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CPMA Minutes 3 (10-8-14)

Introduction to Sakai Site



Opportunity for medical school mentorspre med students can engage with med
students about the med school journey. What is it like to be a med student? How did
you get where you are? Get your mentor to meet as much as you can if you get a
mentor. Take advantage of this opportunity. Deadline is Oct 15.

Project Horseshoegreat opportunity to serve rural Alabama. Great way to utilize
the time in your gap year. Shows others you are interested in health careshows
maturity after undergrad.

Panel:
Zjunior at UNCused to be pre-med. Now a global studies major and
anthropology minor. Might want to go to PA school. Im a doula. What is that?
A doula is basically a birth assistant who is there for the physical and
emotional support of the woman during and after birthing process.

Alanajunior at UNCglobal studiesfocus in healthEMT with rescue
squad. The squad is stationed in Carrboro. Provide EMS medical standby for
UNC. Very present on UNC campus. Volunteers at the station and waits for
dispatch to different places. Started application at 17. We range in ages from
19 to 40s. You cant be too young or too old to do this. Loves job. Durham
tech offers EMT certification class next January. Registration is online. Lots of
hands on experience. EMS club starting at UNC. Combat medic, firefighters,
Orange County Emergency Services, etc.

Kyle MelvinCNA and scribe in ER. Prepared to take skills challenge course
and written exam. Written exam is simple. They have CNA handbook that has
questions and answers on test. Taking the one-day course is great, but you
have no experience in the field. Its hard to get a job without experience. 6-
week course is offered for the same price but clinical experience was
included. The second course isnt really used as much for work as CNA but
gave experience and helped him to become a scribe. Its great to treat
patients and talk with them one on one.
o Everyone has an electronic medical recordeverything is on
computer. Goes in and works with second and third year emergency
medicine residents. Goes in with them to see a patient. Been trained to
pick up through conversation all information that needs to be put into
medicinal record (chief complaint, physical exam, etc.). Awesome job.
The scribe program through ER was the first at UNC hospital. Other
departments are getting scribes as well (along with private practices).
You learn a lot by taking down info and you build good relationships
with other doctors.
Shannon Bryanvolunteer with rape crisis center. Been doing it for a full
year. Center has been around for four years. Two branchesthe crisis
response branch (hotline)talk about a recent or not so recent rape, and the
prevention branchgo to public schools to talk about rape (a healthy
relationship, what constitutes sexual assault and violence).
o Not medical but great for people who are interested in psychology or
social work. A lot of what we do involves accompanying survivors to
hospital, ER, law enforcement, various aspects of recovery process.
o Requires an intimate knowledge of all systems
o 60 hours of training to do this
o Lots of information thrown at you, but a great way to help people in
the community.
o This service makes sure that a survivor gets all resources they need.


How did you help somebody through a problem? Compassion?
Z: interested in birth. From Zimbabwe. Disturbed by lack of sanitation and
proper resources for birthing process in Zimbabwe. Other relatives associate
birth with violent experience. Found out about doula program through other
friendfailed chem 102. Applied for doula program and got on waiting list.
Someone emailed her this year about being a doula this year after a year of
waiting. Doulas are there for emotional support. If you talk to any one who
has given birth or is giving birth, it is usually an experience they remember. I
want people to have positive birth experiences. I get to be a part of the
medical teamnot necessarily something you can do as an undergrad. You
can be in the room and see what is going on. Doulas meet with people who
are in prison or anywhere else. Its a good way to connect with patients. We
cant give them prescriptions or medical advice but it is still good.

AlanaEMTs are a memorable part of someones life. They will remember
how you treat them. They will remember your face. Its important to treat
their problem and treat them well (as an important person). Compassion and
empathy are necessary no matter where you are. Sometimes its difficult to
have compassion and empathy in some situations, but you can choose
empathy still. It is the best way to get through any situation. You can be a
good EMT and not have empathy, but it is always best to maintain it. Its
worth the extra effort to keep it. Its all a team effort. I would feel egotistical to
say that I save lives. Other people are just as involved. Its a cool way to give
back to the community because it is honest work (except for when the
patient lies about drugs). Compassion and empathy are a way to serve the
community.

