The Mentor Connection Blog: 2009

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Welcome to 2010 and a very special January National Mentoring Month!

January is officially National Mentoring Month

The U.S Senate has just passed official recognition of January as the National Mentoring month. Some of the language includes:

"Whereas mentoring is a longstanding tradition in which a dependable, caring adult provides guidance, support, and encouragement to facilitate a young person’s social, emotional, and cognitive development;

Whereas further research on mentoring provides strong evidence that mentoring successfully reduces substance use and abuse, academic failure, and delinquency;

Whereas a month-long celebration of mentoring will encourage more individuals and organizations, including schools, businesses, nonprofit organizations, faith institutions, and foundations, to become engaged in mentoring across the United States; and

Whereas National Mentoring Month will, most significantly, build awareness of mentoring and encourage more people to become mentors and help close the mentoring gap in the United States: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Senate— (1) designates the month of January 2010 as ‘‘National Mentoring Month’’; (2) recognizes with gratitude the contributions of the millions of caring adults and students who are already volunteering as mentors and encourages more adults and students to volunteer as mentors; and (3) encourages the people of the United States to observe National Mentoring Month with appropriate ceremonies and activities that promote aware- ness of, and volunteer involvement with, youth mentoring."

A warm thank you to all of our 2009-2010 Mentors!

More Christmas Pictures!

Faith and Tenzin

Khmran and Sherlyn

Ivonn

Viviana

Zaire

2009 MSI AHEC Christmas Party!

Happy Holidays!

We would like to thank all those who made it out to our first MSI AHEC Holiday Party!

We munched on an entirely homemade, astounding feast which included Caribbean goat curry, latkes, macaroni and cheese, cheese enchiladas, shrimp pasta, low mein, collared greens, Chinese chicken salad and Tibetan dumplings made from scratch by our own Mentor Connection student, Tenzin Lhamo! For dessert we had marble cheesecake and a Red Velvet cake made by Mentor Connection student, Sherlyn Aldas, who got up at 4 am to bake her delicious contribution.

All of this was accompanied by an intense but laugh-filled game of Taboo! Check out Faith's victory dance! We would like to share with you our festive holiday pictures as well as wish you a very merry and safe New Years from our growing MSI AHEC family!

Monday, December 28, 2009

Writing Workshop - Faith Fordjour

Exercise: Learning Log on Resident Mandy Sacher's Depression/Anxiety presentation.

A Learning Log is a notebook in which you can "dig deeper" into what you have learned from classes, lectures, seminars, projects, etc. Some components include a summary, new ideas and concepts, things you want to know more about and arguing for or against a topic (Writer's Inc, 2001).

I learned a lot about Depression and Anxiety last week with the doctor. I learned that depression and anxiety go together but they are two totally different types of diagnoses, but one can lead to the other. I thought depression was just about someone feeling sad about themselves and anxiety was when someone got a panic attack but it goes further than that. There are many forms of depression and anxiety and they can destroy somebody's life. For example, when someone has an extreme form of anxiety, it stops them from doing the normal things they used ot do. That is when it turns into depression. Depression can = Anxiety.

Depression + Anxiety = A very bad situation.

The question is can all people that feel depressed or anxious be diagnosed?

The answer is no. This is because normally everyone experiences some type of depression or anxiety. The doctor has to know when it is so serious that it needs to be diagnosed and treated. When the depression/anxiety are left untreated they can be fatal. One very important thing to know is what type of diagnosis you have and to treat it with the proper medication or therapy before it is too late.

HealthTopics: Anxiety and Depression

Current Event Article:

Nearly Half of America’s Youth Have Untreated Mental Illness

By Madeline Ellis
Published: Tuesday, 15 December 2009

It’s usually easy for parents to identify their child’s physical needs, such as warm clothes when it’s cold, nutritious food, and bedtime at a reasonable hour. However, a child’s mental and emotional needs aren’t always as obvious. In fact, mental disorders severe enough to hinder kids from learning or developing properly are quite common, affecting about one in five of America’s youth...

