One of my jobs is basic data entry at a Neuroscience Clinic. I enter specific information from patient files into a computer database. My favorite job is an internship with Morton Plant Mease Foundation. The Foundation offers insight into the philanthropic nature of not-for-profit hospitals. I really enjoy this job because my workload is always changing. There is always something new to do and I enjoy being busy. I help create the marketing materials such as quarterly newsletters and the yearly philanthropy report. I also help coordinate events for various societies within the Foundation.
Right now, I am doing extensive work with a society comprised of young adults, ages 21-35. It is nice to be among young individuals that want to make a difference in their community and believe in health care for all people. This society just finished raising the funds for a BabySIM for our hospitals. The BabySIM is a representation of a 3 to 6 month old infant that medical professionals can use to practice dangerous medical procedures. This is just one example of the great things I have been apart of since interning at the Foundation.
I am an experienced online student of UCF since I live hours away from campus. I will say that this class is definitely the most work-intensive class that I have come across. At first, I was not happy about this and almost wished that I had dropped the class. But now as I look deeply into the topics we will be learning, I think this class will be very interesting and beneficial to my career.
The first assignment was definitely a unique assignment. I had never heard of thrush before this assignment. I think it is a great idea for students to simulate thrush and feel a small extent of what HIV patients go through everyday. As if HIV itself is not enough to deal with, something as simple as eating and drinking becomes a difficult task due to this nasty infection. For those of you that are unfamiliar with what oral thrush looks like (I was once the same way), here is an example:
The thrush simulation assignment was definitely an eye opener. When you think of HIV, you do not think of the opportunistic infections that can come along with the disease. I think more people should educate themselves about this disease and what is being done to find a treatment. It should be one of the most important topics in medical studies.
**DID YOU KNOW**
I have chosen HIV and pregnancy as my topic for the "Did You Know" feature. I found that I am extremely uneducated when it comes to this topic. I thought that any woman that is HIV positive will transmit the virus to her unborn child. As I begin my research, I have found that this is definitely not the case. One interesting fact is that a vaginal delivery holds a much higher risk of transmitting the disease than a cesarean.
Hi Courtney! Great job on the blog. I think a common theme with us online students is we didn't like the workload at of this class at first, then have learned to like it. I've talked to a few students who feel the same way. I'm just glad that there's finally an online course being offered at UCF that is actually engaging and challenging...it only took four years for me to find it!
ReplyDeleteThere's so much information on the internet about HIV and how it affects pregnancy. If you've looked into the bonus points section of the course and checked out the information about HUG-Me, they are a great source of info! They have a small department that includes a clinician that helps HIV positive pregnant women get the pre-natal care they need in order to increase the chances of their babies not being infected. If you ever need some local stats for your blog, I'm sure they would be more than willing to give them to you.
See you in Blog World!
I loved this opening blog, Courtney. You put it all in one place and gave us an insight into your world. That will make it easier to see your growth over the semester.
ReplyDeleteCindy is correct. HugMe does have a very good track record of keeping their women on their drug regimens so that any babies they have will, hopefully, be negative. Unfortunately they had two women that did take their drugs as prescribed and they both had positive babies. I know the head doctor, Dr. Cathy. She is very nice and I believe she would help you out if you had questions, if I asked her.
I look forward to reading your blogs.
Hello Courtney,
ReplyDeleteI loved your blog! I felt that your blog was easy to follow, and it gave me a lot of information about you before you started. I too have two jobs, and it is very hard to juggle both jobs with school. Keep your head up because one day you will look back at all your years of school and it will be worth it.
This class seemed hard at first, but Teach did a really good job outlining the course with specific instructions. In order to be stress free in this class, you really have to be reading every single post and blog. As long as you go online every day you will do fine.
That image was gruesome when I first saw it online. The thrush assignment helped me to understand why people wouldn't want to take their medications. I could not even put the first cotton ball in my mouth without gagging!
I am looking forward to your "Did You Know" section, and I hope you are able to teach me some interesting facts.
-Courtney Di Stasio
Courtney your schedule seems so intense! I can only imagine working two jobs and taking online classes like this one. But you have come a long way and May is right around the corner. Your jobs do sound really exciting though. I am looking forward to getting into an internship just like yours once I graduate.
ReplyDeleteI was so shocked when I saw that picture that you posted. As I did research for the thrush simulation I saw plenty of pictures but they were mostly of infants and none of them were as graphic as the one you chose. It just reminds me of how thankful I am and how I would like to help those that have to deal with things like that on a daily basis.
I learned about HIV and pregnancy in one of my classes over the years. I still remember how happy I was when I found out that it is not necessary that an infant be born positive just because the mother is. I look forward to hearing more about that subject because I am interested in knowing if babies can be infected with any of the other diseases the mother might have due to her HIV.
Great blog, Cindy. Have a suggestion for you for your "Did You Know" section. Compare Protocol 076 with the current treatment for HIV+ pregnant women. :>)
ReplyDelete