Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Utah Valley Pediatrics - Internship


Over the course of the 2014 winter semester I have been allowed the great opportunity to shadow several pediatricians of Utah Valley Pediatrics.  Nearly each Friday I would go to their local office and observe what commonly happens in the day of a pediatrician.  This was an extremely valuable experience to learn different ways pediatricians interact with their patients as well as address the needs of them.  Often the patients would come in for what is called a well-child checkup.  These routine appointments are essential to aid in the continuing development of these children.  Occasionally patients would come in with illnesses or other concerns that really needed the expertise of the pediatrician to care for them.  Because this is a practice with several pediatricians, occasionally these pediatricians would be able to quickly ask a second opinion about a diagnosis and really aid getting the best care for the patient.  The pediatricians showed great interest in their patients and care for them.  It is this aspect that I really enjoyed and want to model in a future career.  To be able to aid and assist others in making their lives better would be great.  I also saw how busy doctors are even when their patients are late.  If doctors are not seeing patients they are often reading lab reports and doing various paperwork all related to assisting their patients. I am grateful for this opportunity to shadow at Utah Valley Pediatrics.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Intermountain Healthcare


            My internship at Intermountain Healthcare was one of my strongest learning experiences I have had at BYU.  Through daily experience, the changing world of healthcare was explained effectively.  I saw what hospitals are doing to get ready for Obamacare, by preparing their staffs and programs to efficiently maintain the rules of Obamacare.  Without my internship, my knowledge of HCAPHS would be minimal. Now I know staff performance affects each hospital’s reimbursement rate.
            In my internship, my main responsibility was “rounding on” patients, asking questions about their care in the Emergency Department.  Hospitals will only receive full reimbursements from the government by improving their HCAPHS scores. The best way for hospitals to heighten their HCAPHS scores is by improving nurse communication consistency, responsiveness, and pain management.  Nurse communication is the biggest contributor to a hospital’s HCAPHS scores. So, my job, when I went “rounding on” patients would be to ask all important questions.  How is the medicine to take?  What did they expect from the information from their labs or tests?  What was their pain level?  For the most part in talking about their care, all of the patients had the best things to say about the nurses and staff members.
Truly, the nurses that work in the emergency department are some of the brightest nurses I have ever encountered. Several of the patients echoed that belief back to me.  I once saw a nurse helping a patient carry her belongings, including a baby, to the patient’s car.  A nurse’s ability to make a patient not only understand but care about a patient, I believe, makes them gain their health back more quickly.  I had a fantastic time rubbing elbows, and gaining wisdom from the nurses.
Next, the actual staff helped me to see the process of running a hospital.  Each has their part or specific job.  Those who take blood, those who give breathing treatments, those who take x-rays each have a specific task to accomplish that must be done properly to maintain the scores each hospital receives.   And the fact that those individuals all work independently throughout the day or night shift illustrates that a hospital would be a large undertaking for an administrator.   The doctors, though the directing part of the system by ordering labs, treatments and procedures, are only a small part of a much larger service.
It could seem daunting to manage a group as diverse as the staff at a hospital, or, at least highly problematic without a specific protocol of enforcement.  I was able to see this firsthand with the use of a program that all the interns were asked to work with, called AIDET.  AIDET stands for acknowledge, introduce, duration, explain, and thank you.  AIDET is one of the up and coming “best practices” programs that hospitals are starting to use.  Intermountain was one of the first to implement AIDET.  This program illustrates the quality a hospital can achieve with their patients.  It takes consistency to work through problems of duration with patients. The problem that Intermountain has been having is to get all staff members to commit to use AIDET with every patient under their care.  The nurses that were committed to AIDET performed efficiently with enhanced communication.  However, the nurses that didn’t commit to AIDET struggled with their communication skills and had inconsistent results.
My increase of knowledge of the health care system is something I needed not only for my professional life but my personal life as well.  This opportunity to do an internship at Intermountain Healthcare helped me plan for my professional career quite specifically.  If a person’s understanding of a future job can be enhanced through knowledge of how a system works, then the chances of a consistent, enjoyable job is also more likely.  This internship taught me so much about how hospitals operate and the problems hospitals face.  The depth and breadth of diverse problems a hospital can face took time to believe.  At one point I wondered if it were possible to overcome the budget and human communication problems I saw.  Yet, once I began to learn the various protocols that were used in the emergency department I could see that skills could increase if they were followed, especially by using the HCAPHS scoring system.

Further, the guest speakers we had throughout the internship became a highlight of my time by giving me insight into different fields within healthcare. There was one common theme from the guest speakers, and it was how they got to where they are now.  All of them had very different paths getting into healthcare, an assortment of varying degrees and jobs they worked in before coming to Intermountain.  Since I am now considering becoming a hospital administrator, the path of the speakers was of keen interest to me.  Do I go for an MBA or an MPA?  How many years of experience should I strive to get before I enter graduate school?  Each speaker helped me look at decisions I was about to make. The Intermountain internship was a great experience that I would definitely recommend to anyone thinking about looking to work in the healthcare career field.  

Sunday, April 20, 2014

U.S. Olympic Committee - Kyle



Over the last nine months I had the privilege to be an intern for the International Games Department at the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC). During this time I helped make and execute logistical plans for the Sochi Olympic Games and the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing China. My responsibilities included: outfitting athletes and staff in Nike and Ralph Lauren apparel, inventorying and shipping supplies to Russia, compiling an instruction manual for all of the staff members attending the Sochi Olympic Games, coordinating the transportation for athletes and staff in Sochi, and registering athletes and staff for the Games. Throughout all of these tasks I met great staff members and athletes who enriched my experience at the USOC. Instead of just learning about theories in a classroom, staff members taught me a lot about the Olympic Movement and international business.


One of the most challenging aspects of this internship was the lack of differentiation between my job and home life. During my internship I lived at the Olympic Training Center. At first, it was as if I were in sports heaven. However, my life quickly became one dimensional as I watched, read and talked about sports on a daily basis. In the beginning I loved it, but, after being surrounded by athletes all the time, I was made aware of some of the harsh realities of being an Olympic hopeful. The sacrifice the athletes make for their dreams is admirable, yet the devastating effects of missing the Olympic Team by hundredths of a second can cause a lot of people a lot of pain. These extremely high costs, which appear to only benefit a select few, can be heart wrenching yet inspirational as athletes overcome defeat and progress in other areas of their lives. Now more than ever I respect what it takes to win an Olympic medal; but, I have a deeper appreciation for the hundreds of world-class athletes who make significant contributions to their sports without ever enjoying a day in the Olympic spotlight due to circumstances beyond their control.

During my internship I had experiences that I never thought were possible. Some of the highlights include: going to Munich to prepare the U.S. athletes before they arrived at the Games in Sochi, having an all-access pass to the events at the Winter Olympic Games, witnessing different cultures become united through sport, and utilizing the new sports medicine and training facilities at the Olympic Training Center.  Many of these events occurred because the USOC provided me with the opportunity to travel while getting paid. During my time abroad, I learned to interact with high-profile individuals in effective ways. These and other events lead to emotional ups and downs during my internship that culminated as I watched the fireworks at closing ceremonies. I had an overwhelming feeling of joy and accomplishment as I witnessed the work of thousands of people come together to create one historical event. I felt so blessed to be a part of it. All of these experiences helped me to discover what I am truly passionate about and they motivated me to live a successful life. After getting a more intimate perspective on the lives of Olympic Champions, I know now that the gospel can bring me more happiness than any worldly honor.