HealthTopics: HIV/AIDS

Current Event Article:

Harlem Organization Takes New Approach to Fighting HIV/AIDS
By Sam Petulla on Dec 16th, 2009

Mary sits calmly, her jeans are clean and well-made, her hands compact — never fidgeting — and she’s telling anecdotes about all the men she’s dated. She has lots of advice for what to look for in a man, and she can tell you how to leave a man and confidently move on, independently, for yourself. The night before, she broke up with her boyfriend. She’s alert, can take a joke, and holds her ground, and she has lived with HIV for 16 years.

Mary, just by appearances, could be misperceived as uninfected. She goes shopping, meets friends for lunch — she’s even about to go to a recently opened “HIV Only” club downtown, where she can dance and meet other singles. “I haven’t experienced the things people experience,” she says. “I have never been to a hospital.” ...

HealthTopics: Sexually Transmitted Diseases

NYC Condom Competition!

The NYC Condom label is getting a makeover and you could be the chosen designer! NYC Condom was introduced on Valentine's Day in 2007 and has not only provided a free method of contraception but has also encouraged more candid and widespread conversation regarding safe sex. This is an opportunity to design a limited edition wrapper that will allow you to express your creative side!

Please enter following the link above - The competition lasts until January 22, 2010!

HealthForum

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Photo Credit

HealthForum

Encouraging active discussion and provoking thought exchange are invaluable teaching tools we use regularly in our program. The HealthForum section of the Mentor Connection blog will consist of pictures, questions, ideas, etc. posted by various members of our health education community. This includes students, administrators and staff that simply want to continue the discussion outside of the classroom.

Please contribute!

HealthTopics: Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Current Event Article:

One in four teen girls have STDs

By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) -- As many as one in four U.S. teenage girls have had a sexually transmitted disease (STD), many infected soon after their first sexual encounter, a new government report shows.

"The high burden of STDs among teen girls reminds us that we can't ignore this," said study author Dr. Sami L. Gottlieb, from the division of sexually transmitted disease prevention at the U.S. Centers for Disease and Prevention...

HealthTopics

Every two weeks the Mentor Connection students will focus on a particular health topic on which their work and seminars will be based.

The aim is to make the two weeks as immersing, enriching and multi-faceted as possible while keeping it relevant, applicable and accurate.

Keeping it Relevant:

We start off with with individual research where the students will find and bring in current event articles relating to the health issue. They read the material on their own so they can present it to their classmates in a seminar style session. The articles are invariably diverse and tend to bring into discussion the many aspects and populations affected by the disease. It has proven an excellent way to make issues that may seem removed from the students to something they can relate to. It also encourages good research, reading, speaking and analytical skills.

Keeping it Applicable:

While one of the main concerns of the program is to disseminate information and expose our students to a wide range of health topics and disparities, we understand the rigors of being high school Juniors and are committed to aiding in academic success. As most of us know, the SAT is something that causes a great deal of anxiety. On top of this, the opportunity to enroll in prep programs is more available to some than others. Subsequently, it is our goal to facilitate and aid in the learning process and one of the best ways to do this is by enhancing vocabulary.

Every other week, while reading their articles, the students will each find three words they are not familiar with. They will then look up the definitions along with the parts of speech and copy these onto index cards. They will make a set for each of their peers and exchange them in class. The students are responsible for learning all 21 words and are tested on them the next week.

This is a great way for the students to become engaged readers as well as encourages dictionary use and vocabulary and part of speech retention.

Keeping it Accurate:

After an introduction to the basic parts of the health topic, we invite the residents from Beth Israel to come in and answer any questions the students have about the disease. They also provide an expert opinion and relevant first-hand experience that is invaluable to the learning process.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Journal Entry 5 - Faith Fordjour

This week I helped my mentor a lot. I had to go to the other side of the hospital to get some packages for Sonia. It was kind of fun because I did not know the way to the mail room and I had no map to show me the way. I had to follow the blue dots. It kind of reminded me of the Wizard of Oz.

