LINK description:
Animas High School offers a unique program to their juniors. Leading Internships for New Knowledge (LINK) sends juniors on three week internships in the field of their choice. During LINK, students have no regular classes as they spend 30-40 hours a week with mentors in the workplace, learning how to apply their skills outside the classroom. These LINK mentors generously share their time, energy and expertise, with the students. LINK takes students beyond the classroom walls in order to clarify personal, college and career goals while teaching invaluable professional skills and life lessons.
Mercy Description:
Mercy Regional Medical Center is southwest Colorado's largest and most technologically advanced medical facility. Continuing the legacy of care that began in 1882 when the Sisters of Mercy opened Durango's first hospital, Mercy is a not-for-profit, full service, acute care hospital designated as a Level III trauma center. As a not-for-profit medical center, Mercy is committed to improving the health and wellness of the communities it serves and the individuals who receive care at the hospital. It includes state-of-the-art medical technology in an environment designed to promote a sense of wellness and healing.
Mercy Orthopedic Associates is a physician clinic specializing in the treatment of injuries, diseases and rehabilitation of the musculoskeletal system, including bones, muscles, and joints. The orthopedic experts bring decades of experience with a track record of excellent outcomes and outstanding customer care.
Mercy Cardiology Associates provides advanced treatment for heart and vascular care. Their highly-skilled team of cardiologists, cardiac and vascular surgeons, radiologists and other specialists diagnose and treat heart and vascular disease in a variety of ways. From prevention and screening, advanced heart imaging technology and minimally-invasive heart surgery, the heart and vascular specialists provide a full scope of care for adult heart conditions.
Reflection:
Leading up to LINK I was set on doing the emergency room (ER) for 3 weeks. I had been in contact with my mentor (Dr. Hughes) and everything seemed to be lined up for me to go there 2 months prior to LINK. 3 weeks before May 1st, I started emailing some of the people in the HR department at Mercy to get the forms necessary to shadow there, because I had not received any. I soon was connected with the right person there and found out that you have to be 18 to shadow in the ER. I also found out that Mercy would only allow students to shadow for 24 hours total there. Finding this out really bummed me not only that I couldn't do it, but that I just found this out. Dr. Hughes was also not aware of this because it was recently changed after a shadow saw something in the ER that they needed counseling for. Dr. Hughes was extremely frustrated by this and had meetings and emailed the head of the ED. A week and a half later there was no change and they were not willing to lower the age requirement and I didn't know if they changed the total hours that you could shadow. At this point, I was even more stressed than before because I had very little time to confirm an internship. Mercy said that they would promise me an internship, but I wasn't confident that it would come through, seeing as I was 17 and in high school. I then started looking at orthopedic physicians at Animas Surgical Hospital (ASH). I reached out to Dr. Phipps who at the time seemed kind of interested in having an intern. After about a week we found out that ASH was not going to work. Now I was extremely stressed because in less than a week internships would be starting. At this point Janae started calling San Juan Hospital in Farmington to see if I could go there, it sounded like going there would work if all else failed. On Thursday, of the week prior to internships, Susie Tipton, who is the education director at Mercy, got back to me to say that she had confirmed my internship and that I would be doing a week in orthopedics, a week in cardiology and a week in the catheterization laboratory (cath lab). I was overcome with joy at this point and tons of stress was lifted off of me. I figured that I was only going to be able to do one of my interests, but the fact that I was able to do all three was amazing! I was super excited and grateful to be able to do all of that.
Going into this my three interests were ER, orthopedics and cardiology. I'm interested in these because I enjoy anatomy, its function in healthcare and caring for people. One thing that I really wanted was “action” so to speak and wanted to see patients and see injuries. The fact that I was able to get ⅔ of my interests and get to see injuries and patients was awesome! I hoped that in doing my internship I would get to learn a lot about each specialty and have a better grasp on what I want to study in the future. I hoped to bring to each specialty a willingness to learn, a positive mental attitude and mainly to show them that people my age are interested in this field. I wanted to set a good example so that the process might be easier for someone the next time around. Some people might get a bad taste if they hear a high school student wants to shadow them for 3 weeks, they might think that they're not mature or old enough to do it. I wanted to try and change their opinions and make it so that more young people can shadow and become interested in the medical field.
