Blog #18: Fourth Interview Preparation

Content: Post 20 open-ended questions you want to ask an expert in the field concerning your senior project. The focus of your questions should be on your answer to your EQ.

If you have already interviewed someone two times, you aren't allowed to interview that same person without House teacher approval.

The interview itself is not due until Friday, April 17th to turnitin.com. However, we want to give you as much time as possible, so we are asking you to complete the blog now. Remember that in addition to turning in the interview, you also need to turn in the verification sheet to your House teacher.

Possible people to interview:

Dr. Keyser (An open-heart surgeon at PVHMC)

Dr. Muthiah (My mentor at Chaparral Medical Group)

My Essential Question: 

What is the best way for a cardiologist to treat a patient during and after heart surgery?

My 3 Answers:

1. Cardiac Rehab

2. Bedside Manners

3. Surgery/Decision Aids

20 Questions:

1. What steps can be taken to ensure the health and well-being of a patient?
2. What steps can be taken to ensure the health and well-being of a cardiac patient?
3. What differences do normal patients and cardiac patients have?
4. How important is attending cardiac rehab for a patient?
5. Why do patients have to attend cardiac rehab?
6. What are the benefits of going through cardiac rehab?
7. When treating a patient, does it matter how you deal with them as long as you cure them?
8. What qualities should a doctor strive for?
9. Why is surgery important?
10. Is it important to convince a patient to undergo surgery?
11. Which is more effective: minimally invasive cardiac surgeries or open-heart surgeries?
12. Is it still important to convince a patient to undergo surgery if the success rate is below 50% and why/why not?
13. How important is working together during a procedure?
14. Is it possible to do a procedure alone?
15. Which procedures are effective and why?
16. How important is it for a doctor to be upfront with a patient and why?
17. Should doctors be using decision aids with their patient?
18. Why is a decision aid important to use?
19. Is there a distinct difference in patient satisfaction with the use of a decision aid maker?
20. Does using a decision aid maker increase the health of the patient?
21. Who is usually involved in a minimally invasive surgery>
22. Who is usually involved in an open-heart surgery and what are their roles?

Blog 17: Answer 3

1.  What is your EQ?

How can a cardiologist effectively treat a patient during and after heart surgery?


2.  What is your first answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

The most effective way of helping a patient recover is by having them continuously attend Cardiac Rehab.


3.  What is your second answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

Cardiologists that synthesize and integrate the use of excellent bedside manners alongside medical treatment can lead to better and more effective patient care. 


4. What is your third answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

A doctor that performs heart surgery in a proper manner will help the patient significantly.



5.  List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.

• If you do surgery properly, you save the patient's life
• You alter the patient's life, but it is for the better
• You have completely changed the patient's fate

6.  What printed source best supports your answer?

http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/failure-to-perform-surgery-properly.html


7.  What other source supports your answer?

http://www.surgeryencyclopedia.com/St-Wr/Telesurgery.html

http://www.cardiacspecialists.com/pacemaker_defibrillators.htm

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Arrhythmia/SymptomsDiagnosisMonitoringofArrhythmia/Electrophysiology-Studies-EPS_UCM_447319_Article.jsp



8.  Tie this together with a  concluding thought.

Surgery is an important aspect of Cardiology because this can change peoples' lives for the better.

Me watching Dr. Discepolo's procedure

February Extra Blog

In this month, I didn't really do much for my senior project because I was busy with other things including my International Relations class. But I was able to do 32 hours for my Independent Component #1 which was pretty cool. I also got to interview my dad for my Interview #3 which was helpful for my second answer to the essential question.

I have been thinking about my 3 answers to my essential question and for sure I know it will revolve around Surgery, Bedside Manners, and Cardiac Rehab. With Cardiac Rehab, I already talked about that in my Lesson #2. For bedside manners, I have been observing my mentor, Dr. Muthiah, and I have noticed that he has really good bedside manners which does make a significant difference in patient care. And with surgery, I don't know yet how I am going to word this, but I want to talk about the importance of surgery and how it can change lives for the better. So I want to talk about why surgery is important and why it is important for the cardiologist to do a proper and successful surgery as well.

Blog 16: Answer #2

1.  What is your EQ?

What is the best way for a cardiologist to treat a patient during and after heart surgery?


2.  What is your first answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

The most effective way of helping a patient recover is by having them continuously attend Cardiac Rehab.

3.  What is your second answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

Cardiologists that synthesize and integrate the use of excellent bedside manners alongside medical treatment can lead to better and more effective patient care. 


