Blog 24 – Last Presentation Reflection

WHOA I'M DONE!!! You have no idea how happy I am.

(1) Positive Statement
What are you most proud of in your block presentation and/or your senior project? Why?
I actually have a few things that I am proud of. In my previous presentations/lessons, I would only barely meet time, speak softly, look to much at the presentation or my notes, avoid eye contact with the audience, and have zero jokes (relevant jokes to keep the audience's attention).
Although I was nervous before my presentation, I presented well (according to my trusty friends in the audience and Mr. Pang). Throughout my presentation, Mr. Pang was passing me stickie notes to let me know where I was in terms of time and if he had any comments. Surprisingly, I ended up speaking for more than thirty minutes on quality research on my own. I was able to spend a little more than ten minutes discussing each answer.
Prior to my presentation, I had asked Starla and John (actually, John offered before I could ask) if they could give me cues throughout my presentation. If I was too soft they would cup their ears and if I was talking too fast they would signal with their hands. I saw Starla tell me to speak louder only once in the beginning of my presentation. During my activity, Donovan called me over and told me that my volume was good, staying constant after that one time Starla told me I was too soft.
Even though I had prepared a paper full of notes and reminders for me so that I would not look at my presentation slide, I ended up not using it. Unlike my other presentations/lessons, I did not forget anything when I saw the students watching and listening to me.
Once I saw the roster of students attending my presentation, I decided that I would make a seating chart and spread out my friends to each table in the classroom so that I would be encouraged to maintain eye contact with the audience. It worked!

(2) Questions to Consider
a. What assessment would toy give yourself on your block presentation? Use the component contact to defend that assessment.
I deserve an AE.
I did dress professionally (coat and stethoscope), have good volume and enunciation (like I mentioned earlier), maintained eye contact, kept the audience engaged (with scenarios, activities, relevant jokes, puns).
I also made an effort to engage more than one sense of the audience by walking them through a scenario while playing the sound effect of ringing in the ears (it was funny seeing them put their hands to their ears almost immediately after it began playing... mwahahaha). I did use my time wisely by discussing my three answers and having two relevant activities (props) and breakdowns after each one.
As for the justification of my answers, I had multiple sources of various types that I cited throughout my presentation. Mr. Pang even passed me a note "I love the references!" (he underlined "love" twice, actually)
I think my activity was well-executed not only because Mr. Pang got involved and seemed to enjoy it but also because during the breakdown when I was asking them questions, they were able to answer correctly.

b. What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project? Use the component contract to defend that assessment. 
I think I deserve an AE.
I turned in everything on time to the best of my ability. If I couldn't turn something in on time (like one of my interviews), I communicated with Mr. Rivas and let him know of the situation.
I worked really hard this year not only because I wanted a good grade but also because I wanted to learn more about my topic and kinda prepare for when I become a medical professional in the future.

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?
What worked was having the deadlines for sources. It kept me on track, knowing that I would slack off after a while of doing something really repetitive.

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your senior project?
I wish I had done more mentorship and Independent Component 1 hours. I think I would have gained a lot more experience that could have added to the depth of each of my answers.

(5) Finding Value
How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors? Be specific and use examples.
As I previously mentioned, this senior project was kind of my own project to prepare me for when I become a medical professional.
I aspire to become a surgeon or a pediatrician and perform medical missions in the future, just like one of my mentors, Dr. Robinson Baron.

Exit Interview

okay, that's not true but there were a few times that I just wanted to give up because I was so tired

1. What is your essential question and what are your answers? What is your best answer and why?
Essential question: How can a team of medical professionals ensure the health and well-being of a patient?
Answer 1: Educate the patient **BEST ANSWER, YO!**
Answer 2: Give proper analysis and diagnosis
Answer 3: Provide patient-centered care

2. What process did you take to arrive at this answer?
At first, it seemed like each answer could be easily labeled "best answer" because of how it relates to the patient. To put it simply, I reviewed the differences between each answer and then chose the one with the most weight on improving a patient's recovery.