On Monday there were not a lot of kids around to read to so it was a bit slow. The kids wanted to color or play and in these situations I walk around until I find something to do. My goal for when I go back after this holiday vacation is to talk more to my mentor.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Residents

This year we get to have Residents from the Institute for Family Health and Beth Israel come in to talk to Mentor Connection about health issues and disparities. Every other week we center our work around one health topic and ask the Residents to come in and address the questions only experts have answers to. Afterward, some of the students will write reflections on the session, bringing the session together. We are very thankful for their time and energy and look forward to the upcoming year!

Writing Workshop - Khmran Malik

Exercise: A Dialogue Journal on being a Pharmacist

In a Dialogue Journal an individual carries on a written conversation with a partner regarding experiences, books/articles and a variety of topics (Writer's INC, 2001). This week Khmran used the My Health Careers website to research what a Pharmacist does as well as what skills contribute to success in this profession.

sk: Hello Mr. Malik, I am a student and I would like to learn about Pharmacy!

mk: I am very glad that you want to learn about Pharmacy. To become a Pharmacist you have to have a Bachelor's degree and a Pharmacy program.

sk:Does your Bachelors need to be in a specific field?

mk: Yes, in Pharmacy.

sk: To become a Pharmacist, do you need to go to a special school?

mk: Yes, an accredited Pharmacy school.

sk: So what skills does a Pharmacist need?

mk: The skills a Pharmacist needs is to be good at science and problem solving.

sk: So how do you use these skills on a daily basis?

mk: You can use these skills on a daily basis by giving medications to patients who need them. You can check whether they need the medications or not.

sk: Do you get to work with patients a lot?

mk: Yes, you get to interact with them a lot.

sk: Well that seems pretty easy! Can anybody be a Pharmacist?

mk: If you want to be one you need to know the new and old medicines.

sk: Okay, well not so easy! Do how much does a Pharmacist make?

mk: On average...87,290 per year!

sk: Wow! Are you usually working in hospitals?

mk: It depends, you can work in hospitals or in a pharmacy.

sk: Cool! Thanks Mr. Malik!

My Health Career

My Health Career is a free comprehensive website providing information about careers in the health field. Its facets include:

1. Career Exploration - Use Skill Assessment programs as well as the Interest Profiler to identify and compare interests, exploring over 200 health related occupations.

2. Programs and Continuing Education - Learn about Internships, Enhancing College Level and Technical Training Programs, as well as scholarships, grants and loan programs available to students.

3. Academic Opportunity - Search our database of NYC colleges, universities and trade schools.

4. Employment - Search for positions in the health care industry.

5. Career Builder - Prepare for job placements and use our resume builder.

Mentor Connection students will be using this website to learn about the hundreds of health professions listed on the website. They will use this information to explore different modes of writing, including Personal Writing, Subject Writing, Creative Writing, Persuasive Writing and Academic Writing (Writer's INC, 2001).

These exercises will prepare them for their end of the year project which includes an essay and presentation, in front of friends and family, on a selected health topic or profession!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Journal Entry 4 - Tenzin Lhamo

My mentor has lots of patients everyday and she introduces me to every new patient she sees. When she does have a new patient she always tells me what problem they are having and why they are coming to physical therapy. In my externship there are five therapists in total and they are named Joe, Ray, Mark, Tracy and Crystal, my mentor. Everyday we have a maximum of 15 or less patients in total. Also, my mentor has a helper whose name is Joe. He helps take care of the patients and cleans up after. He is a very funny person.

