He conducted a Stress Test on the patient. The patient was put on a treadmill and Dr. Muthiah was measuring his heart rate for prognosis. He was using Standard Bruce Protocol. I observed Dr. Muthiah dealing with 6 more patients with the last patient conducting a Standard Bruce Protocol as well. Funny enough, when Dr. Muthiah started doing paperwork, the nurses asked him about "baller" and he didn't know what that was and he found out then. He made a joke immediately out of it by patting his hand on my back and asking me, "So, you're going to become a baller in the future?" It was pretty funny. I tried doing my interview on him as I was finally able to see him. It was hard enough to get 1 question done. He had to leave to the Pomona Hospital then to check on his patient (the 7th patient I saw for the day). I asked him the remaining questions on the way to the hospital. I learned a lot from my observations from my mentor on how he dealt with different kinds of patients. He really does have good character like the nurses at the Pomona Hospital stated before I mentored him. I am truly blessed and lucky to have him as my mentor.

Blog 8 - Research and Working EQ

1. What is your working EQ?


What is the best way for a cardiologist to perform surgery on a cautious and fearful patient?


2. What is a possible answer to your working EQ? Please write the answer in thesis format.


My EQ: What is the best way for a cardiologist to perform surgery on a cautious and fearful patient?

• Cardiologists can perform Cardiac Catherization on their patients which is a form of minimal surgery
• Cardiologists can perform the surgery using a machine while operating it from a different room (remote surgery)

3. What is the most important source you have used that has helped you come up with an answer to your working EQ?


It was the article, "Robot-Assisted Surgery." In this article, it talks about remote surgery and the benefits of it. It also talks about how this will be in the future and many doctors will be implementing this.


4. Who is your mentor, or where are you doing mentorship, and how does what you are doing relate to your working EQ?


Dr. Muthusamy Muthiah

I have yet to do my mentorship but it will be in Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center (PVHMC) and his clinic which is right next to PVHMC.

He is a cardiologist and a interventional cardiologist in which he tries innovative styles to treat patients. He performs surgery regularly and I can observe him which help me answer my EQ.

Blog 7: Independent Component 1 Approval

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

One thing I plan to do is have my dad mentor me for about 10 hours. He is an Ultrasound Technician and I by shadowing him, I would be able to see people's hearts through Ultrasound which would be pretty cool. My dad could teach me medical terminology, especially about the heart. For another 10-15 hours, I can ask my volunteer director, Stacy Mittelstaedt, if she put me in heart related department in the hospital in which I can volunteer in. Since I already did the Cath Lab, I can maybe be allowed to do Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU). And for the remaining 5-10 hours, I could also ask my dad if his hospital would let me volunteer in a heart department for a temporary time. His hospital, Arrowhead Hospital, is much more large-scale than my hospital, Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center (PVHMC), is.

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

I would take pictures of my dad doing what he does for job. I would take pictures of myself with my dad (and maybe even trying out the Ultrasound Tech stuff on my own). For the second part, I would take pictures of myself in the department and then also pictures of me doing errands or jobs. For the third part, it would be the same as the second.

3.  And explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

With the first part, I would actually gain access to see a real heart (well in ultrasound, but close enough) while also learning about the anatomy and physiology of the heart. I would possibly learn terminology that my dad uses on a daily base and I can apply those words to my Senior Project. With the second part, since i've already been in the Catherization Lab, I would get another feel of what it is like in the hospital since I haven't really volunteered in the ICU yet and since this is for Cardiac patients, it would help me. For the third part, it is basically the same reason as the second part is except that I would get a feel and new perspective from a different hospital.

4.  Update your Senior Project Hours log.

Updated.

Extra September Post

In this month, I honestly didn't do anything with my mentor except see him on September 4th. He went on vacation right afterwords till the 22nd and I haven't seen him since. But when I did see him on the 4th, I got to see part of a surgery which was interesting.

The most interesting thing regarding my senior project was probably the Research Checks. I was finally able to decide on specific articles rather than random articles. I researched Angina and Coronary Artery Disease. Angina is basically chest pain which can potentially lead to a heart attack. And coronary artery disease is the number 1 killer in America. I also researched about robotic surgery, remote surgery, and similar things. It was quite fascinating how doctors can now and on a mass scale in the future will be operating on their patient while not operation on their patient; they will be in a different room controlling a robot. One robot that exists right now is the Da Vinci. Another is ZEUS.