3. What problems did you face? How did you resolve them?
I did not really face any problems in the research aspect of my senior project. I did, however, lose one of my mentors after he flaked on me during my Independent Component 2 with him. Fortunately, my other mentor was able to refer me to another medical professional, a general surgeon, who was willing and happy to be my mentor for the rest of my senior project.

4. What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?
The two most significant sources that I used to answer my essential question would probably be two of my last few sources:
• The Challenge of Patient Adherence by Leslie R. Martin
This article was very well written and did not only discuss the problem of lack of patient adherence but also discussed ways to improve patient adherence. In addition, it covered two of my answers (educate the patient and provide patient-centered care)

• Strategies to Enhance Patient Adherence by Susan R. Levy, Naresh Bellam, and Ashish Atreja
The authors of this article did research and tested various methods with different groups of patients of various medical cases to see which methods were most efficient. Although, the authors didn't go as in-depth as I wanted them to on providing patient-centered care, they did expand quite a lot on providing the proper diagnosis and treatment and educating the patient.

Blog 22 – Independent Component 2

(a) I, Mila Therese Reyes, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents thirty hours of work.

(b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.
One of my former mentors, Michel Daher, helped me complete my independent component.

(c) Update your Independent Component 2 Log (which should be under your Senior Project Hours link)
Click here to view my hours

(d) Explain what you completed

I finished exploring one of my answers – educating the patient – by teaching students and testing them before and after my talks to see if education truly did have an effect on their willingness to comply.

(e) Defend your work and explain the component's significance and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work. Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc.) of the 30 hours of work.

One answer to my essential question is to educate the patient. It was originally “communication” but I changed it to “education” since that seemed a better fit. My independent component explored the area of education. I gave a talk to a group of students on the different kinds of medications used to treat different diseases and how they are abused. I also educated them on the harmful affects of drug addiction and how drug addicts can seek help.

I was going to attach a link to my presentation but it has been uploading to my google drive since last night and it still isn't finished. I will be happy to email it to you, though, as evidence.

(f) How did the component help you answer your EQ? Please include specific examples to illustrate how it helped.

This helped me answer my essential question in that I was able to better understand why patient education is so important. At the beginning of my presentation, I asked the students if they would like to eat a can of worms for medicine if they were feeling lightheaded but suffering from peeling skin (some physical effects of being a drug addict) and they all said “No.” After I explained to them the repercussions of taking drugs, I asked them the same question again and the majority of them said “Yes” because they believed that it would make them better.

Blog 17 – Interview 4 Reflection

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?
There were actually two important things that I learned from this interview. The first is that, as a doctor, it is important to use the respect that is gained from the title of being a doctor and to use it to help patients recover. The second is that patient's outlook can affect a patient's recovery.

2. How will what I learned affect my final lesson?
I don't think how what I learned will greatly affect my final lesson. It may, however, give me some more details to add to my final lesson and give me the opportunity to go more in depth on my topic.


My interview didn't go as well as I had wanted it to be. She wouldn't answer in a straightforward manner (how she says she talks to her patients) but rather uses stories to answer questions. If she did give straightforward answers, she would only give a one-sentence answer.

Fourth Interview Questions

me when I'm almost out of sources

1. Who do you plan to interview? What is this person's area of expertise?
I plan to interview Dr. Robinson Baron. He specializes in general surgery. He conducts medical missions around the world, especially in Mexico and the Philippines.

