Preventive Care Observation

Flying into Toronto Pearson International Airport, I reflected on my extraordinary adventure overseas. I had been on a volunteer international medical mission across Vietnam, Nepal, and India over the last four months, immersed in the local culture while shadowing surgeons, anesthesiologists, emergency doctors, and pediatricians. Working closely with physicians, I took patient vitals and history, cleaned and bandaged wounds, observed surgeries, discussed anatomy and physiology, and recalled the hundreds of stories that patients have shared with me at the bedside--I relished every moment of it. My experiences taught me the immense level of responsibility, the importance of communication and collaboration, and even an appreciation for the limits of medicine. My time abroad helped reaffirm my desire to pursue medicine.

We are evaluating Eat Healthy, Stay Active! (EHSA), a multi-level obesity prevention program that includes Head Start children, parents, and staff. Designed at the University of California-Los Angeles, Eat Healthy, Stay Active! (EHSA) is a national program that was piloted at Head Start in Columbia, MO in 2013. The program consists of staff training, parent training, and a coordinated classroom curriculum led by staff. They expanded the program to include medical students from University of Missouri, Columbia. Medical students take part in 4 training sessions and 3 EHSA parental education sessions. Topics for student training sessions include: culture of poverty, nutrition in the low-income populations, health literacy, while parent training

My involvement in Asian Pacific Health Corps has provided me with insight into the health needs of my community. Prior to volunteering at the health fairs, I was unaware of how many people lack health insurance or a doctor that they could regularly visit. Furthermore, performing blood pressure and body mass index screenings have provided me experience with interacting with patients. Educating patients about their screening results have prepared me to be a future physician who takes the time to understand each patient’s learning style and simplifies health topics to ensure understanding.

While interning at the Nueces Public Health District, I assist organized programs and events such as health fares, Go Red for Women, and wrote monthly health articles and post daily health articles on their social media sites. I educated people on health care concerns to widen their horizons on the ill effects of not maintaining a healthy lifestyle and encourage them to adopt positive attitudes towards their personal well-being.

I pursued my undergraduate career – Human Development and Family Studies, Health Education and Promotion, and Nutrition – with the idea of wanting to broaden my understanding and experiences in the realm of health. A myriad of factors can influence a person's health decisions. I now understand how the power dynamics within a family unit can determine the choices an individual makes in regards to their health. I have seen how a person may have the best intentions of making healthful choices, but with limited availability of resources, that person is unable to be their healthiest self. Throughout my experiences, I have learned that health is a complex interworking of an individual and the relationships, community, society and systems they belong to.

My initial clinical volunteering experience was when I volunteered in adolescent health education at People’s Community Clinic (PCC) in my hometown of Austin, Texas during the summer after my sophomore year of college. I worked a couple days a week with staff physicians and other undergraduate volunteers to craft effective ways to disperse health information. The clinic served a majority low-income population. During my time volunteering at the clinic, I witnessed the necessity of providing quality health information, not just in its raw form, but also in connection to the individual. I created health communications that efficiently informed adolescents and how health institutions can better effect positive change in their patients. Through the experience, I became interested in how people develop personal perceptions of health, and how information regarding health is dispersed through various platforms including pamphlets, visual demonstrations, and online resources.

Over the past 8 years, healthcare has been a major topic of debate. President and governmental elections, school systems and districts, local communities, and even cartoons have centered their focus on what seems to be one of the US’s major dilemmas: Healthcare. While our country has vast resources and often leads the world in advanced technology, healthcare and its access remains something we have yet mastered (Collaboration Health Care, 2015). As defined by WHO, the World Health Organization (2015), healthcare promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health. It moves beyond a focus on individual behavior towards a wide range of social and environmental interventions. While the concept of health promotion, its accessibility, and its maintenance are easy to understand, sometimes things easily understood aren’t as easily implemented into the general populations and their lifestyles. Unfortunately, there are many obstacles standing between the general population and complete access to healthcare. Some of the major hurdles include:

