Internship
Point Loma Veterinary Clinic
I gave my presentation today to my mentor, co-mentors and two of my advisors. I was nervous at first but then I just explained to them my growth and learning and it didn't seem as bad anymore. The two previous posts are the written out version of my POL. I bullet pointed my presentation and used notecards so I could really explain what I was saying rather than reading off of the screen. Below is a link to my presentation, which I did using Prezi.
https://prezi.com/ap9itj_djkza/internship-at-the-point-loma-veterinary-clinic/
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I didn't realize how lucky our school was to have internship until I actually started learning and growing. I am so thankful to have found this clinic and such inspirational people who have not only taught me tons about animal health but also have given me advice about my future. I'm always looking in places for me to grow as an individual and I have seen many qualities at PLVC that I want to adopt. Such as persistence, multi-tasking, communication, general flow and positive attitude. I see persistence in everyone at PLVC. When something is hard to solve or when the day is slow and long, they still push forward in order to get things done. It amazes me how the technicians can take calls, make appointments, clean surfaces, file paperwork and take x-rays all within the same hour or so. They are fast and great at multi-tasking. Everyone communicates with one another and understands the schedule for the day. Although everyday is different, everyday has flow, one thing comes after the next and is organized. Last but certainly not least, positive attitude. Someones attitude at the workplace can definitely affect others. We all work together and if your feeling off, you will throw someone else off. Being positive towards not only your colleagues but towards the clients is key to a healthy workplace and business. Beyond high school, after completing this internship I have expectations of my future career. I want a supportive group of colleagues.
I notice how passionate my mentor and co-mentors are with animals and how happy and content they are with their job. I'm still not sure where life is taking me but where ever I choose to go I hope to be as happy as they are here. How I think I made a meaningful contribution to the workplace is how open I was to help everyone. The work load can get stressful so me just asking how I could help and being able to help them in some way is an important contribution. This as been such an amazing contribution to my education as well. Me absorbing all the information put before me and learning how to handle responsibility, team work and just being there for one another was a huge take away. One of my assignments was to contact, Ann, the head of the volunteer administration for the Chihuahua Rescue, and gather information and try to put something together to spread awareness of how much they do for dogs in need. This task was no longer a task I just needed to complete but one I needed to put my heart and soul in, in order for people to feel the genuineness. When I first had an idea of my projects, I had high expectations. Throughout completing them, I felt they were turning out better than I had imagined. My first draft of one of my brochures was good but emotion was missing and so I asked my mentor for any suggestions and she suggested an emotional story for one of the panels. So I contacted Ann and she told me a story of the mascot of the CRSD. The dogs name is Abby and she was born with no legs due to being bred improperly. I not only wanted to include this story but I also wanted to spread awareness on animal hoarding and inbreeding. My work had more thought put into them, thanks to all the support I had. I learned about hard work and determination through working on these assignments. I'm so glad that my adventure has been so fun and I am so sad to see it come to an end this week. Next Monday is the start of my last week at the clinic. I cannot believe how much I've learned and experienced! Some elements teachers can replicate in the classroom is responsibility. When kids at our school do projects we almost always complete them with the help of a partner or two. It's still a lot of responsibility to pull your weight, but I think we need to feel the extra pressure of doing it ourselves. I think we should participate in independent projects more often. Another skill that could be replicated is communication. At school we are pushed to present in front of peers which helps with our presenting skills, but what about interacting with strangers or clients. One project I worked on last year involved interviewing someone I was going to write about. This helped me with asking questions and building conversation.
When my mentor and co-mentors teach me about animal health, I always ask questions and it's great to know the answer. At school, I ask questions but sometimes I feel overwhelmed with all my classmates. When I come back to school, I will ask the questions I need the answers to in order to get my work done. I've been so excited about what's more to come from my amazing experience at my internship that I forgot to check out how my fellow classmates have been doing. So today I read and commented on Makenna's, Diana's and Mandalyn's most recent blog post. What I found common in all three is how they have expressed how mature they have become over the course of internship. This stood out to me because I feel like I also am maturing and growing.