2. Post 20 open-ended questions you want to ask an expert in the field concerning your senior project. Your focus should be finding answers to your EQ.
• How important is educating the patient in helping a patient recover?
• What role does communication play in helping a patient achieve his/her goal?
• How does a patient affect his/her recovery?
• What is key to providing collaborative/patient-centered care?
• How can a team of medical professionals best provide collaborative/patient-centered care?
• What do you think affects a patient's recovery the most?
• If you have a patient who refuses to cooperate r follow through with your prescription or treatment, how would you encourage a patient to do his/her part?
• What is the biggest issue affecting the health and well-being of a patient?
• How does a doctor's training help a patient recover?
• What are some difficulties one might face in providing patient-centered/collaborative care?
• What do doctors do to train for direct patient care?
• What are some problems you encountered?
• How do you deal with patients who are stubborn?
• How would you define a "good" doctor?
• What traits and/or characteristics should one have to ensure the health and well-being of a patient?
• What does a team of medical professionals normally consist of?
• How much does collaborative care affect the health and well-being of a patient?
• Do you think spending more time with a patient can better ensure his/her health and well-being? Why or why not?
• Based on your experience, how could a team of medical professionals ensure the health and well-being of a patient?

Blog 19 – Third Answer

1. What is your EQ?
How can a team of medical professionals ensure the health and well-being of a patient?

2. What is your Answer #3?
A team of medical professionals can ensure the health and well-being of a patient through proper analysis and diagnosis.

3. Three reasons why answer #3 is true:
• One cannot receive proper treatment without first undergoing a proper analysis and diagnosis.
• Proper analysis and diagnosis is essential to ensuring the health and well-being of a patient.
• According to one of my sources, new doctors only spend about eight minutes with each patient, resulting in not being able to hear or listen to all the patients. Increasing this would give the patient more time to trust the doctor and say all his/her symptoms to get a proper diagnosis and treatment.

4. What printed source(s) best supports answer #3?
• Chen, Pauline. "For New Doctors, 8 Minutes Per Patient." Well For New Doctors 8 Minutes Per Patient. The New York Times, 30 May 2013. Web. 12 Oct. 2015. <http;//well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/for-new-doctors-8-minutes-per-patient/?_r=0>

5. Tie this together with a concluding thought.
This third answer further supports my previous answers of providing collaborative care and patient education. Although this seems quite logical, recently published articles one patient care that I have read always mention how doctors increasingly spend less and less time with their patients and thus increase their chances of providing the wrong treatment.

Blog 18 – Answer 2

1. What is your EQ?
How can a team of medical professionals ensure the health and well-being of a patient?

2. What is your first answer? (In complete thesis statement format)
A team of medical professionals can ensure the health and well-being of a patient by providing collaborative patient care.

3. What is your second answer? (In complete thesis statement format)
A team of medical professionals can ensure the health and well-being of a patient by educating the patient.

4. List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.
• Patient should understand his or her medical condition in order to be open to options for treatment.
• Patient should understand how options for treatment work towards ensuring his or her health in order to comply with doctor's orders.
• Patient should be properly educated on self-treatment (for example physical therapy) in order to ensure his or her well-being and recovery.

5. What printed source best supports your answer?
• Chen, Pauline. "For New Doctors, 8 Minutes Per Patient." Well For New Doctors 8 Minutes Per Patient Comments. The New York Times, 30 May 2013. Web. 12 Oct. 2015. <http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/for-new-doctors-8-minutes-per-patient/?_r=0>.

6. What other source supports your answer?
My mentor who I interviewed for my first interview strongly agrees with my answer.

7. Tie this together with a concluding thought.
This second answer builds upon and supports my first answer in that it goes a little more in-depth on how medical professionals can provide collaborative care. I could have included this under my first answer but it's too long (and requires a better explanation) so I decided to have it separate and as a second answer.

Blog 17 – Interview 3 Reflection

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?
The most important thing that I learned from this interview is that one of my answers, "Patient Education," could be renamed to "Ensuring Patient Compliance." Though this may seem logical, it was pretty surprising to me to find that "while a doctor can put a great plan together, it's gonna ultimately fail unless the patient is fully committed."


2. How has your approach to interviewing changed over the course of your senior project?

My approach to interviewing has definitely changed over the course of my senior project. When I first interviewed, I was mainly reading off the paper and never really asked follow-up questions to get better questions. Now, asking questions seems natural. Almost all the questions I asked in this interview were not what I wrote down.

