Immersion

Looking back to the time when I started my immersion and when I think what counts as a
learning to me, I think about my life. Just being able to step my foot to the place that is close to
my dream is a big leap for me. I always wonder just what makes the world tick, so I continue to
expand my perspective and observe and learn from the people around me. Over the course of my
stay at The Medical City Iloilo and at the Quality Management Division I have grown and
learned more than I thought possible.

When I started to sit across everyone, I was greeted with an uncomfortable silence; it was
like that until everyone started to introduce their selves. My first day at work was filled with
greetings from very nice people. I was fortunate to meet people who are willing to help me learn
from them.

I would be called a liar if I wouldn’t say that there was no dull moment at all. There are
times where I would just sit and wait ‘til someone will give me a task or work to do, which I
totally understand since I wouldn’t be there full time. After all, I was there to observe. I learned
the value of hard work and time. While I was vying for a good grade out of my immersion
subject, I took every effort to maximize my time and learn as much as I can. Whenever I had
nothing to do I would scan through my notes and try to get something out of it and would call it a
day, other times where I felt unproductive I would open my laptop and read books on chemistry,
physics, or biology and often times when I feel sluggish I would doodle on my notes.

I could say that I am happy to be in a healthy workplace where everyone is respectful and
sensitive to each other. From then I learned that people from different religion, attitudes and
beliefs can actually work in harmony if everyone knows to acknowledge the differences each
individual has.

One of the goals I set myself before I start my immersion was to reduce my anxiety when
talking to strangers and especially adults. I would never argue that this experience has helped me
to develop my communication skills. I can speak clearly, thoughtfully and without feeling a bit
nervous. Sometimes the most important developments are the small ones and getting used to
talking to strangers is going to help me enormously in the future, especially at things like
interviews, meetings and even college and university days.
 I had the chance to go to the different environment of the hospital where different cases
are treated specifically. Every day you could see us checking and pointing out the proper waste
disposal: Black is for dry non-infectious substances; green is for wet non-infectious; yellow for
infectious; and red is for sharps and syringes. We also emphasize the proper hand hygiene before
and after seeing a patient. We call it “The Five Moment for Hand Hygiene” this are the
following: Before Touching a Patient, Before Aseptic Procedure, After Body Fluid Exposure,
After Touching a Patient, and After Touching the Patient’s Surrounding. The “before” is done to
protect the patient from you, and the after’s are done to protect you from the patient. Now this is
real love.

I was also thought about the Chain of Infection: infectious agent, reservoir, portal of exit,
mode of transmission, portal of entry, and susceptible host, respectively. I learned that the
simplest way to avoid such thing is to practice hand hygiene and I believe sooner that it will just
come out naturally.

During our regular rounds I learned the different coagulant that is used to prevent the
formation of blood clots, and anticoagulant drug that inhibits the clotting of blood. I also learned
the use of hospital precautions: Droplet Precautions, Contact Precautions, Airborne Precautions,
Protective Environment and Standard Precaution. I was also introduced to the health care events:
Sentinel event, Adverse event, Near-miss event and Unsafe condition. I also learned on how to
properly store medications in order to avoid any unwanted events. PPE’s is also important when
you are working in the hospital especially when you are dealing with contagious diseases.

There are a couple of things that I wish to learn but I was not able to because of the
limited time of my stay. I wanted to learn more on the medical side including simple medical
procedures. I wish I had the chance to observe it and learn from it. I also wish to learn the daily
life of the health care providers because I know someday it might be my life too, I just wanted to
have the heads up. There are so many things I want to say but my brain is giving me a limited
vocabulary. But like a fine wine or a good book, everything worthwhile takes time and I believe
that there is always time for learning as long as you take it at heart. This experience has been a
wonderful journey.