KyleWhen I was a CNA doing clinical rotations, I worked with one patient
for a while. We got to choose between working with dementia patients or
elderly patients. I worked with a patient for four weeks. I bathed the guy,
cleaned him up after he used the bathroom, fed him, watched TV with him,
and talked to him about his family. It was great to get to know someone as a
person, not as a statistic or a disease. Its not fun to have to clean crap, but it
lowers you to a different perspective. Its really easy to be high on the success
of being here and have an ego, but its not good for your ability to be a doctor.
Med schools want people who are smart and can get on the level of the
patients. Things like this make you figure out how to be a decent human
being.
o One of the very first ER shifts was a full cardiac arrest. I was fine until
I saw his family came in and I thought that this could be my situation.
Medicine isnt all flowers and rainbows. You have to deal with shit and
people dying. The rest is extremely stressful. Figuring out what you
are signing yourself up for is a good thing if you want to be prepared
and if you want to be sure it is right for you.

ShannonCrisis center doesnt make you pick up crapacronymBLESS
Believe, Listen, Empower, Support, and be Safe. I use this every time she goes
into a meeting or conversation with a client. You want to be a comforting
presence. I dont take an active role in helping someone figure out their
problems and their next steps. Im there to be someone they can rely on but
Im not attempting to be the person that fixes a problem. For the most part,
we come to the understanding that we can do as much as we can do and at a
certain point we must distance ourselves and create certain boundaries to
allow us to help someone without forcing ourselves into their lives. Went
with someone to DPSS while they reported their case. Happy that I was there.
She was willing to tell the student about what she thought about the
interview. If the student hadnt been present, she would have felt that way
and not had someone else to be there with her. Active listening is a specific
skill that most people havent been taught and dont use.

How do you think your opportunity has changed your outlook on life?
Kylebefore my opportunity, I had this flowery picture of medicine. I
was extremely judgmental of people. Not racist or anything. But when
you see an obese person come in with cardiovascular disease or diabetes
and you think he did that to himself. I see now that there are a lot of
underlying issues that make people unable to cope. Now I just want to
help these people. What can I do to help you understand how important
your disease is? It seems simple but when you first start volunteering you
think things are simpler than they turn out to be. Some problems are not
as easy to fix as they seem. You can get someone to do a lot more when
you are friends with them than if you arent. Lots of people come in
constantly, but we dont take enough time to ask why.

Zbeing a doula as a woman is empowering. Ive learned so much about
loving and supporting people. Birth is such a universal experience. Its so
transcendent. Ive never gone through the process but learning how to be
supportive and teach people things you have never done is interesting.

AlanaIm tougher now. Not to scare anyone. You have to be able to stick
up for yourself and take criticism. I used to be super shy. At the end of
shift you add the more experienced person your sheet and they give you
feedback. Sometimes its good and some times its not. Ive come to
appreciate this job more. If you see someone who knows how to do
something better than you, learn from them. Being able to speak up and
ask others for help is how you get good. Ive learned a lot about humility.
Ive considered my field heroic. But its really hard to feel noble when you
are woken up at 3AM the night before a test for a dispatch. Not as noble
as she thought she was. It is more difficult to be heroic.

ShannonPrior to becoming a companion, I viewed all recovery
processes as person A helping person B overcome their problem. I
realized that the recovery is all about person B being empowered and
supported in resolving their own problems. Knowing that people have the
ability to get over a traumatic experience is empowering.

Give a brief spill about why you should do what you do.

AlanaBecome an EMT because you get a lot of patient contactlots of
clinical hourslots of autonomy. No doctor peering over your shoulder.
Your partner does one thing and you do another. You work in teams and
rely on one another. You learn how to work independently and make
decisions on your own. You are trained on how to make decisions. You
are being trusted with a lot. You are not too old or young to do it. Ive
learned a lot about medicine. Lots of networking is involved. Everyone
has something to learn from someone else.