 

Blog 16 – Independent Component 2 Approval

1. Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.
For my Independent Component 2, I have two ideas:
a.) Don't-Do-Drugs Talks: Along with my mentor, we will conduct a Don't-Do-Drugs talk at either one or two middle schools depending on how many respond. The talk will discuss common street drugs and side effects of those drugs.
b.) Class at Mt. SAC: At the student orientation, I saw that I could take a class called "Contemporary Health Issues" which discusses common health problems today and how they can be solved with modern research.

2. Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.
a.) I can take pictures (or have pictures taken), upload my presentation, and possibly record the talks.
b.) Since it's a class that will most likely have homework, I can just show my homework. I won't be able to use a semester grade as evidence since the class doesn't end until the end of May.

3. Explain how this component will help you explore your topic more in depth.
Both ideas a and b will help me further explore one of my answers (patient education) in that I will be able to find out the best way to educate a patient (a) or, from a patient's perspective, the most effective way to educate a patient (b).

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

Independent Component 1

• LITERAL
(a) I, Mila Therese Reyes, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.

(b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.
I completed my hours with Dr. Baron, a cardiac surgeon, and Michel Daher, a pharmacist.

(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. 
Click here to view my hours.

(d) Explain what you completed.
I accompanied Dr. Baron on a whole-day medical mission to Tecate, Baja California, Mexico. Since I do not yet have my license, I was not allowed to assist the medical team during the medical mission asked from handing them some medicines or getting vials. I ended up observing how they communicate with their patients by asking open-ended questions to give a proper diagnosis and thoroughly explaining the medications they would have to take or the explaining the condition they were suffering from. I also was able to observe how they worked together (nurses, physicians, physician assistants, pharmacists, etc.) to help each patient as best as possible.


• INTERPRETIVE
Defend your work and explain its significance to your project and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work. Provide evidence of the 30 hours of work.
Since this was an all-day event, I spent nineteen hours total at the medical mission. In a regular hospital or clinic, I cannot really see how a physician works with other medical professionals but this medical mission helped me understand and actually see how medical professionals interact with each other (and their patients) and work together to help the patients as much as possible.
As for the rest of the hours, I had to complete them with my mentor (Michel Daher, PharmD) because the second medical mission that I was supposed to join got cancelled after the passing of one of the doctor's son.
For a complete (and clearer) log of what I did for my independent component 1, please click here and scroll down to the orange section.

• APPLIED
How did the component help you understand the foundation of your topic better? Please include specific examples to illustrate this.
This helped me decide on "collaborative care" as one of my answers to my essential question. Like I mentioned previously, I was able to better observe how a physician interacts and works with other medical professionals to provide the best form of patient care.
For example, when I was mentoring in a clinic, I thought that the physician only coordinated with the nurses to help a patient but at the medical mission I noticed that the physician works with the pharmacist, anesthesiologist, and physician assistant, too.

Lesson 2 Reflection

1. What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?
I am most proud of being able to keep my volume loud enough for everyone to hear my voice because in my Lesson 1 Presentation, volume was my only problem.

2. a. What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?
I would give myself an AE- or a P+.

b. Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.
I spoke for at least 10 minutes on quality research (before the activity and after the debrief of the activity), used my PowerPoint presentation well in relation to main points of my main answer (pictures), did not read directly from the PowerPoint presentation or from my notes, cited four sources along with my mentorship, and kept my EQ in view (on both the PowerPoint and on a separate poster).

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?
I thanked what worked was the activity and the hook. I noticed that even though they at first didn't seem to directly relate to my topic, it still got my point across (the importance of having one mode of communication).

4. What didn't work? If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?
I would have slowed down a little bit (especially in the beginning) so as not to forget some information that I had planned to say for the first few slides. I would also have modified the activity so that each person would be working on something instead of only one person per group working at a time.

5. What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?
I think my answer #2 will be providing patient education.

Blog 14 – Interview 3 Preparation

For this interview, you will prepare 10 open-ended questions that focus on your newly approved EQ (in fact, your first question can be your EQ). Remember, all interviews must be done in person unless they are specifically approved by your house teacher. Additionally, one person may be interviewed a maximum of two times.