Journal Entry 4 - Viviana Sanchez

I have been doing paperwork for the past month and for those who are curious, my filing of office work is all about checking the other employees attendance. I file what is called "time sheets" which shows the dates that workers are working and the days that they are getting paid. I put these time sheets in order from past to present time. I put the very old documents/time sheets in a separate folder. I have very good work organization skills and I'm very proud of it.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Journal Entry 4 - Sherlyn Aldas

Today I went to the Audubon Clinic where I was going to meet Emelin. It was pretty slow at first since there were only a couple of infants and most of the children were sleeping. Later on some kids came in but I found it hard since usually one of the foster grandparents is there to help me out but it turns out that one of them left early so I was on my own. However, in a couple of minutes a bunch of kids came and began to play so it was difficult to get them to stray from there. Luckily, Emelin came by to see me and helped me out by saying I should ask a kid first if they are interested in reading. I began to read a book to a little boy who had to leave because he was going to get checked and weighed in. Emelin then called me to go read to this little girl a story. The story was in Spanish so it wasn’t that difficult but I won’t pretend I didn’t have my clumsy moments, such as stumbling upon long words since it has been a while that I read out loud in Spanish (3 years ago to be exact). However, I am pleased to say that she enjoyed the story and kept asking me to read until she got called in to see the doctor. After discussing a couple of things with Emelin, she left and once again I was alone. Then a mother came in with her two children and asked me to read to them. She was there too so I was a bit nervous since I was scared how I would seem pronouncing words and the tone of my voice. She seemed to enjoy the stories; she laughed and asked her kids what they thought about them. One of them didn’t enjoy the ending to Henny Penny since the hen and her poultry friends end up being gobbled up by a tricky fox. I didn’t know how to avert that situation so I learned that I must be able to think more quickly off my feet. Overall this week was very enjoyable and I hope to experience the joy I get from entertaining the kids with stories.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Journal Entry 4 - Zaire Smalls

This week at my site I got a chance to review Lauren's pyscho-soical intakes, which are evaluations of people who want or need mental health services. It was very interesting to read her notes and see the diagnosis and all the different medications. To see all the different types of therapy was very cool. It was a fun experience.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Journal Entry 4 - Faith Fordjour

This week was interesting. Like last week, I didn't sit or read with the kids. We had a Christmas party for the kids. I helped set it up and helped the kids settle down at the party. We had so many gifts that we had plenty left after the party. The party was interesting. The kids were making masks and decorating them. That was what I was helping with. We had the tattoo station where the kids got to spray on tattoos.

Since the party began when I was about to leave and they needed my help with the party, I stayed until 5:30. On Monday I went back to my usual routine and read to the kids. I kind of miss the kids after not working with them for two weeks. But I was glad I had a change at Mount Sinai for a while.

Journal Entry 4 - Khmran Malik

This week I did some paperwork and did my rounds. I also helped patients get their things from the security office. They were getting discharged. I met a Muslim student who had a stomach problem. The patient needed pain medications so he was laying down with pain. I told the nurse who was in charge to give him the medication. I also went to the CAT scan room which was pretty cool. I needed to get a drink for the patient. They were comp

Journal Entry 3 - Faith Fordjour

This week was different from the other weeks. One thing was that I didn't get to read to any of the kids. Well, it's like they would rather play than read. But there was this one boy who actually didn't want to play, he wanted to read! Not me reading to him but him reading to me. He read me this book called "Before the Dinosaurs." I was so amazed by how good his reading was. But then, he didn't finish reading because Sonia, my mentor asked me to do something for him and when I came back, I guess the doctor had called him in.

Well on Friday and Monday my regular routine changed. I was helping with the set up of gifts for the children's holiday party. I had to transfer boxes of donated gifts from the closet to this room. Then we had to open the boxes, take out all the toys and bag them according to gender and age. So for two days that is what I did, putting gifts together for the Christmas party on this coming Thursday.

Journal Entry 3 - Zaire Smalls

This week I was able to look over psycho-social intakes. It was a great experience to see the different disorders, medications and how the lingo is used. They tell stories within themselves and through that they tell each patient story. That is how I looked at all of the intakes.

I wonder what qualified each patient to have the disorder they were diagnosed with and I want to go inside their minds and pick it until I find what makes each disorder come about. It was interesting and fun to read. I can't wai to toned day conduct my own psycho-social. I think social worker is it for me!

