Job Shadow

A few days ago, I filled out a form to get me into a job shadow program, done through my high school. I stated that I wanted to see what a live Emergency Room is going to look like. I can almost guarantee that this desire is not going to be fulfilled, because why would a hospital let some teenager see all the gory stuff that takes place in an ER? Um, because I want to be doing that in less than ten years. I WILL be doing that in less than ten years. The medical shows I watch (some realistic, some unrealistic) such as Grey’s Anatomy and Untold Stories of the ER, are now failing to satisfy my craving for medical action. I don’t want to continue looking up surgery videos. I want to see, for my own eyes, in real life, someone being cut open and sutured back together. I’m sorry if that sounds creepy, but it’s the truth. I want to experience it, and I don’t want to wait until I’m the one doing it myself. I want to observe.

            Even if I don’t get into the job shadow program, I still have the opportunity to tour a hospital and get advice from a doctor. A friend of my dad’s works at a hospital downtown and has agreed to talk to me about my future and let me get an inside look at the hospital. I would actually rather do that because my dad would be with me and it would be more personal, and I’d feel more comfortable asking questions and such since the doctor/my “tour guide” is a friend of my dad’s.

            I’m curious to know if the doctor will actually let me see some sort of procedure. Nothing like a real sit-in surgery in an OR, but something small, like a minor suture procedure. That would be so cool. I’m not easily grossed out by those things, but then again, I’ve only seen videos. It’d be cool to see if I’m bothered by the real thing, and actually helpful. I can’t be nauseated by those things if I want to be an ER nurse.

            Anyway, if I do get into the job shadow program, I’m still going to do the job shadow with my dad’s doctor-friend. I would have two different, yet similar experiences and I would benefit hugely from that.  

Medical Blogs

I’ve recently done some research involving other medical blogs. While looking up these medical blogs, I couldn’t help but notice that a majority of them are about new cures for things, such as terminal illnesses, STD’s, exedra. Don’t get me wrong; I do agree that finding cures for diseases is very important. But I have to admit that I was disappointed with my findings. I was expecting to see more blogs about hospital workers’ personal experience. I was hoping to hear from people in the medical field and learn about what goes on in a hospital on the daily. I don’t want to say that I wasn’t looking hard enough, although that could very well be the case. But maybe medical blogs aren’t what I need to find out what it’s like to work in a hospital.

            Anyway, back to my findings. There were several bloggers that blogged about how hard it is to succeed in the medical field. Maybe these specific bloggers are referring just to becoming a doctor, but I know it’s difficult to succeed as any medical figure (ie. nurse, pediatrician). It’s good to let people know that they have to work hard to go into medicine, but at the same time, they shouldn’t be scaring them.

            It’s good to inform people about the struggles of going into medicine, whether they go to medical school or not, but I honestly think that if someone is planning on having career in the medical field, they at least know a little bit about what they’re getting themselves into. I was looking for specific experiences about people’s careers in the hospital, not information about their journey full of struggles. I know that I’m in for lots of hard work, but I have yet to know what it’ll be like when I get there.

            My point of this particular blog was to encourage experienced people in the medical field to begin writing blogs that inform readers about career life in the hospital. Although it is helpful to know what the college part of it is going to be like, some of us want to hear about the real life stuff.

            Maybe people don’t want to discuss what happens in a hospital, because I lot of the time the happenings are unpleasant. I do understand that. But there should be at least a few blogs out there about what happens in a hospital, no matter how disturbing the details. Because it’s reality.