C-HOP Intern Frustrations Grow – Alex Gerdel, DC Student

physical time restrictions, unannounced closures and time wasting

Over the last few quarters, changes have been made in the Center for Health and Optimum Performance (CHOP) that have left a bitter taste in the mouths of many of the interns completing their Level II Clinic. The frustrations began with the implementation of specific physical times that are for the most part completely incongruent with the schedules of interns, as well as their patients.

With new patient physicals and re-physicals only being allowed at the times of 8:00 AM, 10:30 AM, 3:00 PM and 4:30 PM, a large number of problems have been created with interns trying to start new patients while still attending their classes and working around their patient’s work schedule. Frank Ambrosio, a 12^th quarter intern, expressed his frustration that he had patients lined up and ready to come in, but couldn’t get them scheduled for a physical until fourth or fifth week. The afternoon slots have become such hot commodities that scheduling for physicals must be done several weeks out in order to find an open slot. Joe, one of the CHOP staff members, quipped that interns have begun to resort to “selling their afternoon physical times.” While he made the comment jokingly, it appears the joke may not be far from the truth.

More recently, the clinic administrators failed to announce that the clinic would be closing early on Tuesday July 19^th for the 8^th Quarter Clinic Gateway ceremony. This omission, while seemingly harmless, resulted in many interns unknowingly scheduling their patients for appointments after 6 PM that evening, only to discover the clinic was in fact going to close early. The clinic attempted to remedy in the situation by allowing those who had already scheduled patients to still see them after 6 PM. However, Scott Robinson, a 12^th quarter intern, left clinic at 4:45 PM very frustrated. He had scheduled his regular patient at 6:30 PM for that day the week before. However, when he went to double check with scheduling, the appointment was nowhere to be found, and he was told that he would not be able to see his patient. Robinson, a student who commutes at least an hour each day from North Georgia and places high value on the times he is on campus later in the day to see his patients, was not the only student to discover that an appointment they were 100% sure had been scheduled the week before was no longer listed on the books.

While the clinic administrators continue to make changes in hopes of streamlining the outpatient clinic system more and more each quarter, it is still not uncommon to hear interns referring to CHOP as a “time-sucking black hole” that’s difficult to incorporate into the still busy class schedules of 10^th, 11^th and 12^th quarter. This feeling has not been helped of late by the added bonus of having the computers the interns use freeze up on them while they are trying to print or type reports. The question remains whether the clinic administrators can develop a system that satisfies the interns, faculty doctors and their patients without leaving anyone frustrated.

Blue Jacket Envy – Kelly Milano, DC Student

A color of approaching success

At some point in our schooling ‘career’, we all go through it. There’s no set point as to when it happens, but it will happen to each of us. We venture through the doors of Life University, full of excitement and anticipation. We look forward to helping people and being part of true healthcare. We don’t care that we’re at the bottom of the totem pole because we’re here, and that’s all that matters. At some point, something changes. Suddenly, we see all the blue jackets around us and it hits us…Blue Jacket Envy!
It usually starts to really affect us when we first step into cadaver labs. We suddenly think, “This better all be worth it!!”  Then we remember the covetous blue jacket! We see new interns in the bookstore trying on jackets, smiling and snapping pictures to adorn their Facebook pages and to email to family and friends.  We walk past them in the hallway and feel a sense of jealousy. All we want is to legally put our hands on patients and adjust them. We want to give them what we feel will be the perfect adjustment, to free them from their ailments, clear the fog from their brain and even have angels singing our praises. We’re sure that when WE get to put on that blue jacket, we will have officially arrived and heaven will be silent for a moment and watch as we step into student clinic for the first time.  For that brief minute, we lose sight of the anatomy, physiology, full spine, mo-pal, pathology, skel radd and the dreaded CLET exam which stand in the way of us and our clinic experience. All we see is that blue jacket.
We are suddenly snapped back to reality as the professor hands us a scalpel and tells us it’s our turn to cut into the 82 year-old female cadaver in front of us. How in the world did we end up in a cold room full of bodies??
The blue jacket is horrible, but it’s a symbol that we have finally arrived. We are finally going to be doing what we are here to do. We are finally going to adjust our patients, feel the feeling of their cervical spine between our fingertips, the feel of their ligaments as they spring back into tension as we motion the body and to watch in amazement as our patients go from headache to smiles in a matter of minutes after our adjustment. This uncomfortable, stiff, polyester jacket brings us one step closer to outpatient clinic and eventually a practice of our own.  We don’t realize the responsibility that comes with the blue jacket, however. We may not fully realize that we will literally be holding someone’s life and wellbeing in our hands. We don’t realize the countless hours that will be spent in clinic, waiting, finishing paperwork and waiting some more for a doctor to sign off on our work. But, we assure ourselves that all the waiting will be worthwhile because…we will be doing it in our blue jacket!!
This process of Blue Jacket Envy is important in the journey!  It keeps us focused on the task ahead and keeps us pushing forward. Be warned…there will inevitably be a time while you are at Life when you want to quit, when you feel the stress and pressure and feel you are going to crumble underneath the weight.  But seeing a new round of students buying their blue jackets brings us back to reality and keeps pushing us forward. The blue jacket is a symbol for all those around us and we must keep pushing on. It’s one of the big accomplishments that will be felt by each and every one of us and one that sets us apart from those around us or those who are coming up behind us. Blue Jacket Envy! It’s worth it!

