Influences On My Future

Throughout my internship so far, I have really been able to get an inside look at, not only what Infection Control and Prevention does, but also what many other parts of the hospital does. It's really given me the opportunity to explore different departments of the hospital and give me an idea of what I am interested in for the future.

I know for sure that I want to be in the medical field somewhere in the future. I've been considering being an endocrinologist, but as I have come to see the many other fields that makes a hospital function. For example, before I started my internship, I wasn't aware that hospitals had an ICP office. It's kind of just a low-key department, but they play a huge role in keeping staff and patients safe from infectious diseases. I also go to see the other departments like the Telemetry department, the Spine and Neck department, the Birthing Center, the Rehab center, Human Resources, the Performance improvement department, the ICU, and the Emergency Room.

My mentor started out as a RN in an ER. Then she started working in an ICU. From there she was a manager for one of the departments. As time passed on, she became a transplant coordinator and later she became the Infection Control manager. She started from the bottom and worked her way up. In her department, she works on putting out the fires as they come up. She makes sure that staff follow proper protocols and that the proper patients are put on isolation. She also overlooks all construction in the hospital becasue susceptable patients could potentially get sick due the construction. She is also very knowledgeable about her topics.

Everybody in each department seems to be very passionate about what they do. They don't just do it for the money, they do it because they enjoy doing it. I want to make sure that whatever department that I decide to go into in the not so distant future. I do it because I want to and I have a passion for it.

I think that overall, the track that I take in college will pretty much stay the same. I still want to major in biology because my interest is in biology, but as far as afterwards ,if I go to medical school, my options are still open. Hopefully throughout the rest of my internship, I have ample opportunities to continue to explore the other departments.