Job Shadow #1
For my first job shadow experience I visited the Via Christi-St. Joseph hospital in Wichita, Kansas. The department of the hospital I did my job shadow in was the NICU. The registered nurse I followed had been working there for sixteen years. I picked to job shadow here because the Obstetricians do not allow people to shadow them because they are never sure when a baby might be born. I was okay with this though. Previously I had looked into being a nurse in a NICU, and I didn’t mind checking the field out and learning about how to care for very sick babies. This experience gave me an abundant amount of new information. The first thing I learned is the most important step in caring for these babies. It was to constantly have proper hand hygiene. Throughout the day I washed my hands too many times to count; at the end of the experience my hands were actually red and raw. Talking to the nurse I learned to have this career you need to attend school to get a nursing degree, then continue for a certain amount of time to become qualified to care for sick babies. During the day I also learned some new terminology. “Feed and growers” are babies who most commonly are born too early with little to no complications other than they are just too small. These babies are in the NICU to be fed and to gain weight. The nurse I shadowed was in charge of three sweet little babies, two boys (feed and growers) and one little girl who had more severe problems. During my time spent in the NICU I got to try and bottle feed one the the boys, listen to a heart beat with a stethoscope, and change all three baby’s diapers and bedding. Just as anyone should expect a NICU is such a sad place, but all of the staff members there tried to stay as positive as could be. The highlight of my day was when the neonatal physician,while doing rounds, accidentally mistaken me for one of the babies mother instead of a student. Working in a NICU is not in my future plans, but it was nice to learn some new terminology and information on that particular medical career.
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Job Shadow #2
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For my second job shadow I went to the local Caldwell Pharmacy. Overall I really enjoyed my day spent here. The information I learned during the day is very valuable to me because I plan to pursue a career in pharmaceuticals. To apply to pharmacy school you need to have at minimum two years of schooling. This is mostly because of the progression of science courses you have to take. Kansas University school of Pharmacy was were Max, the pharmacist, attended school and is where I hope to go. This was helpful because he knew most of the prerequisites you need to qualify to apply. He also suggested to attend a cheap college for the first two years and to find a job at a pharmacy. My day was jammed packed. The first thing I got to do was put away a new shipment of drugs on the shelves. Throughout the day I also got to help fill the customers prescriptions. This meant finding the drug on the shelf and counting the tablets out. I, luckily, didn’t have to count by hand. A fancy machine counts the pills out for you, I just had to make sure I had the right drug, right sized bottle to pour the counted pills out into, and the right label. The most surprising part of this was how difficult it was to find the drug bottle on the shelf, and to estimate what container would hold all the pills in it without them spilling out. I accidently spilled the pills on the floor several times trying to find the right container. After I bottled the pills, I had to slide them over to Max so that way he could check them. When he was checking them, he explained to me what he was doing, what he was checking for, and what everything meant. For every prescription that came through he had to check each one. As you can imagine it is the part of his job that takes up the most time. Something cool Max taught me about was restricted drugs and how their protocol is different than a non-restricted drug. During the afternoon I also got to watch Max compound (make) a drug to fill a prescription. The drug was a fairly easy “recipe” with on one element in them. Compounding is Max’s least favorite part of any day, but I really enjoyed this part the most. I am very grateful to have gained the knowledge I did at this job shadow. I hope to visit again throughout the summer to further my knowledge of pharmaceuticals.
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Career Report
Many careers have crossed my mind in the last couple of years, most all of them in the medical field. It was no surprise to me that almost all my career matches were in this area. My most suitable match through career cruising is an Obstetrician-Gynecologist. An obstetrician cares for pregnant women and delivers babies, while a Gynecologist specializes in the female reproductive system. The career has actually been one that has crossed my mind. I think that this would be a great path for me to look into because I love dealing with small babies, and I think that childbirth is an amazing thing!
