Blog 10: Senior Project Update

1) What are you currently doing in your independent component? 

• In regards to my independent component I am currently trying to find research to choose one topic to focus on and discuss with my mentor when doing my service learning hours. 

2) What is a recent piece of research (article, interview, or audio-visual) that have you reviewed you would say was significant in helping you understand where to go next in your senior project?  The piece of research should be something you reviewed in November.  Please explain what you learned and where are you going next because of this piece of research.

• One significant piece of research that has helped me understand where to go next in my senior project is "Promoting the Health of Adolescents : New Directions for the twenty-First Century." I learned that just because teens are not sexually active they are still at risk for contracting a sexually transmitted disease. This piece of research is also helping me narrow down which disease I might use for my essential question. 

3) Provide evidence from your independent component or the piece of research as something you recently did.  For example, a photo of something you working on for your independent component or your notes from the video you watched. 

This is a picture of the book that helped give me a better understanding behind adolescents behavior and frame of mind when it comes to sexual behaviors. I only read a part of the book, because the whole thing was not available online. I am going to look through the actual book and if it looks like it may have more information that can help me then I will purchase it. 

Blog 5b: Science Fair Proposal

1. Family Medicine
2. The problem behind my experiment is that more than half of the STDs that are contracted annually occur in teenagers and young adults. But that age group only represents one quarter of the sexually active people. There is a rise in STDs contracted. 

• Wildsmith, Elizabeth, Erin Schelar, Kristen Peterson, and Jennifer Manlove. "Sexually Transmitted Diseases among Young Adults: Prevalence, Perceived Risk, and Risk-Taking Behaviors." Children Trends. N.p., May 2010. Web. 22 Jan. 2013. <http://www.childtrends.org/Files/Child_Trends-2010_05_01_RB_STD.pdf>.

• Weinstock, Hillard, Stuart Berman, and Willard Cates. "Sexually Transmitted Diseases Among American Youth: Incidence and Prevalence Estimates, 2000." Sexually Transmitted Diseases Among American Youth: Incidence and Prevalence Estimates, 2000 36.1 (2004): 6+. Jan.-Feb. 2004. Web. 24 Jan. 2013.

3. If a person is a teenager then the likely hood of them contracting an STD is higher than that of an adult.
4. In order to perform my experiment I will need to obtain data from the Centers for Disease Control about the STD rates among youth. I will analyze different STDs and try to find the percentage increase in each one and see if there is a connection between each one. When it comes to the cases reported and the years of when they were reported. I will then make a conclusion in regards to the information I find. 
5. Behavioral/Social Science

Blog 9: Working EQ and Possible Answers

1) How best to promote health and disease prevention in youth in family medicine?
2) What is the best way to promote health and disease prevention in youth in family medicine?
3) Som possible answers that I came up with for my current EQ are:

• In order for a health and disease prevention program to work there are five steps that need to be taken. Which are Community Assessment, Community Organization, Program Design and Implementation, Evaluation and Sustaining the Effort. 
• Health promotion and disease prevention advice and facts need to come from doctors which are experts in that field. Youth will take the advice more seriously if it comes from a fellow peer because they feel more comfortable talking about that topic with people their age. 

Blog 8: Rough Draft of Presentation 1

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B4z6UUMNQsEXVFdCUkdLaU5lUTQ

Blog 7: Independant Component 1 Plan Approval

Content:

1) Write a description of what you plan on doing for your independent study component.

• For my independent study component I am planning on doing a study on obese youth. I would look at charts of a certain amount of youth from where I volunteer in the family practice office. Then I will consult with the doctors that work there and try to figure out a plan for the youth to loose weight. 

2) Describe in detail how you think your plan will meet the 30 hours work required.

• I plan on meeting my required work hours by going to the family practice and volunteering there. While I volunteer there I will interview the doctors and ask them questions about some of the youths that are obese. I will also discuss the factors that may contribute to their obesity. Also I will discuss the obesity and figure out if they cause diseases in youths. 

3) How does your independent study component relate to your working EQ?

• My independant study component relates to my working EQ because they are both trying to figure out a way to prevent diseases and obesity in youths. 

Blog 6: Interview Questions

Questions for Second Interview: Mentor

1) How long have you been working as a Physicians Assistant?
2) Why did you choose to be a Physicians Assistant and not an official Doctor?
3) Whats the difference from a Physicians Assistant and a Doctor?
4) What can a Family Medicine Doctor do that a Physicians Assistant cant do in this field?
5) What are the different degrees you need to get before becoming a Family medicine doctor?
6) What is the exact schooling that is required before entering medical school?

Blog 4: Working EQ

The Pentagon:

1) Positive Statement: What positive thing happened as a result of what you have completed so far?

• One positive thing that has happened as a result of what I have completed so far is that I was allowed to volunteer at a family practice. By doing this I will be able to see all aspects of family medicine. I am allowed to see the doctors treat and diagnose patients.

2) EQ Content: Pick a piece of research or your interview. How has it helped you improve your understanding of your topic?

• The piece of research that helped me improve my understanding of my topic was my fourth piece of research "Responses to Medical Student's Frequently Asked Question About Family Medicine." It helped me improve my understanding of my topic Family Medicine because it answered some of the questions I had regarding Family Medicine. One of the questions it answered was "What career opportunities will be available to me as a family physician" the answer it gave was that family medicine gives physicians the flexibility to adapt to different practice environments. 