Journal Entry 3 - Sherlyn Aldas

On Monday, I began my day by working at the Audobon Clinic. However, I was alone since none of the foster grandparets were present at the moment. Although there was a small amount of kids, I was not able to read to any of them since they were so into playing with toys. I couldn't really interact with them at all. Hopefully next time it will be easier.

Journal Entry 3 - Tenzin Lhamo

Working with therapy is great as it is not only helpful to others but also helpful to yourself. My mentor has taught many ways to ease your pain, i.e exercise and massage. This week I learned what Quadricep muscles we have:

1. Vastus Lateralis
2. Vastus Medio
3. Vastus Intermedius
4. Rectus Femoris

Being a physical therapist is not only massaging or helping people get better, it is also keeping track of patients. Common questions asked are:

1. How is she/he doing today?
2. Is the patient getting better?
3. Did you see any new patient?
4. Do you have any complaints?

They have to keep track of these things so they can be reimbursed for insurance and make sure they can respond to any complaints.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Journal Entry 3 - Khmran Malik

This week was fun. I got to meet with new patients and got a chance to help them. There were some patients that were getting discharged so I had to remove their paperwork from their binder. I was surprised that there was a sequence to take out their paperwork when a patient is discharged. I was like wow! I also got to talk to a nurse that was from India. She is Christian. We talked about the different religions in India and what our favorite Indian food was. I also learned how to use the fax and copy machines. This week was half paperwork and half interacting with patients and assisting them with whatever they needed. I liked it because I had a chance to learn from two different points of views. It was interesting.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Journal Entry 2 - Tenzin Lhamo

I have learned so many things in my externship that are helpful for me and people who have pain in their body. My placement is so exciting. Everyday there is always something funny happening and the best part is I get to learn more about my career choice.

This week my mentor taught me about the spine. The spine has three main areas:

1. Cervical - has 7 vertebrae
2. Thoracic - has 12 vertebrae
3. Lumbar - has 5 vertebrae

Then there are the two other parts of the spinal cord:

1. Sacrum - a triangular shaped bone right next to the Lumbar
2. Coccyx - the tailbone

Journal Entry 2 - Zaire Smalls

This week at my site I was told to approve MedicAid and presumptive insurance applications. To do this, I went into EPIC, the electronic medical records system, to look them up, put in a chief complaint and a follow up note. Even though the EPIC training was easy and I remembered everything I had heard, I began to get frustrated because the technology was not agreeing with me but in the end I figured things out with a little reminder. As easy as EPIC looks, it is actually quite difficult. If you are searching for a patient name in the wrong spot, you won't find it even though it is all there. This is same with patient records and encounters. However, after this, I got a better sense of how to work EPIC and will complete my work this week much faster.

Journal Entry 1 - Tenzin Lhamo

My Externship is at Sports Physical Therapy and as the name says, we work with patients who have physical problems. My externship mainly focuses on bones and muscle (bones that are broken and muscle/bone pain). Working in physical therapy is very helpful to me as I am an athlete and get injured almost everyday. When this happens in the future, I will be able to use my experience to know what is going on.

My mentor, Ms. Thomas who is a great teacher and an awesome therapist has taught me many things. Take this week for example. I have learned so many different body parts:

1. Ligament - which connects bone to bone
2. Tendon - which connects bone to muscle
3. Humerus - bone in leg
4. Forearm bones - Ulna - near your pinky and Radius - near your thumb
5. Carpal bone - There are eight carpal bones and there are four main parts - scaphoid, lunate, triquetral and the pisiform.

The other staff who work with my mentor are very nice, helpful and funny too!

Journal Entry 2 - Sherlyn Aldas

On Monday, Emelin had me continue stocking books to finish up before winter break starts. I'm getting better at remembering the sticker color and age group now. The day went quickly and soon the day was over.