Becoming an OB/GYN (Obstetrician-gynecologist) means taking the path any other doctor would. This means graduating from medical school. First apply to a medical school, earning a bachelor's degree, is necessary. A bachelor’s degree takes four years of college to obtain. Many people who go into this field have to take specific classes, a lot of which are in the science department. Looking to go in-state, I learned that going to Wichita State University costs around $10,500 yearly for 15 credit hours per semester, fees, and books. As entry to medical school is so competitive, it is important to keep grades high during this time. Medical school lasts for four years also, but upon completion one will be considered a medical doctor. The only medical school in Kansas is located in Lawrence at the University of Kansas. The cost of medical school is quite high at around $37,000 per semester. After medical school, one must complete a residency at any hospital or clinic that has a OB/GYN wing. A residency lasts for four years, but if one wanted to specialize further within the field, the residency can last up to seven-eight years. To become a legal doctor one must be certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and have a license in the state where you work. I am interested in only the basics so I would be looking at around twelve years of schooling to become fully certified. Since I have taken multiple college classes, I will have most of my general education courses out of the way when I graduate from high school.. This means that I could possibly cut the twelve years of higher education to nine or ten if I also take summer courses. With this much schooling I plan to apply for as many scholarships as I can find.
My career as an OB/GYN might take a lot of schooling, training, hard work, and skill, but I believe that my abilities in science and math and my people skills will aid me on this path. The availability of jobs is abundant in this speciality. I would rather work in a hospital or clinic where the salary is between $100,000 - $400,000 on average, where you can get benefits, paid vacation, and insurance, than own a private practice. In Kansas the average OB/GYN in a hospital makes $270,000. Although I plan to stay in the Kansas area, the income in New York seems appealing in the upper $300,000-$400,000 range. I plan to keep in mind the cost of living in each state, what job opportunities come my way in the future, and everything that life has instore for me when I decide where to live.
Becoming an OB/GYN (Obstetrician-gynecologist) means taking the path any other doctor would. This means graduating from medical school. First apply to a medical school, earning a bachelor's degree, is necessary. A bachelor’s degree takes four years of college to obtain. Many people who go into this field have to take specific classes, a lot of which are in the science department. Looking to go in-state, I learned that going to Wichita State University costs around $10,500 yearly for 15 credit hours per semester, fees, and books. As entry to medical school is so competitive, it is important to keep grades high during this time. Medical school lasts for four years also, but upon completion one will be considered a medical doctor. The only medical school in Kansas is located in Lawrence at the University of Kansas. The cost of medical school is quite high at around $37,000 per semester. After medical school, one must complete a residency at any hospital or clinic that has a OB/GYN wing. A residency lasts for four years, but if one wanted to specialize further within the field, the residency can last up to seven-eight years. To become a legal doctor one must be certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and have a license in the state where you work. I am interested in only the basics so I would be looking at around twelve years of schooling to become fully certified. Since I have taken multiple college classes, I will have most of my general education courses out of the way when I graduate from high school.. This means that I could possibly cut the twelve years of higher education to nine or ten if I also take summer courses. With this much schooling I plan to apply for as many scholarships as I can find.
My career as an OB/GYN might take a lot of schooling, training, hard work, and skill, but I believe that my abilities in science and math and my people skills will aid me on this path. The availability of jobs is abundant in this speciality. I would rather work in a hospital or clinic where the salary is between $100,000 - $400,000 on average, where you can get benefits, paid vacation, and insurance, than own a private practice. In Kansas the average OB/GYN in a hospital makes $270,000. Although I plan to stay in the Kansas area, the income in New York seems appealing in the upper $300,000-$400,000 range. I plan to keep in mind the cost of living in each state, what job opportunities come my way in the future, and everything that life has instore for me when I decide where to live.
Reflective Essay
A Change For The Better
Growing up, people assumed I had a perfect life. My childhood was filled with a majority of happiness with my two sisters, one older and one younger. Having parents that supported me through everything wasn’t something I took for granted until middle school.
In the spring of 2015, I was a seventh-grader. The school year was winding down, and the weather was finally warming up. I knew that my seventh-grade year had been filled with happy memories, and I couldn’t wait to spend the summer with my friends swimming and having sleepovers. What I didn’t know was that my parents were going to split soon, and the summer would be spent shuffling between my mom’s house and my dad’s apartment. I wouldn’t want anyone to come over to my house, and I would spend the summer hiding out at my best friends’ houses.