Prior to LINK I had taken anatomy first semester which helped me greatly. I also bought a full body and all systems anatomy app. In my free time I would spend time studying the different systems which has really helped my anatomy knowledge grow. I also studied up on bones and the heart and vascular system, learning the tarsal bones, carpal bones, arteries and veins. This all helped me greatly in my internship because the majority of what they do is based around anatomy. Orthopedics is based around bones, bone parts, joints, ligaments and tendons. My prior knowledge helped, but I didn't have a lot of knowledge in bone part names, ligaments, tendons and muscles. This made it hard to follow what they were talking about when they would give cortisone injections or talk about parts in joints. One of the biggest things I found out that I had almost no knowledge in was bone part names. I knew most of the bones in the body but had no idea to the extent that bone parts are used. You wouldn't think that the glenoid cavity, acromion and coracoid process would all be on the the same bone, which is known as the scapula. As soon as I saw them using this language I bought an add on to the anatomy app so that I could start learning the different terms, which I really enjoyed and it has expanded my knowledge. Also prior to LINK I watched a lot of operating room (OR) videos in the hope of learning from them and preparing myself for what I might see, I think this helped a lot for preparing me for surgery. I never thought that I would get to see the inside of an OR before LINK, I was just happy that I had an internship set up! But being able to shadow in the OR and see surgeries was amazing! The greatest piece about it was being able to recognize anatomy that you knew, and seeing relevance in your learning. I got to see a multitude of muscles, bones, ligaments, tendons, arteries and nerves. That was by far one of the greatest parts of my internship! There's a lot of stuff that happens in the OR that you don't realize and that videos don't show. I never felt nauseous in the OR and I think that's because I exposed myself to what some might consider gory videos and pictures. A lot of people I talked to out of Mercy said they would have fainted in surgery and couldn't imagine seeing that! Cardiology also had a lot of anatomy but I knew most of it. The hardest part was learning the illnesses people have and different medication types people take and how they affect the body differently like beta-blockers, diuretics, etc. In the cath lab they do a fluoroscopy while they are in the blood vessels. This allows them to see the different arteries, veins and chambers of the heart. I found this really cool to see, but it was hard to identify what the chambers of the heart were and which coronary artery was which. Overall I was able to identify a lot and learn a fair amount.
As I talked about above this LINK internship was amazing and I really enjoyed it! I really hope others can do this and enjoy it as much as I did. When in the OR, cath lab, cardiology and orthopedics I would talk with people about myself and what I was doing. When I would tell people that I'm in high school and that we all are allowed 3 weeks to go to the business of our choosing, all of them told me they wish they had this opportunity when they were my age and that if they did they would have changed how they did their life. I remember one person telling me in the OR he wishes he could have gone into this earlier and wishes he could have become an anesthesiologist or an orthopedist. This is a really special opportunity that we get to do and I feel I did a good job setting an example for future Animas kids to come.
Prior to my LINK I was more excited for cardiology and not that excited for orthopedics. I thought that orthopedics would just be bones and joints and wouldn't be that much fun. Turns out that I really enjoyed orthopedics and didn't enjoy cardiology as much as I thought I would. During my second week I did cardiology clinic and did the cath lab. I enjoyed the cath lab more and I saw a variety of the procedures and I wanted to go back to orthopedics the next week instead of doing the cath lab again. I really enjoyed orthopedics and right now I want to pursue that after medical school. I really enjoyed the mentors and the business of orthopedics compared to cardiology. Nothing really changed too much with my plans in the future. I wanted to go to medical school prior to my internship and now I really want to! The only thing that has really changed is what I want to specialize in, which it was in emergency medicine, but I think I'm switching my focus to orthopedics. Realistically right now, it really doesn't matter because I have about 9 years before I need to choose a specialty!
Below is a picture of Dr. Lawton and me, he was one of many mentors I had and is an orthopedic surgeon. This picture was taken after a surgery in the OR. (I wish I could have taken more pictures but due to HIPPA at Mercy we were not allowed to take any pictures of patients and patient information that could identify them.)