1. Who do you plan to interview? What is this person's area of expertise?
I plan to interview Alicia Cuento, MD. She is a pediatrician.


2. Verify that you have called your interviewee to schedule an interview. What is the date and time of the interview?
Friday, February 12 at 3:30pm


3. Phrase an open-ended question that will help you find research resources that would help to answer the EQ.
How else can I find more information on caring for patients?


4. Phrase an open-ended question that will help you think about other useful activities you might do to help you answer the EQ (IC 2, possible experts to talk to, etc.).
What do doctors do to train for direct patient care?


5. Phrase two open-ended questions that help you to understand your interviewee's perspective on an aspect of your EQ.
What does a team of medical professionals normally include?
What are some difficulties they might face in trying to provide patient-centered care?


The interview transcript  is due to turnitin.com with the 5-minute audio excerpt and entry to the blog on Friday, February 19th. In addition, you need to turn in the verification sheet to your house teacher.

Blog 13 – 10 Hour Mentorship Check-In

1. Where are you doing your mentorship?
I am currently doing my mentorship at two locations:
a. Pax Pharmacy – 931 Buena Vista St #104, Duarte, CA 91010
b. Dr. Alicia Cuento – 931 Buena Vista St #100, Duarte, CA 91010

2. Who is your contact? What makes this person an expert?
a. Alicia Cuento, MD:
Dr. Alicia Cuento earned her medical degree from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines, completed her internship at Christ Hospital in New Jersey and completed her residency at White Memorial hospital in Los Angeles. She has over 35 years of experience in pediatrics.

b. Michel Daher, PharmD:
Dr. Michel Daher earned his pharmacy degree from Oregon Health and Science University. He completed his internship at the university's Old Town Clinic. He technically has 2 years of experience in pharmacy. He owns a pharmacy, following the footsteps of his father who was also a pharmacist and had his own pharmacy.

3. How many hours have you done during the school year? (Summer Mentorship Hours and Mentorship Hours should be reflected separately in you Senior Project Hours log located on the right hand side of your blog).
So far I have done 20 hours of mentorship.
As previously discussed with Mr. Rivas, I am also completing my Independent Component #1 hours at the pharmacy by working extra hours.


4. Succinctly summarize what you did, how well you and your mentor worked together, and how you plan to complete the remaining hours.
a. I have not done any mentorship hours so far with Dr. Alicia Cuento during the school year (I did my summer mentorship hours with her) but I plan to complete more mentorship hours with her by shadowing her and helping her with whatever I am allowed to do (over the summer it was mostly paperwork).
b. At Pax Pharmacy, I have helped prepare some medicines for patients and worked on some paperwork. Since most of the work at the pharmacy can only be done by medical professionals, I think I might continue to do the same kind of work to complete the remaining hours.




*You need 50 hours plus the original 10 in the summer by May.   The original 10 from the summer do not count toward the 50.  By the end of the year, you will have 60 hours counting that original 10.

Blog 12 – Holiday Project Update

Me on the first day back to school

1. It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school. What did you do over the break with your senior project?
I actually got sick twice during break so I wasn't able to do as much as I had wanted to do.
I still continued my mentorship but I only went for one day instead of two days. I was, however, able to add a few more sources to my research.

2. What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why? What was the source of what you learned?
The most important thing that I learned from both my mentorship and my research is that communication between the patient and medical staff is very important. Once there was a patient who almost took too much of a medicine. The doctor misunderstood the patient's age and gave the wrong dosage. Luckily the pharmacist (aka my mentor :D ) caught the doctor's mistake and was able to fix it before giving the patient her medicine.

3. Your third interview will be a 10 question interview related to possible answers for your EQ. Who do you plan to talk to and why?
I plan to interview my mentor, Michel Daher, PharmD, for my third interview because I have already briefly discussed my senior project and working essential question with him.