4.  List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.

Mentorship:

• Patient is more prone to be open about him/herself
• Patient feels comfortable around doctor
• Patient is more happy and satisfied
• Patient has more confidence in the doctor's decisions 
• Patient loves, respects, and praises the doctor rather than fear him
• Patient is more willing to follow directions

I have witnessed all this happen at my mentorship where I shadow Dr. Muthiah. His bedside manners do make a significant impact for the patient.


5.  What printed source best supports your answer?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3246857/


6.  What other source supports your answer?

http://www.aaos.org/news/aaosnow/jan13/clinical4.asp

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2014/04/developing-bedside-manner-understanding-patient.html

http://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2014/04/14/study-physicians-bedside-manner-affects-patients-health


7.  Tie this together with a  concluding thought.

Explanation:

Bedside Manners is considered to be an "art of medical science" because it involves the doctor to physically express this concept. Bedside Manners is now considered to be on the verge of going away because clinics are becoming more and more business-like. Research shows that effectuating excellent bedside manners does indeed increase patient care. Bedside Manners has been important throughout all of medical history, even all the way back up to the Greeks. One important historical and medical figure who wrote about bedside manners is Sir William Osler.

Concluding Thought:

My 2nd answer is going to revolve around what I observe at my mentorship because I have seen how important bedside manners is after seeing Dr. Muthiah properly do it which has made him a role model. 

Sir William Osler at the bedside of his patient [*Courtesy of  National Center for Biotechnology Information and U.S. National Library of Medicine]

Blog 15: Independent Component #2 Approval

Content:

Please review the component contract on page 12 of the senior project packet.   The Independent Component 2 is an opportunity for you to add a dimension of creativity and/or an additional outlet for research.  The goal of the component is for you to explore your answers in more depth.  On Friday, April 24, 2014, you will be turning in the following to your blog to prove completion of this component:

·       Log of hours on an digital spreadsheet (with total number of hours included)
·       Evidence of the 30 hours of work (e.g. transcript, essays, tests, art work,    

        photographs) as digital artifacts
·       LIA

The senior team expects that your log will be on the right hand side of your blog in the Senior Project Hours link.   In addition to this,  we expect that you will be able to prove the total 30 hours of work by submitting evidence to the blog by the due date.  For this blog post and approval, please answer the following questions.

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

I plan to do the same things I did in Independent Component #1 alongside a few new things.

What I did in Independent Component #1 was:

• Volunteer in Cath Lab
• Volunteer in Cardio-Pulmonary Rehab Center (Cardiac Rehab)
• Watch procedures (surgeries) related to Cardiology

The new things I plan to do (hopefully) are:

• Watch surgeries (not necessarily related to Cardiology)
• Volunteer in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU)
• Shadow Kathy Soderlund who is a nurse that is responsible for the caretaking of patients that are about to undergo open heart surgery
• Observe a psychologist to learn how to deal with certain kinds of patients

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

I will take pictures that are allowable by HIPPA Privacy Laws to prove my work. But I will not be able to take any pictures of any patients. 

3.  Explain how this component will help you explore your topic in more depth.

If I am able to do all of these six parts, this will help me in getting a better understanding of Cardiology because I will be able to see multiple phases which will allow me to see the big picture for both the patients and cardiologists. I will be able to experience the pre, the present, and the post stages of Cardiology. 

4.  Post a log in your Senior Project Hours link and label it "Independent Component 2" log.

Done,

Your answers to the questions should be supported with details and examples for the senior team to understand what you plan to do.   Once we review your Blog Post 15, your house teacher will discuss with you the approval of your plan.  If it is approved, please start working on it.  If it is not approved, your house teacher will explain why.  It is your job to address the concerns so you can get your component approved. 

Blog 14: Independent Component #1

Content:  

• LITERAL
  (a) Write: “I, Hasan M. Khan, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 32 hours and 10 minutes of work.”

• (b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.

My independent component is possible because of the staff in the Cath Lab, the staff in the Cardiac Rehab, and the cardiologists and nurses that allowed me to be with them during procedures (surgeries). 

• (c) Update your hours in your Senior Project Hours link. Make sure it is clearly labeled with hours for individual sessions as well as total hours.

• (d) Explain what you completed.    

I volunteered, observed, and helped out the Cath Lab and Cardio-Pulmonary Rehab Center (Cardiac Rehab). And I was able to watch multiple cardiologists perform procedures (surgeries) on their patients. 

