week 3

I have been working at UMASS for almost 2 months, now and I have finally found a flow to my work routine. The beginning was difficult in the sense that I was a researcher going into a big hospital where everyone is constantly busy. Finding the time to talk to physicians and interview them was extremely intimidating as they were always on the run, and I felt guilty for taking time out of their already tumultuous day. However when I finally plucked up the courage to ask them, some of them were perturbed by my questions, while others were welcoming and forthcoming. To make this process more practical for the physicians and myself I decided to shorted the questions as much as possible, thus to save time. The next time when I asked the physicians the questions, they were shocked by how easy and non time consuming the interview was. This reassured me that if I do become a physician I will not become a get-to-the-point kind of person. When you are so busy they just want to make the best use out of their time. Physicians are generally very forthcoming and kind, and will help you, as long as you are straightforward and don't dawdle around what you are trying to say. Another slight obstacle I faced was when I was interviewing a patient. He asked me what HIPAA stood for. He was a male personal injury lawyer and it felt as though he was trying to show his intelligence to us. This was also the first day I was training the new interns. They were startled and did not know how to respond. One of them made up an answer to give him his satisfaction, and he in turn told her he was wrong and told her what it stood for. However what surprised me was that he was wrong as well. He stated that it stood for Health Insurance Protection and Privacy Act, when in actuality it stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. My choices were to tell this man he was wrong, and risk losing him as an interviewer, or just give him his victory and continue with the interview. I continued with the interview, yet to this day it still bugs me that he had that victory. 

I have been getting feedback from my head professor and it is mostly positive which I am ecstatic about. She has now enlisted me to move from the diabetic clinic to the heart clinic which I am extremely excited about starting. The only negatives are that I should interview more physicians. I have a presentation next week at the group meeting, so hopefully I will get more feedback then.