Animas High School offers a unique program to their juniors. Leading Internships for New Knowledge (LINK) sends juniors on three week internships in the field of their choice. During LINK, students have no regular classes as they spend 30-40 hours a week with mentors in the workplace, learning how to apply their skills outside the classroom. These LINK mentors generously share their time, energy and expertise, with the students. LINK takes students beyond the classroom walls in order to clarify personal, college and career goals while teaching invaluable professional skills and life lessons.
Mercy Description:
Mercy Regional Medical Center is southwest Colorado's largest and most technologically advanced medical facility. Continuing the legacy of care that began in 1882 when the Sisters of Mercy opened Durango's first hospital, Mercy is a not-for-profit, full service, acute care hospital designated as a Level III trauma center. As a not-for-profit medical center, Mercy is committed to improving the health and wellness of the communities it serves and the individuals who receive care at the hospital. It includes state-of-the-art medical technology in an environment designed to promote a sense of wellness and healing.
Mercy Orthopedic Associates is a physician clinic specializing in the treatment of injuries, diseases and rehabilitation of the musculoskeletal system, including bones, muscles, and joints. The orthopedic experts bring decades of experience with a track record of excellent outcomes and outstanding customer care.
Mercy Cardiology Associates provides advanced treatment for heart and vascular care. Their highly-skilled team of cardiologists, cardiac and vascular surgeons, radiologists and other specialists diagnose and treat heart and vascular disease in a variety of ways. From prevention and screening, advanced heart imaging technology and minimally-invasive heart surgery, the heart and vascular specialists provide a full scope of care for adult heart conditions.
Reflection:
Leading up to LINK I was set on doing the emergency room (ER) for 3 weeks. I had been in contact with my mentor (Dr. Hughes) and everything seemed to be lined up for me to go there 2 months prior to LINK. 3 weeks before May 1st, I started emailing some of the people in the HR department at Mercy to get the forms necessary to shadow there, because I had not received any. I soon was connected with the right person there and found out that you have to be 18 to shadow in the ER. I also found out that Mercy would only allow students to shadow for 24 hours total there. Finding this out really bummed me not only that I couldn't do it, but that I just found this out. Dr. Hughes was also not aware of this because it was recently changed after a shadow saw something in the ER that they needed counseling for. Dr. Hughes was extremely frustrated by this and had meetings and emailed the head of the ED. A week and a half later there was no change and they were not willing to lower the age requirement and I didn't know if they changed the total hours that you could shadow. At this point, I was even more stressed than before because I had very little time to confirm an internship. Mercy said that they would promise me an internship, but I wasn't confident that it would come through, seeing as I was 17 and in high school. I then started looking at orthopedic physicians at Animas Surgical Hospital (ASH). I reached out to Dr. Phipps who at the time seemed kind of interested in having an intern. After about a week we found out that ASH was not going to work. Now I was extremely stressed because in less than a week internships would be starting. At this point Janae started calling San Juan Hospital in Farmington to see if I could go there, it sounded like going there would work if all else failed. On Thursday, of the week prior to internships, Susie Tipton, who is the education director at Mercy, got back to me to say that she had confirmed my internship and that I would be doing a week in orthopedics, a week in cardiology and a week in the catheterization laboratory (cath lab). I was overcome with joy at this point and tons of stress was lifted off of me. I figured that I was only going to be able to do one of my interests, but the fact that I was able to do all three was amazing! I was super excited and grateful to be able to do all of that.
Going into this my three interests were ER, orthopedics and cardiology. I'm interested in these because I enjoy anatomy, its function in healthcare and caring for people. One thing that I really wanted was “action” so to speak and wanted to see patients and see injuries. The fact that I was able to get ⅔ of my interests and get to see injuries and patients was awesome! I hoped that in doing my internship I would get to learn a lot about each specialty and have a better grasp on what I want to study in the future. I hoped to bring to each specialty a willingness to learn, a positive mental attitude and mainly to show them that people my age are interested in this field. I wanted to set a good example so that the process might be easier for someone the next time around. Some people might get a bad taste if they hear a high school student wants to shadow them for 3 weeks, they might think that they're not mature or old enough to do it. I wanted to try and change their opinions and make it so that more young people can shadow and become interested in the medical field.
