Blog #2: Summer Mentorship

1. Mentorship Log
 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jiPQKkUNaBeqHjmeXuUmfIGigAjKZmpf5BdjUfenGlM/edit?usp=sharing

2.  Dr. Andrea Haston, DPT.
     Casa Colina Centers for Rehabilitation.
     866-724-4127

3.  Questions I have:
(for my mentor) How did you decide on PT as a career? What did the schooling entail? What's the most rewarding part of the job?
(general questions) What qualities should someone in PT possess to ensure a good patient experience? Are the patients you deal with mostly elderly, or is the age range pretty broad? What other people in the hospital do PTs work closely with?

4.  The most important thing I gained from in this experience was a different perspective on being in a hospital setting. When you think about it, most people only have to visit hospitals when there's something wrong with them or when there's something wrong with a family member or close friend. That was true for myself as well, so as you can imagine, going to the hospital was never particularly fun for me. This mentorship experience shed a different kind of light on hospitals for me. I was able look around and take everything in for what it was, and it was really kind of fascinating. When you're the one that's sick, you're just thinking "How bad is it, Doc?" But when you're on the other side, you're thinking "What can I do to help this person in the best way possible?" People tend to think of doctors as bringers of bad news, but in actuality they're problems solvers. This was made clear to me after my first day of mentorship, and even though I don't think I want to be a physical therapist, I think that a job in the medical field is definitely for me.  

5. My senior topic is going to be on Physical Therapy. It wasn't my first choice (I wanted to Anesthesiology),  but Casa Colina is close to school, and my mentor has very set work hours and a high availability on weekdays, so getting hours this year shouldn't be an issue at all. Physical Therapy is also a job that I can easily shadow and participate in to some degree. If I decided to stick with Anesthesiology, the only thing I'd really be able to do is interview my mentor. I wouldn't be allowed to go into operating rooms at all. So after weighing the two against each other, I decided on PT. During my mentorship I'm actually interacting with people and getting a good idea of what PT is all about, so I think it'll make for a much better experience, and by extension, a much better senior project.

Well that's about it for this blog post so peace out girl scouts!