Divorce wasn’t something my sisters and I expected. My parents hid their fighting well. We were oblivious to the fact that our “perfect” family was slowly starting to break apart. Micah, my older sister, and I were old enough to remember that the summer wasn’t a great time. We tried to protect our little sister, Adley, as much as we could. Being a shield to our little sister was exhausting. Micah ,being the oldest, took all the weight on her shoulders. I had so much love and respect for her because of that. We were always close, but we were inseparable now, bonded by protecting our sister. I looked up to her more than anyone in the world.
In the summer of 2015, I was hiding my emotions. It definitely wasn’t a good time mentally for me. I also watched my mom become stressed beyond belief. She lost so much weight in the following two years, that she didn’t even look like the same person. Whenever I returned from my dad’s apartment, I ran straight to my mom to hug her. Instead of a warm hug in my mom’s strong arms, it was like hugging a sack of bones that were cold and brittle. I also watched as more worry lines grew on her beautiful face.
As the fall quickly approached, I dreaded going back to school not for the regular reasons a kid would. I didn’t want to fake being happy anymore, especially in front of people I didn’t care for. During this time, I slowly stopped visiting my dad during his weekends with us, but my sisters continued to go. This put a barrier between Micah and me. We had never not been alike or on the same page. Also, she was now a freshman in high school.
I remember one home football game in late October; I had been watching Micah cheer and saw my dad’s truck pull up on the visitors' side. Missing him, I wanted to go and say hello. As I walked over there with my friends, we passed a family friend that gave me a look saying, “I wouldn’t go over there.” Instead of listening I continued on, finding something I never thought I would see. My dad, a strong, intelligent, respectful man that I looked up to was black-out drunk hanging all over his new girlfriend with their rowdy crowd. I went and talked to him for a short second trying to be polite as tears built up in my eyes. I was so incredibly embarrassed because something I had been trying to ignore screamed right in my face with all my friends witnessing it too. I ran as fast as I could to the tennis courts behind all the parked cars. Bawling like a baby, I sobbed about what had just happened. From that moment on, I had no respect for my dad; I even struggle with it today.
On the weekends that my sisters would go visit my father, I stayed home with my mom. About this time she started dating a man named Corey. Normally,, they would only go on dates and hangout on weekends she didn’t have us, but because I stayed home, I spent a lot of time with him. I went on several dates with them. It was the best time ever. I immediately liked him a lot and knew he would be around for a long time. I think at first they hated me intruding on their time together, but in the end, we were really close.
Finally, when I accepted that my parents were now moving on, life threw me a curveball. During the harsh winter months, my mom and older sister, Micah, hadn’t been agreeing. Micah took on the role of being the rebel child. My dad didn’t want to lose any more kids to my mom, so there weren’t any rules at his house. One evening, Micah finally said in the heat of a fight that she wanted to go live with our dad. I didn’t think my mom was being serious when she told her to start packing her stuff. The very next day when we loaded up all my sister’s belongings, I was sure I was still dreaming. Was my closest sister and best friend really moving out? Did the fight between my mom and her really happen? If she moved out, who was I supposed to talk to, or how was I supposed to see her? Those first few months without her were awful. I was so depressed and angry at the fact that she just left me. The bond that we had was broken. It seemed like she was too cool for me now, and because I favored my mom, and she my dad, it was an invisible barricade between us that ended up ruining our close relationship for several years.
As the months passed, our new family of three became close. My little sister and I clicked so well, and I wondered why we had never been this tight before. By adding in Corey on a regular basis, it felt like my family was whole again. Corey was the best thing two young girls could ask for. He was our dad; he filled a hole in our hearts that had been abandoned. He taught us both how to hunt, and it was always a fun time sitting and bonding with him in the stand.
I was shaped into the person today because of a change. I learned valuable lessons from my dad, mom, Corey, and sisters. Don’t take things for granted, don’t overlook something just because somebody says it’s okay, accept change even when you don’t want to, and lastly that I am stronger than I realized. Looking back at this time, I am so happy with the path I took. I am who I am because of it. My life is nowhere near perfect, but that’s fine with me.