Goal mapping my way to a personal statement

Today we were introduced to our Healthy Policy research group. In my Health Policy group I am working with Rose, Madison, Brendan, Manaal, and Michael C. Our topic for our presentation is...

"In the years following the ACA, the federal government has attempted several legislative responses. Research and present on various initiatives such as MACRA (Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act), and focus on the current administration’s goals in the Department of Health and Human Services (hint: look up Secretary Azar’s Four Areas of Emphasis). Examine how these initiatives have changed how physicians and providers are paid and how they have impacted total costs and quality measurements for Medicare/Medicaid and private insurers."

I think that MedEx did a great job by making this a project because it is important to understand everything that comes with healthcare, including insurance. I personally am not too familiar with Medicare and Medicaid so I am happy that I am given the opportunity to learn more about it. This is what I have learned so far:)

Medicare and Medicaid are federal programs. Medicare proved health coverage if you are 65 years and older or if you are under 65 years old and have a disability, no matter your income. Medicaid aids those with health coverage if you have a very low income. People can qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid and that would be called having dual eligibility.

After working on the Health Policy Research we turned it over to our interns who held a session called "Identity Wheel". During this hour and a half session we simply talked about identity and different ways people can identify.

• Gender: encompasses a person's identities, expressions, societal roles

• Sex: person's physical characteristics at birth

• Cisgender: a person whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth

• Transgender: persons identify and gender does not correspond with their birth sex

After lunch we were able to meet our assigned M2 mentors. My mentor is Anne and wow she is so sweet, passionate, loving, and caring. Although she is only a few years older than me, I can already feel that she wants to help me on my healthcare journey. I asked her for some advice with OT school and Anne provided me with some great resources to reach out to. When we have clinicals throughout MedEx, we stay in our same mentor group so I am very excited for that! We ended the day goal mapping. Goal mapping allows you to roadmap your life in a fun, exciting, and organized way. Some of the most important ideas in my goal map is religion, family, friendship, and trying new foods. Having a goal map laid out helped me in determining the important and impactful event of my life that I may want to include in my personal statement.

I am nervous to shadow tomorrow. I had to go pick up my badge, so while I was doing that, I made sure to know where the internal medicine clinic is so I do not run late tomorrow morning.

Today is the first hump day hang out and we are all met at Gather Greenville! It was fun to lay back and relax with my friends. We got some god food and hung out for a few hours.