Extra Blog: Palawan

The place in Palawan that we were situated in was a compound itself, and so it was a very homy atmosphere the whole time we were there. I think the most notable thing about Palawan was my last case, which really reaffirmed my thoughts about going into the medical field. It was the last case I did on the last day we were there, it was a thyroidectomy, and after assisting in small parts throughout the case, I was given the opportunity to close up the initial incision. Since it was a deep cut, there were two sets of sutures necessary to close the wound, the first was the re attachment of the fatty layer, which was a sub Q uninterrupted, which was easy enough as aesthetics were not an issue here, the second set however, the "hollywood stitch", required much more patience and accuracy. The second set took a little longer, but by the end of it I knew from what people were telling me about my work that I do have a talent for this field, and while I have no picture evidence, there really wouldn't be anything to capture, because you would not be able to tell there was an incision in the first place!

Extra Blog: Surigao

I think Surigao was my favorite place when we went to the Philippines for the medical mission. Surigao is known for being one of the best places in the world to go surfing, and I think due to this fact, there were a lot of western influences around the vicinity that we were staying, the most notable being a pizza place, and when every meal consists of fish, you learn to appreciate what you are missing out on a little more. Besides the food, The hotel we were staying at was beautiful, it was not like a commercial hotel, but instead, a family run organization that really made you feel comfortable, not only that but the hotel was situated right on the ocean so we had a great view to look out onto. For much of the time I was in Surigao I travelled to a mining compound where all the minor surgery was done. Below is a picture of just how beautiful this place was.

Extra Blog: Taguig

Taguig was the first leg of the 2014 medical mission where we spent four days performing on hundreds of patients through three ways: Major cases, Minor cases, and Pharmaceutical care. Taguig is located right outside of Manila so we still had a major city feeling while we were there. Being in a major city one would think that the people there should be relatively healthy compared to more rural parts of the Philippines, but the sad part was that I could not see and variance in the amount of people between the three cities, meaning even the major parts of the Philippines had a lot of poverty. The most notable thing for me experience wise while I was in Taguig would have to be when I was given the opportunity to perform a spinal tap, it was definitely an experience I am grateful to have had and while I hate needles going into me, it was surprisingly just as bad putting them into other people. Below is a general picture of what the city of Taguig looks like.

Independent Component 2 Approval

Content:

Please review the component contract at 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 25, 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 with your WB, independent component log 1 and mentorship log.   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.

a. I plan to volunteer in the E.R at citrus valley hospital, where I wish to extend my experience in the medical field and also coincide with my potential answer two which has to do with helping people at home first.
2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

a. Based on previous experience, my duties in the E.R are pretty basic, I need to clean beds, take vitals, hook up patients to a monitor, bring them food, and overall talk to them and make them feel comfortable.
3.  And explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

a. Like I mentioned earlier one of my potential second answers has to do with local care before needing to travel internationally, so actually putting it into practice should give me good insight as to wether or not it works.
4.  Post a log on the right hand side of your blog near your other logs and call it the independent component 2 log.
ok
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.

Independent Component 1

Title:  Independent Component 1
Label:  Independent Component
Due Date:  Friday 2/7 at 8AM
Content:  

• LITERAL
  (a) Statement saying: “I, student name, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”
• I, Robinson Baron, 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
• My grandfather, Robinson V. Baron, M.D , and the 2014 medical mission is what helped me compete my independent component.
  (c) Provide a digital spreadsheet (aka log of the 30 hours).   Post it next to your mentorship log.
• done
• (d) Explanation of what you completed.    
• I went on a medical mission for two weeks traveling through three cities assisting in minor and major operations. Roughly, I can estimate I took part in around 50 minor cases and around 10 majors.
• INTERPRETIVE 
  Defend your work and explain how the significant parts of your component and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.  
  
• Basically, minor cases can take anywhere from 30 minutes to a little over an hour with all prep time included, major cases can take several hours depending on the complexity of the case... there were hundreds of people in each city we went, and so there was no shortage of work, I went way above and beyond the thirty hour minimum, and have may pictures to prove it. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• APPLIED
  How did the component help you understand the foundation of your topic better?  Please include specific examples to illustrate how it helped. 
• This mission helped me see what articles couldn't, by being paced in the situation myself I was exposed to the poverty and the people who could not afford basic medical care, and while one of my first answers was to sway away from an actual medical mission because the research I found supports data that they cause more harm than good, I know that in the short term, those people would not have gotten the help they needed, and I am ultimately glad I was able to take part. The people there never asked for anything, and were just happy to be receiving free care. 

Grading Criteria 

• Log on a digital spreadsheet 
• Evidence of 30 hours of work 
• LIA submitted to blog

Lesson 2 Reflection

Content:

1. Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?

a. I am most proud of the fact that when it came to talking about something I actually had some sort of passion for, all the words and things I wanted to say came out easier, and while there was some confusion about making time, I actually had to cut parts of what I wanted to say out so I could keep time for my activity.

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

       AE       (P)          AP       CR       NC

       b.     Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.

Honestly I think I deserve a P because I know I met all the basic requirements that were needed and I believe for being the first person who went, that my presentation was clean and clear, and set a standard for the next presentations after.


3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?

My content really worked for me in this presentation, there was never a point while I was speaking that I felt that I was running out of things to say or ever left a lul where I was not speaking at all.

4.  (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?

I think I would have designed my powerpoint better so that it would have made things even cleaner, I don't think what I had was bad, but I want to improve little things to get closer to an AE

5. Finding Value
What do you think your answer #2 is going to be? 

I was thinking about something one of my articles said about how missionaries should stop focussing so much on third world countries when we have so much we can still do here at home, so I think my answer will have something to do with that. 

January Extra Blog

This week is pretty hectic, I leave for the Philippines medical mission on thursday and I still have so many things I need to do! packing, taking care of the pets, lesson 2, wrapping up the work I'm missing while I'm gone, and a bunch of other things I need to do to help prepare for the mission, like the group packing taking place later this week. Something I want to note for future reference is how much more work goes into an independently run organization like this because while things like Doctors Without Borders has people who's job it is to organize missions to make sure everything goes smoothly, the doctors who take part on this mission must juggle their regular jobs as well as plan everything themselves. That hard and extra work is rewarded though in the form of the ability to help many many more people and many more types of ailment over a shorter amount of time due to the independency. Thats pretty much all I need to note for now.