• INTERPRETIVE 
  Defend your work and explain its significance to your project and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.  
  

My Lesson Plan #2 was mainly reliant on my experience at the Cardiac Rehab because I realized how crucial the post-treatment phase is in treating a patient properly. My being inside of Cath Lab gave me connections and opportunities to get to know the workers, staff, and Cardiologists and also to ask the Cardiologists if I could watch their procedures. Being able to watch the procedures gave me a whole new insight of the protocol and rules the cardiologists have to follow and go through. 

• APPLIED
  How did the component help you understand the foundation of your topic better?  Please include specific examples to illustrate this. 

My independent component has helped me understand cardiology so much more because I have seen multiple viewpoints, paradigms, and observations of the "Cardiology World". By "Cardiology World", I mean what goes on and inside the various departments related to Cardiology. Through the Cath Lab, I was able to observe patients that were either about to go into surgery or be discharged and the cool thing about Cath Lab is that all patients are heart patients, so all of them have to do with Cardiology. I was also able to see how the staff does their job and how they handle their patients. 

In the Cardiac Rehab, I was exposed to a whole lot. I was introduced to a new dimension of cardiology because I was able to watch the post-treatment phase of surgery. I was able to watch the patients and even talk with them about their experience of heart surgery. I was able to observe the staff once again and how they deal with their patients. 

And finally, the last and most helpful part of my independent component: being able to watch procedures. This in itself was entirely new world to me. For my mentorship, I have been shadowing Dr. Muthiah and I get to see how he deals with his patients in the clinic. But with the procedures, I finally got to see how multiple cardiologists did their job out of the clinic and in the surgery room. And I am really blessed to have seen multiple cardiologists because I got to see how each individual cardiologist handled the procedure in their own unique way. I got to see how the cardiologist interacted with the people that were working with him on the procedure. I noticed how crucial teamwork and communication was in these procedures. Each and every worker in the procedure room has a role and all of them are very important.  And another great blessing I had was that some of the Cardiologists actually let me be very close to the patient so I could actually see what was happening on the patient. I was able to see inside the patient's body when a pacemaker was being inserted. 

Like Mentor, Like Student

Anthony

Mitch

Dr. Discepolo inserting a pacemaker [*permission received by staff and I alongside the staff understand and follow HIPPPA Privacy Law for the Patients]

That's me right there!

Me helping out in the Cath Lab

Me watching Dr. Muthiah

Hoang Pham in Cardiac Rehab

Some random machine

Cardiac Rehab Staff

Me lol

Grading Criteria 

• Updated log in Senior Project Hours Link 
• Evidence of 30 hours of work 
• LIA submitted to blog

January Extra Blog Post

Wow, I can't believe that January is basically over now. One month since the new year is now about to pass just like that.

In January, I was able to do a good amount for my senior project. In 9th grade, Mrs. Cancino told me how I would learn how to priortize things and how in some cases I would have to sacrifice something. And indeed I did have to sacrifice something for my senior project. I didn't come to school on the 27th because I was doing my independent component the whole day from 8am to 5:30pm. I am glad because now I only have less than 2 hours to complete my independent component.

I learned a lot on that day as well. When I went to the Cardiac Rehab in the morning, my friend from last time, Hoang Pham, was still there. He told more advice again this time. It was about how to pass an interview. He told me that I need to basically do the opposite of everything in an interview. The interview people are trying to see what kind of person you are to see if you will graduate or not. They already know your qualifications through your resume, so that is why they want to see your personality. And another thing is that you aren't the only person that is nervous in an interview, the people interviewing you are possibly even more nervous than you. Hoang told me to watch an episode of Seinfield where the main character gets a job by doing the opposite in his interview.

I was also able to see many of the same patients that had come back in December in Cardiac Rehab. Some of them remembered me even after a month had passed by which was nice.

I was able to go to the ER (Emergency Room) because my friend, Mitch, who is a nurse took me. He showed me and two other nurses how he could modify a pacemaker through a machine in a wireless manner. It was very interesting as the machine "interrogated" the pacemaker of the patient and changed it according to her heart's needs. I forget what the machine is called though.

Funny enough, I didn't go to mentorship that day, but I saw Dr. Muthiah in the morning which was pretty cool. I also got to see two Left Heart Catherizations in the operating room which were both performed by Dr. Thumati.

I was also able to see, but not meet, Dr. Keyser who is an open-heart surgeon. I am considering interviewing him and I regret that I did not introduce myself to him because I was too shy.