Zyou dont have to be obsessed with birth. Some people just wanted to
take the class to learn more about it. Im interested in global health and
birth is a part of that. As a doula I get to work in a hospital, learn the ins
and outs and work with doctors and nurses. Dynamics of those
relationships are valuable for those interested in med.

KyleYou get paid to do the CNA and scribe jobyou can get clinical
hours and get paid. Being a CNA allows for you to have an impact on
someones life. You are going to bathe, feed and get to know your patient.
You develop a good relationship with your patient. You see them all the
time while youre working. You will get pretty good at it quickly. You will
get more of the clinical aspect of it. Medical education is also stellar. You
get to watch many cases and learn the ins and outs about what machines
to use to test certain things. Networking is great as well. You get a lot
more medical knowledge as a scribe as a CNA. As a scribe you dont have
physical contact with patients. But you do get a lot of knowledge about
procedures, etc. both are great options, you just have to choose which you
are interested in and what you get accepted in.

ShannonNot pre-med or anything, but I think that when you look at
sexual violence as public health issue, volunteering at crisis system gives
holistic perspective about sexual violence as an issue with different
organizations trying to combat it. you get lots of social work experience.
We connect all the pieces of the puzzle for the client and have personal
contact with people who are at the most vulnerable state they will be in
their entire lives. The fact that you can help them through the massive
bureaucracy that isnt necessarily supportive to these people is a
wonderful thing. The rape crisis center runs off of volunteers. Everyone
has to rely on one another to maintain the service. Its a good feeling.

Audience Questions:
What is time commitment for scribe?
o KyleDepends on where you work. 8 to 10 hours at a time usually. 8
to 16 hours a week. I wouldnt get into it sophomore year. After you
get over that hump it is cool.
o AlanaCadets have 48 hours a month. Schedule is flexible. It could
mean four 12 hour shifts on the ambulance or some football games,
etc. Once you are tested and no longer a cadet, you put in 24 hours a
month. You could do one ambulance shift every other week. Its totally
manageable.

How did you apply to be a scribe?
I applied in an outpatient clinic in Lumberton as a summer activity.
They sent the application to be a scribe through CPMA at UNC and I
went through the process. Go online and call people. Talk to people
about what you can do as a scribe. UNC staffs Chatham County, Siler
City, etc. Duke will probably jump on the bandwagon soon. If you can
convince them that you can see more patients that day then they
should be on board.

One of your crazy EMT stories?
o Kyle: I work with second and third year residents. Lots of them are
super awesome. One of them is Adam Carter. We saw a patient came
in restrained to the bed. EMS picked him up high on crack wanting to
commit suicide. We know that he just smoked crack like 5 mins ago.
We go through spill. He told us he was tied down because he hit
somebody. He hit someone who was in the police force. He told us he
drank everyday and smoked crack. He was tring to be professional
and holding it in. He said that he has just smoked and that he wouldnt
hit the doctors if they took him out of the restraints.
o Alana: Dont do crack. Just dont. Two friends were EMT shift partners
one night. They got called to a guy who did bath salts. He thought he
was a snake. It was freaking weird. There were like six cops around
him. He was trying to bite people. It took 6 cops to hold him down and
he almost flipped the stretcher. The EMT was hanging back and the
cops asked him to treat the guy and the EMT was like no I hate
snakes. Seriously. Dont do drugs.

What steps did you have to take before you became cadet?
o Alana: Take certification classI took mine over the summerfast
paced. You test with the stateyou will pass if you took the class. You
apply wherever you want to work. Within a couple months after that,
you will be a cadet. It is a long process but that is why we are staring a
club. Because it takes time to do all this, the club is there to answer
your questions or teach you whatever you want to know about
emergency reactions.

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