I hope to talk with my mentor in October so that I can set up times to meet with him and mentor under him.

Blog 6 - Second Interview Preparation

The purpose of the second interview is to justify your mentor as an expert in the field.  Thus, you will be asking them at least 5 questions about their background and/or the background of the organization or company where they work.

1.  Who is your mentor and where do they work?

Dr. Muthusamy Muthiah. He works at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center.

2.  What five questions will you ask them about their background?

1. Where did you go to college and how long did it take?

2. How long have you been working for and which place(s) have you worked at?

3. How long did it take you to study for the 3 medical exams that you had to take in America?

4. Do you like working at Pomona Valley Hospital?

5. Do you have your own clinic? If so, how long have you had it for?

6. What is expected of a cardiologist at any of the hospitals or clinic you work at?

Blog 5 - Mentorship Reflection

Based on what you have done for your senior project so far, answer the following questions (be specific and use examples).

1. Mentorship question: Describe your experience in how you found your mentorship?  If you haven't found one yet, describe your experience so far in the search of a mentor.

1. I volunteer at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center (PVHMC). When it was summer time, I asked the volunteer director, Stacy Mittelstaedt, if she could provide me the opportunity to mentor under a cardiologist in the hospital. She agreed and she said she will call the few connections she has, but while she does that, I should volunteer in the Catherization Lab (Cath Lab) so that I can get to see and know the cardiologists and hopefully make some connections there. She originally recommended Dr. Muthiah to me because he was the youngest cardiologist (in his 40's), he had a great personality and character, and he was really smart. While volunteering in the Cath Lab, Stacy introduced me to a nurse named GeGe. She helped me out a lot in obtaining a mentor because she asked Dr. Muthiah if I could mentor under him. If you remember from my summer mentorship blog post, I mentioned that Dr. Muthiah had at first refused but after meeting me in person, he changed his mind which was such a miracle thank God. I tried to interview him for the 1st interview on September 4th, 2014, but he had an emergency procedure which made him busy. And now he is on vacation till the 22nd of September. So I will meet him again after September 22nd.

2. Research question: What has been your most important article you have read so far and why?

I would have to say that my first article, "Heart attack patients could be treated more quickly after Manchester research.", has been the most important article that I have read because it opened my eyes to how powerful cardiology is. Cardiology has so much potential to be a very effective method of treating patients. After my 1st interview, I now understand what Dr. Thumati meant by that he liked cardiology because of how dynamic it is. I have to agree with him now because it makes sense to me as well.

Link: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/280203.php

Additional Blog Post (August)

My Summer Mentorship:

For my summer mentorship, I volunteered at the Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center in the Catherization Lab (Cath Lab). On my first day, surprisingly there was a Code Gray. This means that there is a combative person in the hospital. The Code Gray actually took place right in front of me in the Cath Lab. There was this woman who just came out of surgery and she was threatening to walk out of the Cath Lab. She kept refusing medication and was very aggressive. Eventually four security guards came inside to restrain her. Later on, she signed this paper which basically said that she refuses medical advice and that the doctors' are not responsible for her health and well-being and then she left. It was funny because the nurses said that it had been a very long time since they had a Code Gray in the Cath Lab and it just so happened that when I come on my first day, the Code Gray happens. Well other than that, I was introduced to a nurse, JiJi, who was really nice and helped out throughout my summer mentorship. I was introduced to the director of the Cath Lab, Debby Keasler, who told me that a little about the Cath Lab in that it wasn't just about Cardiology anymore, it was inter-twined now with many aspects of science, including Electro-physiology, multiple systems of the human body, etc. She told me that I should research into it a little so I can understand it. I met a few other nurses. Another significant nurse I met was Josefina, who gave me work to do for the day such as make copies and do discharges. I also met this one guy nurse, whose name was Robert or Chris, sorry I can't remember. It was his first day in the Cath Lab as well and he was actually a student still, I believe in his residency. He normally worked in the mental ward he told me.

For my second day of mentorship, I made more copies. I also did something new, I was actually checking people's bills to make sure that it was correct. I was really shocked by seeing the bills and how over-priced everyone's bills were. I learned some valuable information when I inquired about it, which I am not sure if I am allowed to reveal, so I will not reveal it. But I will give advice from it, which is always have insurance! When I was checking for mistakes, I found this one huge mistake which was that this one guy got charged an extra 80k! The reason was because his operation cost 40k, but he got charged that operation 3x which resulted in his bill being over 120k. Thank God I caught that because that would have been horrible for him.