Tuesday was the day that I was going to go to the Audibon Clinic along with a new volunteer. Emelin was very ecstatic to finally have us read to children. Unfortunately when we arrived to the clinic, the reading table was removed and the staff could not bring it back. Emelin was disappointed and we retured to New York Presbyterian to finish stocking the books. She told me that she was sure that by Thursday, I would be reading to the children.

On Thursday, I went to the clinic just like Emelin had said and I emt with one of the foster gradnparents who was reading to the children. I was waiting for someone to cmoe read to. I met a little boy who kept asking for more and more. I felt really great helping this little boy who honestly loved reading. It gave me even more inspiration to start a book drive at my school. The poster is above - Please bring in new and gently used books before December 11th!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Journal Entry 2 - Viviana Sanchez

It's about my second week working at the Ryan Center with Fay, who is my mentor. This week Fay asked me to put aside the office paperwork. Instead, I went to 97th street to wrap gifts for little kids for the upcoming holiday party at the clinic. I tag-teamed and worked well with others while I was doing this. We had a lot of presents to wrap but with teamwork, we knew that we could get the job done fast.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Wagner College

Mentor Connection's trip to Wagner College on Staten Island allowed students to explore a school set in a traditional, pastoral setting. As opposed to some of the more urban institutions in New York City that do not have quite so cohesive of a campus, students were exposed to an alternative type of college life. Students got to sit in on an organic chemistry class, eat lunch in the dining hall, tour the campus, as well as ask the admissions director a multitude of questions. We are thankful to all who facilitated this visit and are looking forward to many college visits to come.

Journal Entry 2 - Faith Fordjour

I only went one day to Mount Sinai this week because of the Thanksgiving Holiday. I was there on Monday and it was very interesting. I feel like I'm a kid's magnet. It's like they all like me. There was this boy today, his name was Timothy. He wanted me to play with him but I am not supposed to play with the kids. My job is to read to them but also I can't say no to a child so I went ahead. The hard part about my day was getting someone to read to. Most of the kids don't really want to read, they would rather color or play games. But there is always one child who is interested in reading. This girl today read me a book. She was probably three or four years old. Of course she didn't read the words but she was telling me the story by looking at the pictures. It was so cute.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Journal Entry 2 - Khmran Malik

This week I just went to my mentorship one day due to the Thanksgiving break. It was a very slow and quiet day. The patients were mostly sleeping and resting. I checked each patient's book to see if the lable was correctly written. I also checked if the paperwork was in order. I helped a patient with the television and gave him water. I also played a game with the patient. He was very thankful and happy that he had a fun time. I dropped another patient downstairs because he was going home. He looked tired and couldn't wait to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family. He thanked me for helping him. He got in his car and was a happy fellow.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Journal Entry 1 - Faith Fordjour (11/24/09)

I started my volunteering on Thursday the 19th of November. For my first day, I had to get my picture taken and get my volunteer ID. My mentor, Sonia Lugo, explained to me what I have to do. My first task on the job was to read to this girl. She reminded me of one of my preschool students from last year. She was so easy to work with. It's a shame I forgot her name. I read her a couple books and she had to go. I found out on Monday that the girl was very shy and it was shocking that she was so free with me.

Friday, which was my second day, was a bit slow at Mount Sinai so I just played games with the kids that were there. Monday was like the official start date. I had my orientation which was me getting to know the floor that I was on. Sonia told me what I have to do when I come in, where to go and the things I can do if there are no kids around to read to. After that I grabbed a couple books and went off to start. For some reason I was a little nervous. I have worked with kids before but I guess having the parents around was what made me nervous. I met this little girl who was probably 4 or 5. Her name was Justine. I sat with her and read to her all the books I had. They was Maicy's Book, The Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly, Goodnight Mood and I forgot the other two books. After i read all the books I went off to find another child. There was this girl doing her homework but she was struggling with one question. I explained it to her, what she can do to make it easy and she did everything by herself. Oh, and I have to read to infants which is different. What I like most is that I get to interact with the kids more than other placements.

