Almoooooost!

This time when I volunteered at the clinic, I got to work in the pharmacy again. I really enjoy working there, because although I don't get a lot of one-on-one interaction with patients, I at least feel a little bit more part of the action. If I spoke more Spanish I would be able to interact with them more. However, I really enjoy getting to learn about the different medications and logging systems that they clinic uses. It makes me realize just how organized they have to be, and I feel that this is the perfect fit for me because I am a highly organized person and am fairly good at following directions. It is difficult sometimes when patients come in with chronic diseases, and I know that they have these chronic disease because of the medications to which they are prescribed. On the outside, they just appear to be ordinary people, and someone else would never even know that he or she is sick. On the other hand, it's always interesting to find out just how many people are prescribed Viagra! All judgement and jokes aside, it is really interesting to find out what drugs are prescribed for what and in what amounts. I'm going to miss my time here in the pharmacy, and I really enjoy working with these people.

Oops!

I jsut realized I never posted last week! Last week I volunteered with Rachel C. for about an hour at San Jose. It was pretty fun - we sat at the front desk and helped direct people where to go. I was scared because this meant that I had to put my Spanish to use. Sam told me she had faith in me, but I wasn't so sure. It ended up being an entertaining experience, as I'm very social and I lve to meet new people. It was the most patient interaction I've had at the clinic, since I am usually in the pharmacy. I really enjoyed it because I enjoy getting to meet the patients as the come through the door, even if the interaction is minimal. It's still good to see the faces of the people who are being helped.

Almost There

This week I volunteered for about two hours doing various tasks. I worked with Pat and Jon as we worked to build some furniture and arrange assorted items out of boxes. We also helped file a bunch of old files in one of the rooms. Overall it wasn't too bad even though it isn't what I normally do. It was good to do this type of work because you can physically see the difference you made at the end of the day in the clinic. Hopefully next week I'll be able to do something that will make a difference as well.

Gettin' There

This week I volunteered in the pharmacy again at the clinic. The work is pretty straight forward, and like every week, I don't mind doing it even though it doesn't necessarily involve patient interaction or anything too exciting or difficult to understand. I like just being a part of the system regardless. I like that I'm around Spanish a lot also as I hope it helps me keep a lot of the Spanish I picked up last summer. Hopefully I'll continue to enjoy the work I do!

Final Four

This week I volunteered in the pharmacy again, but this time I was able to stay for two hours. Rather than order new prescriptions, I learned how to log in the prescriptions that were ordered, label them, and make sure they were properly accounted for before begin given to the patients. It's a pretty basic process but requires a lot of organization and labeling so that it doesn't get confusing. I actually enjoy doing it, even though its not a very interactive process, because I still get exposure to the way the clinic works. I also learn a lot about the drug companies and how they work, which is pretty interesting. I'll likley be working in the pharmacy from here on out so we'll see what nextweek has in store for me!

Fast Car

This week I went into the clinic for about an hour. I had a new job where I called in refill prescriptions for some of the paitents at San Jose. It sounds pretty tedious but I actually enjoyed it! I would have loved to have stayed longer but unfortunately had to be somewhere. Since I want to one day work in a clinic, and possibly overseas in similar free clinics, I like learning all aspects of how to run the clinc. I like learning how the system works - you never know when that information will come in useful later in life!

Lazy Week

So Spring Break was this week, and unfortunately I was unable to make it into the clinic due to family events going on (exiting, I know). And now that Spring Break is over it's back to the real world - back to school, back in the clinc! Not really looking forward into getting back in the routine, but less than two months until graduation! Scary.

More Volunteering

Today I went and volunteered at San Jose for a little over an hour. I helped prepare the Pediatrics waiting room so that the kids will be entertained while they wait. Unfortunately I wasn't able to volunteer for long because I have two tests to study for tomorrow - including cell!

First Volunteer Experience

This week I had my first volunteering experience - finally - after searching endlessly for a clinic that had available slots and times for volunteers. I volunteered at San Jose for two hours helping to organize some of the clinic supplies, and absolutely loved it. The people I worked with are really nice, and I felt very comfortable asking questions and really enjoyed my time volunteering. Sam is going to try to help me get some volunteer experience that will help me improve my Spanish since I will be volunteering for a month this summer in a maternity clinic in Argentia. I am already looking forward to volunteering next week!

Blog Set Up

First Blog Entry!

How exciting! I just set up my blog, and now all I have to do is get on top of all that volunteering. I've emailed two of the clinics, San Jose and El Centro de Corazon, to figure out which one works best with my schedule. I will update when I figure out with which clinic I will be volunteering!