Weekly Post 22: A Busy Week

In the past week, I have experienced a multitude of things on both the mentorship front and the medical front which was quite exciting.

On the mentorship front, I finally completed my Volunteer Orientation, so I am now completely able to shadow my mentor at the hospital he works at as the Director of the Forensic Unit. I am excited to be able to learn more about the field of forensic psychiatry in a forensic psychiatry oriented environment. I met with the volunteer coordinator who was so helpful and kind. She explained all the rules and restrictions a volunteer must follow at the hospital. She also explained basic information about the hospital which was interesting to hear about. I learnt that the hospital was founded in 1885 as one of the ten major mental facilities in Texas. In fact, during the first year, 330 patients were admitted from 46 counties. By 1920, the institution had undergone a virtual rebuilding and had grown to a population of 2300 making it the largest hospital of its kind west of the Mississippi River. I plan on shadowing my mentor during Spring Break so I'll write more about it later.

I also was able to experience some neat medical procedures this week. I was able to sit in on two different surgical procedure while I was in the Pre-Operation department of Baylor Hospital. I observed a bilateral partial knee replacement and a shoulder rotator cuff repair. The surgeons and anesthesiologists were very informational and made sure to explain what they were doing to me. I was able to observe two blocks, which is when a patient is sedated. In the OR I was able to observe the anesthesiologist work and he even allowed me to do somethings myself!

~Shrinidhi Joshi

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