Chronicles of a Dietetic Intern – Pedro Leon, Life Dietetic Intern

Hello to all you thirsty-minded readers, Pedro here. It has been a little bit from my last article, but it feels good to be back. Since I graduated with my B.S. in Dietetics in June, I have been preparing myself to start our rigorous dietetic internship (DI) program. The internship is one of the many great programs offered here at Life. What I would like to accomplish here, is provide a little insight about what the program is about, so I will be chronicling my process throughout the next nine months. In the end, I hope this will give a clear understanding of the program and inspire those who wish to be challenged.

When I say vigorous, I do mean vigorous. DI programs have been in high demand over the last decade with the number of applicants doubling. This directly correlates with an increased demand in the field of Dietetics. What makes it vigorous and competitive is that even though the number of applicants has doubled, the number of available internship openings has not. Needless to say, there have been a lot of unhappy recent dietetic graduates that are not getting a place in  an internship program. This is echoed by a statistic that the American Dietetic Association (ADA) released covering the computer matching process from 1993-2009. It showed a steady decline of placements over the past 10 years and within the past three years, only approximately  50% of applicants have been placed into a DI program. The fun doesn’t stop there. Knowing there are minimal openings, applicants try to separate themselves from the pack. They must volunteer in a community related to health and nutrition, have related work experience, be active in dietetic clubs, present relevant research at conferences, publish in journals or a school paper and lastly, maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA, (the higher the better!)

Our internship program started on September 7^th, but the process started way before that. All applicants had to submit a prioritized list of the DI programs they wished to attend to the computer matching company in the middle of February. Around April 16^th all entries are run through the program and if you get matched to a school in the first round, the school will notify you and you will have 24 hours to accept the placement or your name goes back in the pile. I can say that this day is one of the most nerve racking days. If you are one of the unfortunate many that are not chosen in the first round, there is one more round and that’s about it. If you don’t get chosen at all, you have to wait until next year’s computer matching process and start the process all over again….sounds great huh?! It’s like you’re being drafted into the (fill in your favorite sport.)

All programs vary in the number of interns they accept, as well the type of program they wish to be. Here at Life we have 16 slots filled, narrowed down from over a hundred applicants. Our program spans nine months divided into three week long rotations at various facilities where dietetics makes a huge impact. These areas include: long-term care, corporate wellness, renal, pediatric, sports, clinical, foodservice and community nutrition. Facilities that we visit are that of St. Joseph’s Hospital, Grady Hospital, A.G. Rhodes, Piedmont Hospital, WIC and others. All interns are required to work individually, paired or in small groups when attending the different sites. Responsibilities vary from facility to facility. So by the time we are done with the program, we will have been exposed to the gambit of areas in which dietetics plays a role, pretty amazing.

My first rotation covers foodservice, which I am doing at St. Joseph’s hospital. So far it has been great with zero idle time. Busy, busy, busy. Look out in the next issue for a recap of my experience at St. Joseph’s and the rotation that follows, working with the Wellness Center’s Insane Fitness Program. Email any questions to: running_is_pure@hotmail.com.