Journal Entry 1 - Viviana Sanchez (11/24/09)

It was on November 16th of 2009 when I started my placement at the Ryan Center. I met all the employees and I met my mentor who is Fay Barrett. The past few days I have been doing a lot of office paper work. My first task was to check the attendance of the employees. The 2nd task (which I am still working on) is to organize punch time sheets and other office papers.

What I though was most fascinating this week at my placement was when Fay told me that everybody in the office takes notes in a notebook about many different things. She said that they could forget how to do things so it is always better to write things down. She also takes notes when she is talking to somebody. She told me that from now on I too should take notes whenever she assigns me a task or whenever somebody talks to me related to an important topic.

Journal Entry 1 - Sherlyn Aldas (11/24/09)

This past week, I have begun working in the Reach Out and Read program in the New York Presbyterian (NYP) Hospital with my mentor Emelin Martinez. On the first day, she introduced me to another volunteer and we began to watch a training video to help us learn how to interact with children according to age. After that, we left the NYP hospital and took a train to go to the Broadway Hospital, which has an extension of the Reach Out and Read program. Emelin taught us how to organize the books according to age group by labeling them with stickers. She also had us memorize what color stickers belonged to what age group. She also introduced us to nurses and doctors to get well acquainted by. Finally by the end of the day, we began reading to some of the kids who seemed to enjoy reading, especially after waiting in the hospital for long hours.

The second day, Emelin wasn’t there but she left me instructions to work on while she was busy. She instructed me to work on a poster for a book drive to be held in Washington Irving and also to see how many books needed to be stocked. When she returned, she told me that besides reading to children, she also wanted to make activities that go along with the story. I spent the rest of the time researching a couple of activities based on the books listed. After finding a couple of them, I printed them out and shared them with Emelin, who will be posting them with the children next week.

Finally, on Thursday, we began to label the books according to the age group with the help of two foster grandparents who were going to help me next week to read to the children. They told me about the several activities that they did with the children, such as reading with puppets and helping some of the older kids with homework. I am already familiar with these activities after working in the preschool internship so I think it would be easy to adapt to these concepts. I learned more about the labels and memorized which color represented which age group. Next week, I should be able to work with the kids.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Journal Entry 1 - Khmran Malik (11/23/09)

This week I learned how to talk to patients as well as learned different codes to doors where there are medications and other medical supplies. I saw the pharmacy where medication is located for patients. I also followed the nurse around and observed what she was doing. I found different ways to interact with patients.

I also helped a man (patient) to get to his wheel chair and dropped him off downstairs. The man was saying that he couldn't wait to go home and see his grandsons. He was very happy to be leaving.

Journal Entry 1 - Zaire Smalls (11/23/09)

This week at my internship has been very interesting. I did a lot of paperwork, which was pleasant and helpful to everyone in the office. In addition, on Thursday, November 19, I started shadowing Lauren, my supervisor, in case management.

Case Management is when a social worker helps a patient get the social services that they need. During the two cases I sat through, I observed Lauren at work. The first woman just needed MedicAid, which is one of the main focuses of Lauren's cases. The 2nd woman needed all the services she could get because she lost her job after moving into a new apartment. This touched me and I wish there was more I could have done. I learned to deal with each case depending on the circumstance of the patient's income, immigration status, papers, etc. This was my first experience with case management.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Hello and Welcome!

Hello everyone and welcome to the first ever Mentor Connection blog! This site will allow us to keep up with the happenings of all the mentor connection students as they go through their externships. Every week we will have new posts and updates, allowing everyone to share all the interesting experiences they will no doubt have access to throughout the year.

Currently, our students are placed at:

NY Presbyterian
Hospital volunteer - Khmran Malik

The Ryan Center
Prevention Outreach - Viviana Sanchez

The Institute for Family Health
Social Work - Zaire Smalls
Prenatal Health Care - Ivonn Otavalo

Reach Out and Read
NY Presbyterian - Sherlyn Aldas
Mt. Sinai - Faith Fordjour

Sports PT
Sports Therapy - Tenzin Lhamo