For my 3rd and last day of mentorship, I did the same things as the other 2 days. But this time, I actually got to meet my future mentor, Dr. Muthiah. I spoke to him for a few minutes and through that, thank God I was able to get him as my mentor. Many nurses and also my volunteer director recommended him to be my mentor because he had a good character and he was the youngest cardiologist around as well. I haven't seen him since my last day of summer mentorship, but I will meet him again September 4th, 2014. I will discuss with him about my mentorship component and senior project.

Thank you for reading this.
Well see you next time on the Extra Blog Posts!

Blog 4: Interview Preparation

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  Why?

I plan to interview Angel Arredondo who is now an I-Poly alumni. His senior project topic last year was Angioplasty and that relates to my topic which is Cardiology. Much of research and experience should be somewhat similar to what I will research and experience, and he should still remember most of the knowledge since he just researched Angioplasty just recently (last year). Based on these reasons, this is who I would like to interview first.

2.  You have to ask 5 questions.  What additional questions do you plan to ask?  Ask open-ended questions.  What are open-ended questions? CLICK here! If that doesn't help, TRY THIS one.  Click here!

Alongside the 5 questions that are already given, I plan to ask Angel these additional questions:

1. What was your EQ and what factors helped you come up with it?

2. There are many sub-fields in Cardiology, why did you choose Angioplasty?

3. What other fields of Cardiology did you consider back then and what would you consider now if you had to do the Senior Project again?

4. How did your mentor influence you in the Senior Project throughout the year?

5. What were you allowed to do with your mentor and what weren't you allowed to do with your mentor?

6. Did you do any additional things that were not mandatory to help aid you in the Senior Project throughout the year? And if so, what did you do and why did you choose to do that?

7. If you had to do you Senior Project on Angioplasty again, what would you do differently to make it better?

8. What and how has the Senior Project changed your perspective on life? Did it help you grow as a person? Did it help you make better decisions in life because of the experience/knowledge you gained? Etc.

9. How did you conduct your research? How did you find over 50 articles specifically on Angioplasty? Is there any websites or books you primarily used?

10. What obstacles did you face trying to research Angioplasty? Was some content to hard to understand? Was some information restricted and you couldn't access it? Etc.


Angel Arredondo's Senior Blog:
http://aarredondo12.blogspot.com/

Blog 3: Topic Choice and Working EQ

1.  List your topic here: 

Cardiology


2.  Write a question that helps to focus your research this month.

What can be done to ensure that a Cardiologist gives the best treatment to his/her patients?


3.  Post the working bibliography (WB) on the right hand SIDE of the blog and share it so anybody can view it.

Blog 2: Summer Mentorship Component

Literal:  

1. (Know) Using google doc (drive) link a log of specific hours and a description of your duties (click here for an example) to your blog post.  

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UymC_WKl4YlKJSwFMGFh-JNeGu3AtsB1O6di8aycfQ0/edit#gid=0

2. What is the contact name & number of where you volunteered?       

Stacy Mittelstaedt

Director, Volunteer Services

909-865-9669

Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center

3. (Need to know) What questions were raised because of the 10 hours of experience?  List them.     

How often do cardiologists have to go to the Cath Lab to see their patients?

Is it ever stressful for the cardiologists?

How far are the offices from the hospital for each cardiologist?

What makes a likable and good cardiologist?

