Week 3

On Wednesday, I started volunteering at my new time (2-4p) since my previous time wasn't working out anymore. I rode with several of the guys volunteering for Cell. We got lost for a few minutes because we took a different way from the way I usually take and missed our exit. Thankfully, with a little help from my trusty GPS and some knowledge of Downtown, we were able to find our way.

When we got to SJC, we found a note on Sam's door, delegating all of our duties. Everyone else was assigned to medical records or dental, but I got to stay in Sam's office and work on the recipes I started last time, all the while munching on snacks provided for the volunteers. That made me appreciate my job even more because I wasn't stuck with all the boring paperwork like everyone else. Sam was nowhere to be found, but we went about our business as usual. I would've liked some help, though, because I was supposed to make the recipe cards look attractive, and my creative ability these days is nonexistent. In fact, the only thing I could come up with that was quasi-clever was to use the pink & purple SJC logo as bullets for the ingredients list, which turned out to be futile since Sam decided she wanted to print them out in black & white.

By the time Sam got there, it was almost time to leave. I ended up staying an extra 30 min again since the guys weren't supposed to finish until 4.30p. She suggested that I come on April 18 to shadow a doctor since they have plenty of doctors that day, and they almost never have doctors when I normally volunteer. I will try my best to go, but that is the same weekend as the Research Symposium, and I should be presenting.

Midterms and Such

Like many people last week, I didn't volunteer due to midterms and papers, but I decided to reflect on my experience thus far. Volunteering at SJC hasn't been what I expected coming into it. I haven't had a chance to shadow a physician or have any patient contact at all, but that is understandable since most of the doctors aren't on site on Wednesdays, and many of the patients can only speak Spanish. Therefore, I've decided to take Business Spanish in the fall to help me bridge that communication gap. There's supposed to be a Spanish class particular to the health care field, but I think they offer that in the spring. In the meantime, I'm content with desk duty. Sam seems to have worked hard to come up with projects for me, and I really appreciate her effort.

Week 2

This week, Samantha wasn't in her office when I got to the clinic, so after wandering around for a few minutes, I asked the lady at the front desk if she knew what I was supposed to be doing. Samantha was in a meeting, but another lady gave me the instructions that Samantha had left for me. My project was to find 12 culturally appropriate recipes for the patients to take home with them. Since most of the patients suffer from diabetes, high cholesterol, and related conditions, the recipes had to be healthy alternatives. Since I really like cooking and baking, this project was perfect for me.

I found dozens of recipes on the American Diabetes Association website without much effort. I tried to choose recipes that required few ingredients, were easy to make, and would appeal to a Hispanic population. The recipes I chose ranged from fruit smoothies to side dishes to desserts, and I would definitely try out every single one of them.

Once again, I went over my scheduled volunteer time by 30 min, but I didn't mind at all. Samantha hopes to translate the recipes into Spanish, but since my Spanish is pretty limited, she will have to find someone else to do that. Samantha also wanted the recipe cards to look attractive, so I will be working on that next week. I guess that means I won't be shadowing doctors anytime soon, but I can't complain. These projects are keeping me busy, and I'm having fun doing them.