SC placed a call to Pa and spoke with Pa's husband, James because Pa is cognitively impaired (Alzheimer's). SC inquired about Pa's where about and wellbeing at the time of the call James reported that Pa is doing "ok". SC reviewed of Pa services. James confirms that Pa is receiving PAS aid via Around the Clock Home Health Care Services the service plan in the following type, scope, amount, frequency and duration. Pa receives 2hrs x 3 days Monday, Wednesday and Friday to assist with bathing, dressing, shopping, and laundry. James reported that Pa is satisfied with the service. No falls, hospitalizations, ER visit, new/ worsen health problem, and change in medication was reported. James reported that Pa has no outstanding follow up needs. SC

Being part of Balavikas, youth service group, has given me a glimpse into the vast class differences that occur in our society. In Balavikas, I volunteered at the Austin Street Shelter and at the Plano Food Pantry, where I was able to interact with socially and economically disadvantaged people who have dealt first hand with these pressing issues. Volunteering at these places has been a motivational and educational experience by showing me the medical issues that affect the poor, including nutrient deficiency. To serve these people and see their gratitude has inspired me to pursue a career in medicine. In college, I

The mission statement of the University of Washington School of Medicine, that is to ‘’recognize the importance of primary care and provide service to underserved populations’’ truly fits my personal goal towards medicine, which is to serve in an underserved area. As a person who grew up in a small village in Vietnam, I can personally relate to the challenges that face many underserved communities. Despite the promised of an opened to all healthcare, health clinics were not able to reach many of the underprivileged areas in my country. Eventually, people in these areas started to develop symptoms that turn out be a mortal disease, because of the lack of primary care doctors and the belief that healthcare is luxury to them. The time that I spent

We would like to welcome you to our office. We take great satisfaction in helping you maintain optimal oral health. Our practice is devoted to comprehensive and preventive patient care.

Active surveillance, according to Porche (2004) is a system that allows public health officials to conduct periodic field visits to health care institutions or laboratories to collect surveillance data; this type of surveillance is also referred to as active case findings. In addition, Nsubuga et. al, states that active surveillance provides the most accurate and timely information as well as a more complete estimate of disease frequency however, it is very expensive and labour intensive. Setting aside the cost factor active surveillance plays a crucial role in monitoring and reporting of diseases such as

As the Director of Simulation and Coordinator of the Skills Laboratories, my assignment is mainly focused on the observation and evaluation of student hands-on abilities. It is my job to pinpoint gaps in patient care proficiencies and to focus on strategies for improvement. As stated by McDonald (2014), drag and drop test questions allow a student to show prioritization of skills. In my role, this item format is an irreplaceable tool. This question type allows me to assess my student’s understanding of sequencing of skill procedures along with their prioritization of patient care. As found by Wendt and Kenny (2009), even though alternative format questions were described as challenging, students agreed that alternative questions allowed

From an early age, I was exposed to the medical field from the patient perspective. Due to my history of heart issues, I went for annual cardiologist checkups until age seven. I vividly remember being fascinated by the “stickies” of EKG leads and the “jelly” that enabled a technician to show images of my heart on the video screen of an echocardiogram. As I grew older, I transferred this early interest in healthcare to the field of public health. My work with the American Heart Association and the Alliance for a Generation Youth Advisory Board was instrumental in allowing me to develop my own voice to advocate for issues such as awareness of heart health and the prevention of childhood obesity. During this time in high school, I found myself doubting that I could commit eleven or more years of my life to training as a physician. I believed that my career would be more influential if spent in public service or government to

Every individual deserves to receive compassionate, safe and quality care regardless of race, age, gender or income. The focus on patient centered care is essential in every community. Every patient and family member deserves equal treatment. The Community Health Field Experience course work was an eye opening experience, the research and each interview I experience. The education of the lower income individuals is lacking, education is essential, every community member should receive the educational information needed in preventative medicine not only for my topic of obesity but in healthcare in general. Education should start in childhood and continue through-out life. The Community Health and Population Field course enabled me to look