Interpretive

4. What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

I would say that the most important thing I learned from this experience was what a huge blessing it is to have the help of God and a good character/personality. When I was looking for mentors, Stacy and this one nurse, JiJi, were asking the cardiologists for me since they knew them on a personal level. JiJi had asked Dr. Muthiah, but he had refused because he didn't want someone following him for so many hours. Later that day, I was outside the operating room watching how the nurses set up and prepared for the surgery for a patient, and Dr. Muthiah noticed me watching (I didn't know that this was Dr. Muthiah at the time). He was the cardiologist that was going to perform the surgery and he told me to follow him. He just started telling me about the procedure and the condition the patient had (I didn't ask anything). Our conversation stopped when we reached the locker room since he needed to change into his surgery outfit. I thanked him and told him my name was Hasan at the door and left. On July 23^rd, I was subbing for another volunteer and Stacy told me that Dr. Muthiah had agreed to be my mentor. I was pretty shocked and amazed. I went to JiJi then, and she told me that she had asked him again. JiJi had told Dr. Muthiah, “The student that wants to mentor under you was that young man you talked to.” Dr. Muthiah then reconsidered after he found out who this student was and finally agreed to it. Truly, if God hadn't helped out, then he wouldn't have reconsidered after seeing me. I realized that having good character is such a big thing because he changed his mind after seeing my character from the few minutes that we talked. So it is very crucial and important to uphold excellent character at all times because many people will accept you because of it. So as I mentor under him throughout the year, I will keep this in mind as I want to become a Cardiologist as well. Another example of why having good character is important is because many of the nurses have Dr. Muthiah as their favorite cardiologist and Stacy and JiJi also wanted to ask him first to be my mentor because he had a good character as well. Stacy was surprised when he originally refused because she said, “Considering his personality, he doesn't seem like he would say no and he is really nice.”

Applied

5. What is your senior project topic going to be?  How did what you did help you choose a topic?  Please explain.

My senior project topic will be Cardiology. By volunteering in the cath lab, I was able to see a new side of the hospital and how busy it can get. I have volunteered in multiple departments, but the cath lab was significantly different (and more hectic) from all of them. I met and saw a few cardiologists. I also asked the nurses who their favorite cardiologists were so I could use that to help me get a mentor. At the end of my summer mentorship, Dr. Muthiah, the youngest cardiologist accepted me as his student. It was a miracle because he had first refused to be a mentor, but he changed his mind thank God. 

Blog 1: 2-Hour Presentations

1. What presentations did I see?

Pharmacy - Dilan Desai
Gracie Jiu Jitsu - Bryan Posada
Criminology - Analysa Gallegos
Forensic Science - Arianna Castellanos
Military Leadership - Samantha Cooper
EMT [Emergency Medical Technician] (First Aid) - Jeremy Ethridge
Public Defender - Nisa Legaspino
Microbiology - Vanessa Machuca
Clinical Pharmacy - Christian Demesa
Hippotherapy - Clancy Raines
Medical Missionary - Robinson Baron
Linguistics - Lara McConnaughey
Dentistry - Punit Patel
Internal Medicine - Alfonso Esquivel
Physical Therapy - Jazmin Castro
Counseling - Stephanie Salas

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IGeIW11BDjxVWDKSa5UCjoJ4HFUolFiTxYpM4oBFFyQ/edit


2. What questions do you still have that haven't been answered about the senior project? This can be about the senior project in general, any components or about a presentation topic you saw or what they said?

Are you allowed to have multiple mentors?

How many individual components are there?

What exactly is an individual component?

When are you supposed to have your Essential Question done by?

How many sources are you supposed to use in your presentation?

Are worksheets for activities in the Senior Presentations worth using?

How does one get an AE in a Senior Presentation or an E?

Is it really a 2-Hour presentation? I mean cause each person only presented for about an hour, activity included.

What is the Senior Trade show that is about to come up about?


3. What has the most important part of the senior project based on what you are seeing in the 2-hour presentations?

I would have to say the most important quality the good presentations had was the fact that the person presenting was invested in his/her topic. For instance, Dilan Desai, he wants to become a Pharmacist and he presented very well. Analysa Gallegos, she was extremely passionate about her topic and loves it. Robinson Baron, he wants to continue participating in the Medical Missions. Lara McConnaughey, she wants to work in the field of Linguistics. Jeremy Ethridge, he wants to also continue being an EMT. All of these presenters were enjoying presenting their Senior Project. Also, I noticed one guy which I am not going to name, it seemed like he was winging his presentation but he was invested in his topic, so he did pretty good.


4. What topic are you considering doing and why?

I am interested in doing Cardiology/Cardiologist for my Senior Topic. The reason I am interested in doing it is because I would like to do this as a career in the future. Ever since a kid, my dad has been telling me about it. I really want to do a profession in the medical field because not only do you make a decent amount of salary to sustain your living expenses, you also get to help out many people and that is really great. 


5. What are you doing for your summer mentorship?

I haven't officially gotten a mentor yet, but hopefully I will be mentoring at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center this summer. I have requested a mentor from them and they said yes, but I haven't got any official notices like who I am mentoring under, when, etc.