In Makenna's blog post I read how she has learned how to ask more questions even if how stupid she might think it is. She plans to bring this back to school. Which I think is great how she's learning new ways to improve her way of learning. In Diana's blog post I read how communication is a key factor where she is working. How she feels more responsible for what she is doing at work. I totally relate to her on this because it's a work environment and it really teaches us that we need to help each other out and communicate with each other. In Mandalyn's blog post I read how she has learned to interact with people of higher positions. I also like how she expressed her goals and how she is going to apply this new experience in the future. Reading my fellow classmates blogs, it has made me realize areas that I have grown in that I didn't notice at first. I now look at my experience through a different lense. The time for work is not different at all compared to school. But knowing I'm getting up in the morning to go to work carries a lot of responsibility. At school I have a set schedule and is consistent mostly everyday. At work I work on the same project but I do different tasks day to day. I think it keeps it interesting. I don't think interaction with my colleagues is much different from at school. We work together to get the tasks needed to be done, done. The projects I do are not new to me, I am used to working in groups and also independently. Working at the vet clinic I have learned that communicating with clients is important. I actually enjoy seeing how thankful and nice the clients are. So maybe I will consider going into a career that involves interacting with people. In terms of giving animals vaccinations, I don't think I want to interact with people in that way. Internship has given me a perspective of a workplace environment and a professional setting. I have really matured this past week.
I am currently working on one of the several projects that were given to me. I am supposed to create brochures about a Silver Linings program and general information pamphlets for the San Diego Chihuahua Rescue and the Pug Rescue. The Silver Linings program is made up of senior dogs that don't have anywhere to go. Most people adopt young dogs and don't want an old dog that is going to pass away soon. I have been contacting the head of the volunteer administration to get feedback about what really needs to be expressed in these brochures. Below you will see my first draft of this brochure. Along with that brochure I am making two others, a general information pamphlet about the Chihuahua Rescue and the Pug Rescue. In those brochures I will include volunteer and foster information along with their mission statement and donation options. The main focus of these brochures is to also encourage people to adopt from these rescue groups because of their dedication towards their animals. If you adopt from the Chihuahua Rescue for instance, you are adopting an animal whose shots are all accounted for and has no health problems. I am also brainstorming about how I'm going to design a bulletin board to also encourage clients to adopt from the Chihuahua Rescue rather than somewhere else. After I shared with my mentor that I want to have more interaction with the animals, I have been holding the animals and transporting them from place to place in the hospital. I also fill in a log that records an animal's heart rate and beats per minute, during surgery. My workplace is all over the place. I love that about working at the Vet Clinic, I'm everywhere, observing everything that goes on. The place I am the most is in the surgery room or in the exam room, watching the Doctor do her procedures. I have witnessed spays, neuters and dental procedures. I am so thankful to have such an amazing opportunity to actually sit in on these operations. The building is quite unique, it's designed like a house, it has an "A" frame. So right when you see the building it gives off a comfortable feel. When you walk in, it has the front desk and right beside that are the three exam rooms for the clients to wait in. Towards the back to your left is the main surgical room, with one long silver table in the middle of it. Then right beside it is the grooming room. Right beside that is the cat room for the cats and contagious dogs that need to be prepped for surgery. Across the room we have the dog room that is for the dogs and contagious cats that need to be prepped for surgery. In the middle is a space for the doctors to fill out paper work and for the technicians to exam fecal matter or urine. Starting tomorrow I will officially start my projects by creating a brochure that encourages adopting animals from the Chihuahua Rescue rather than somewhere else. And continuing to brainstorm the design I am going for when I create the bulletin board that will also advertise for the Chihuahua Rescue program. I will be working more or less during school hours. From 8:30 to 3:30, Monday through Friday. Since I did not work last Friday I will make up those hours this week and part of next week by working an additional half hour. On Fridays my mentor does not work so I had no one to shadow today. Fortunately, we will be welcoming a new doctor, Dr. Romero, that will be able to work Fridays, so future Fridays I will be shadowing him. So today I stayed home and researched about being a veterinarian and the amount of dedication that comes along with it. These past few days I realized that the skills you need in order to work with animals is not something you can learn, you have to be passionate about it. Valerie is someone who is very compassionate and gentle towards the animals in a way I admire. Valerie told me from a young age she was pulled towards working with animals and now that she does, she enjoys it. This has taught me that choosing a career is more important than I had thought. In order to be content with what I'm doing I must choose to pursue a career in something I am passionate about.
With two days of internship completed I feel as if I have learned so much already. Although I don't do much but shadow, my mentors have taught me so much. I have learned things ranging from how to clean a pets teeth to how to check if a pet is alive. I have witnessed several surgeries and examinations performed on pets, and it's quite interesting. I have noticed how my mentors have a very strong communication skill and that is something I need more experience in. I wish I could be able to do things hands on but I'm a minor so I'm unable to do most things. I am looking forward to learning more and improving the skills I will need in the future.
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Cecilia Carranza-DavisDuring the month of January Juniors are given the opportunity to be apart of an internship. Check in for my daily blog. ArchivesCategories |