3) What has worked for you so far in the senior project?

• So far the things that have worked for my senior project are that I found a mentor at the Family Practice where I volunteer. Also that I have not changed my senior topic which means I am fully dedicated to that topic. 

4) What hasn't worked so far?

• The things that have not worked so far are the research checks. At first I did not know what to look for when searching for research and sometimes its hard to find articles that are the same or more than the word count given.  So far I haven't found many things that I can say haven't worked. 

5) Finding Value: Based on your experience so far,

• What possible question or questions come to mind regarding what you would like to study this year? (don't list questions about the instructions regarding senior project)
• How does family medicine promote health and disease prevention in youth?

• What is your end goal this year with your senior project? (don't say get a good grade or gain knowledge, put specific things you want to accomplish in your senior project this year)
• My end goal for my senior project is to know if this is the career I actually want to peruse. I also want to learn more presentation skills by doing all of the smaller presentations that lead to the final two hour presentation. Another thing is that I want to balance my senior project focus and my college focus, I need to make time for both. 

• Who would like to talk to next? Why?
• The next person I would like to talk to would be Physician Assistant Emma. I would like to talk to her because she works in Family Medicine and can give me knowledge about the career that only Doctors or P.A's know. 

Blog 5a: Science Faire Problem Statement

1) Family Medicine

2) The first problem that I have found in my topic was that the doctors have very long shifts, which can affect their ability to treat patients in a timely manner. Once I solve the problem I will talk to my mentor about it and Show them the research to see if they can improve on their time.

3) The second problem that I found in my topic was that medical students specialize in other fields after their rotations in the medical field are over. Once I solve the problem I will share the results with other students to show them what doctors are in demand, and what field of doctors are being pursued the most.

Blog 3: Interview Preparation

Content

1.  For my first interview, I plan on Interviewing a Kari a registered nurse from Foothill Presbyterian in Glendora where I volunteer.  I plan to interview her because she has worked in the medical field for many years, which means that she has knowledge on the medical field because of her experiences. She  also sees patients of all ages which is similar to a family practice doctor.

2. I plan on asking Kari a few open ended question besides the five mandatory questions that were given to us. The questions will be directed to her experiences in the medical field. An example of one of the questions will be, "It seems like what you do on a daily basis is very difficult to handle." Another one could be "Tell me some difficult situations that you encounter on a daily basis." Finally this career looks like it is very interesting."

Blog 2: Topic Choice

a) My topic choice is Family Medicine. I chose Family Medicine as my topic because it is the carrier that I would like to peruse.

b)

• Ipoly Citizen: I plan to help the Doctors office where I am completing my service learning hours by completing tasks that have been put on hold because they are busy seeing patients. I also plan to find out at the end of my service learning hours if this is the exact career I want to peruse in the future. This will help me improve as an Ipoly citizen because I will be able to share my experiences throughout my service learning with others and which can help guide them on their path for the senior project. It can also help me improve as an Ipoly citizen because by doing my service learning hours at a doctors office you need to know how to speak with others in a positive manner. 
• Effective Communicator: I plan to take the feedback and guidence that my mentor gives me in a positive manner. This will make me more effective as a learner because to learn you need to obtain guidance and feedback and learn from your mistakes. To Work in a Family Practice office you need to communicate well with 
• Effective Learner: I plan to work with my mentors as much possible and ask my mentors  questions throughout the entire process so that I am certain that I understand everything that is going on. This will make me an effective learner because I will have information related on my topic from different sources. 
• Effective User of Technology: I plan to use technology throughout my entire project by documenting all aspects of my project. This will make me a more effective user of technology because I will learn how to use technology more over time. Also I will be able to document all of my research and keep it online which can help me in the future with my career, and it will always be there at my disposal and others if needed. 

Blog 1:Summer Mentorship Component

Literal (Know)

Log of specific hours with a total and a description of your duties

Contact Name and Phone Number

•    Stephanie Gamboa, (909) 865-5777 ext.225 

Literal (Need to know)   

What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

• On average how many patients does Dr. Castillo’s office see?
• What is the most common reason patients come in for a visit?
• What age group comes in most frequently?
• At what age can women stop doing pap smears? 

Interpretive

What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

• The most important thing that I gained from this experience is that it has allowed me to see that in a family medicine practice, all age groups go to get treated. Thus the doctors need to be familiar with different types of diseases and treatments for all of the age groups. I have also learned to appreciate the doctors in a different way not only from a patients point of view but from a co-workers point of view.  As easy as their job looks it really isn't, they have a lot of stress on their shoulders due to the fact that they are responsible for their patients wellbeing.  

Applied

How did what you did help you choose a topic?  Please explain.

• By doing my service learning hours in the summer I have decided that I would like to do my Senior project on Family Medicine. I came upon that decision because there are many different things that doctors do when they practice Family Medicine. By being allowed to go into patients' rooms and see the doctors perform their exams, it made me more interested because each patient that they see comes in for something completely different. Also they get to see patients from every age group. By doing this topic it can help guide me into my decision of where I want to go in the medical field. 

Blog 1: Summer Mentorship Component

Assignment