Prior to LINK I had taken anatomy first semester which helped me greatly. I also bought a full body and all systems anatomy app. In my free time I would spend time studying the different systems which has really helped my anatomy knowledge grow. I also studied up on bones and the heart and vascular system, learning the tarsal bones, carpal bones, arteries and veins. This all helped me greatly in my internship because the majority of what they do is based around anatomy. Orthopedics is based around bones, bone parts, joints, ligaments and tendons. My prior knowledge helped, but I didn't have a lot of knowledge in bone part names, ligaments, tendons and muscles. This made it hard to follow what they were talking about when they would give cortisone injections or talk about parts in joints. One of the biggest things I found out that I had almost no knowledge in was bone part names. I knew most of the bones in the body but had no idea to the extent that bone parts are used. You wouldn't think that the glenoid cavity, acromion and coracoid process would all be on the the same bone, which is known as the scapula. As soon as I saw them using this language I bought an add on to the anatomy app so that I could start learning the different terms, which I really enjoyed and it has expanded my knowledge. Also prior to LINK I watched a lot of operating room (OR) videos in the hope of learning from them and preparing myself for what I might see, I think this helped a lot for preparing me for surgery. I never thought that I would get to see the inside of an OR before LINK, I was just happy that I had an internship set up! But being able to shadow in the OR and see surgeries was amazing! The greatest piece about it was being able to recognize anatomy that you knew, and seeing relevance in your learning. I got to see a multitude of muscles, bones, ligaments, tendons, arteries and nerves. That was by far one of the greatest parts of my internship! There's a lot of stuff that happens in the OR that you don't realize and that videos don't show. I never felt nauseous in the OR and I think that's because I exposed myself to what some might consider gory videos and pictures. A lot of people I talked to out of Mercy said they would have fainted in surgery and couldn't imagine seeing that! Cardiology also had a lot of anatomy but I knew most of it. The hardest part was learning the illnesses people have and different medication types people take and how they affect the body differently like beta-blockers, diuretics, etc. In the cath lab they do a fluoroscopy while they are in the blood vessels. This allows them to see the different arteries, veins and chambers of the heart. I found this really cool to see, but it was hard to identify what the chambers of the heart were and which coronary artery was which. Overall I was able to identify a lot and learn a fair amount.
As I talked about above this LINK internship was amazing and I really enjoyed it! I really hope others can do this and enjoy it as much as I did. When in the OR, cath lab, cardiology and orthopedics I would talk with people about myself and what I was doing. When I would tell people that I'm in high school and that we all are allowed 3 weeks to go to the business of our choosing, all of them told me they wish they had this opportunity when they were my age and that if they did they would have changed how they did their life. I remember one person telling me in the OR he wishes he could have gone into this earlier and wishes he could have become an anesthesiologist or an orthopedist. This is a really special opportunity that we get to do and I feel I did a good job setting an example for future Animas kids to come.
Prior to my LINK I was more excited for cardiology and not that excited for orthopedics. I thought that orthopedics would just be bones and joints and wouldn't be that much fun. Turns out that I really enjoyed orthopedics and didn't enjoy cardiology as much as I thought I would. During my second week I did cardiology clinic and did the cath lab. I enjoyed the cath lab more and I saw a variety of the procedures and I wanted to go back to orthopedics the next week instead of doing the cath lab again. I really enjoyed orthopedics and right now I want to pursue that after medical school. I really enjoyed the mentors and the business of orthopedics compared to cardiology. Nothing really changed too much with my plans in the future. I wanted to go to medical school prior to my internship and now I really want to! The only thing that has really changed is what I want to specialize in, which it was in emergency medicine, but I think I'm switching my focus to orthopedics. Realistically right now, it really doesn't matter because I have about 9 years before I need to choose a specialty!
Below is a picture of Dr. Lawton and me, he was one of many mentors I had and is an orthopedic surgeon. This picture was taken after a surgery in the OR. (I wish I could have taken more pictures but due to HIPPA at Mercy we were not allowed to take any pictures of patients and patient information that could identify them.)