Samantha Xavier
My MedEx Experience
It's not a program; it's a relationship.
Week 1
July 10th, 2017
Week 1: Day 1
Today was my first day of MedEx, a program that I knew would be a life-changing experience. This morning I woke up an hour earlier, I dressed for success, and ate a breakfast like a champion.
Right before I began to drive, I pressed "play" to an hour worth of music to wake me up. Before I knew it, I had one song left on my playlist and had also arrived to the USC School of Medicine's campus. Right as I turned in, I had gone from an adrenaline rush to having sweaty palms.
I stepped into the school not knowing what to expect. I found the room we were supposed to meet in and I awkwardly sat with a group of girls that turned out to be awesome, kind, and very smart. We all got to learn about each other and the schools we go to. To start off the day, we were given a presentation on all the different campuses that GHS is made of. The amount of campuses made me realize just how large the Greenville Health System is! Next, Mr. Squires gave us a speech on the body story of someone who had to get their foot amputated because of diabetes. His way of speaking always impressed me because he is so active and very engaging in his talks. His energy lit up the room immediately, catching everyone's attention. I loved listening to Mr. Squire speak and I hope to be that wonderful in presentations one day.
​After his speech. all of the tier one students started to play a game as an icebreaker. We had a inflatable beach ball with a plethora of questions on them and whenever the music being played was stopped, the person holding the ball would have to answer a question. All was going just fine until somehow the ball went and got stuck in the ceiling. Thankfully, the interns thought quickly and modified the game so we could continue to play.
Later on that day Mr.Al Squire presented a speech to us that was not only motivational, and inspirational; but was remarkable. It was just what I needed to hear. His stellar speech encouraged me. He told us that even when we fall, we get up. Success comes with failure and that is perfectly fine.
Lastly, I am so very excited to begin this journey with students just like myself and I am grateful to be accepted into a program that cares so much about my future along with my peers. I can't wait to see what the rest of the month holds. It's only day one!
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Today is day 2 of MedEx, and this time I don't have sweaty palms!
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The morning started off by heading to the life center to have our blood drawn. Once we arrived we were led back to a room where we first had our blood pressure, height, and weight read. Then two small vials were filled with our blood. The lady taking my blood had an easy time finding my vein. Surprisingly, it did not hurt as much as I had expected. I heard that a few people actually passed out.
Today I sat with a different group of people so I can try to get to know everyone and it turned out pretty good! We started the day researching and planning how to do our presentation for "Body Stories". Our story is about the spleen. I met with my group and they seem like amazing people. We put a Google document together so we can do research on that one doc and then later transfer the information to a power point presentation. For researching for just one day, I would say we did a pretty good job!
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Today was much more hands on than yesterday. Also since everyone was getting to know each other, there were many more conversations.
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After lunch, we were taken to be CPR certified! It was a very long, but an interesting process. The instructors told us what to do in case we pass by a situation like that. They clearly told us instructions step by step. Although we were practicing on dummies, we felt like pros. It is a scary procedure to do on a live person and on the spot, but it is defiantly a helpful learning experience since at the end of the day, it can save that person's life.
Week 1: Day 2
July 11th, 2017
CPR CERTIFIED!!
July 12th, 2017
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MY FIRST HUMPDAY
HANGOUT!!
Week 1: Day 3
Day 3 went awesome!! We started the day with a small tour of the helicopter that the hospital uses to transfer patients. It was an incredible first start to my day. I learned that the helicopter is used about 40 times each month. And they also fit 3 people along with the patient in it. As you could imagine, there isn't that much of room. The first major thing on the schedule today was our CVT training at the Patewood campus.
After lunch we headed down to Patewood Hospital to be CVT trained. Four Clemson seniors were training us so we were also able to hear how they got to the position that they are in now. There were defiantly ups and downs but they love what they do. They clearly explain how to perform the ultrasound and how to read it. Before today, I was clueless on both of those. Now, well, I would say I am a little better. I performed ultrasounds on my colleagues while also having them perform some on me! It definitely opened my eyes to all the careers that people don't really consider. I know for sure that I never considered it. But after learning more about it and experiencing how it works, I'll think about it more.
We ended today with "Humpday Hangout". The interns were so very kind to bring us pizza, cookies, and drinks. We all talked, laughed, and played ping pong!
Day 3 is one for the books!
Week 1: Day 4
July 13,2017
Today hands down was the most tiring and eventful day of MedEx by far. We started the day at 8:30 which was a nice change from our usual 8:00 and it gave me a little time to sleep in! Another perk of today was the fact that I was able to wear my athletic wear all day as opposed to our business casual dress code. Today at MedEx we had a fitness test. It was fun to run with everyone but it was also very tiring. Everyone in my tier is so encouraging of everyone else. I am really starting to get attached to all of these people. They are so amazing in their own way. When Mr. Squire said that this is a family, he was not joking. It really is!
July 14th, 2017
Day 5
Today completed my first week of MedEx. By now, I know everyone's name. Today was also Everitt's and Jennifer's last day since they are start Med School soon. Because of that, my tier decided to surprise them a bit so we all pitched in and got them donuts, roses, and gifts. The look on their faces were priceless because they were so shocked and happy, which defiantly made us happy as well.
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A few hours after, we were taken for a "Poverty Simulation". In this simulation, you were put into a family and were given a limited amount of money along with a few unfortunate rolls. During it, we were also trying to feed our family every week, pay for our home, and get a proper education while our "father" was in jail. This simulation taught us about the people who can not afford food, gas, an education, and simply clothes to put on their back. It was a stressful, anxious situation. Poverty is not something we take into consideration everyday. Now that we had a bit of experience, all the worries and hardships some families go through, is a bit easier to understand and consider. It was a very knowledgeable time well spent since it was something that I have never experienced before.
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We wrapped the day up by telling the interns about all the activities we liked this week and also disliked this week. We also thanked them for an amazing first week. As high schoolers, we were very nervous to enter into a program that has mainly college students. However, our interns welcomed us in with open arms. They are so easy to talk too and oh, so kind. They are in the position we hope to be in one day. What great role models we have!
That was such a fabulous first week in MedEx, and i'm so glad that I got to spend it with my new family.
