Okay So...

...Only ONE of you have responded to last weeks post. Please respond to it no later than WEDNESDAY September 2nd. If you don't, there will be consequences..dun dun dun.

Also, please remember to keep posting random thoughts throughout the week!! Take a break from your work and write about anything on your mind, frustrations, celebrations, anything!

Anyway, here is this weeks question..to be answered by September 4th.

Pretend you were in charge of this blog for a month.
a) decide on a theme for the discussion during the month
b) generate 4 questions for everyone to react to
c) what do you hope comes out of your month (thoughts generated, discussions initiated, lessons reinforced)

Mail time

Dear Christine,
In the past months I have grown so much as a person and as a young adult. I think the biggest thing you have helped me with is the little things. You have kept me on point and in check whether it is that my formatting is off or managing my time to get things done. One thing that I have recently read in my book for the Monday morning meeting is leading by example- that is probably the best way you have taught me. It has been a pleasure to follow you because you prove that it is possible to manage more than one person should be able to handle. I think that in the beginning of my time here I absolutely hated membership and didn’t even really understand the point of it, but now I have really learned to not only like membership but really understand and get annoyed when other people don’t do it because I have finally come to realize the importance of it. Not only that but even when I have gone to do other assignments for other people you have still cared to supervise and check up on everything that I am doing. I think that you exhibit the core values and make it easy to for us to be comfortable around here- knowing that you were in our shoes has helped a lot and really benefitted my experience here. I think out of all the full timers you get what we do and are able to push us to where you know we can be pushed which has really helped me out a lot.
As for my favorite SHM memory I would have to say the day I got to go with you, Vernita, and Todd to the film studio to see the FHM video get made. I honestly think that meeting our members/CEO/getting to go on a field trip without the other days made my entire month really. I remember going home that day and saying that I got to help record cuts, eat lunch with all my supervisors, watch interviews, everything.. Even our cab ride back with Larry was awesome to me- not many people my age can say they work or hang out with their CEO which was really awesome. I think that on that day things started clicking with hospital medicine and what SHM is really about. I’m glad that you were there and allowed me to have that experience because I will probably never forget it.
I’m sure that we will have plenty more learning things & time to hang out in the next month, but as for the last five THANK YOU!!

-Emily

Re: One month ago----Looking back

Looking, back---it seems like yesterday. These months have flown by. What I learned in the first week of SHM was the politics of an office. I learned about all the different elements behind the scenes that support and drive the SHM brand. From finance, marketing, PR, Membership/Outreach, Education (in our case), Technology, etc. I quickly observed that each department is crucially dependant upon one another. I also oberserved that each individual has a large amount of accountablilty and responsibility. The information that I found to be most useful was the file completion/printer process. I learned things concerning type, photo resolution, spot coloring, packaging a file, file compability, and just simply learning how to communicate with a printer. Printers have varying, but very particular specs on how they receive files. Working with Nadia really made me accustomed to the designer-to-printer dialogue. I made a few mistakes when sending files out to printer, but in the midst of my error, I learned. The one thing that would be beneficial to this experience is collaboration with the web design team. I had mentioned this at our MA/fulltimer lunch. I think that exposure to the web sect is crucial, considering the technological era we are in. It is a good way for a designer to broaden his/her skill set, making them an even more valuable to asset to future employers. I feel like I have been pretty isolated from that department. I have definitely grown from this experience at SHM. I have increased my sensitivity to target audiences, adapted to working in a corporate environement, and have come to know some great people.

Exactly One More Month

4 weeks

31 days
5 more Monday Meetings

It's almost over! I'm going to be sad to see you girls go. I wish I was here earlier so we could have spent more time together. Make sure you come back and visit, and come to any reunions we will have! PS - You're all invited to my birthday party, I just don't know what I'm doing for it yet.

I remember reading Collective Reality when you first started. You had to write letters to someone you worked with. Here is your 5th to last question/prompt:
Write another letter to your direct supervisor. Talk about the past 5-6 months. Goals you achieved, what they've helped you with, etc. etc. Look back on the first letter you wrote, what has changed since then? End it with your favorite SHM memory!

Happy Friday!

If I could turn back time..

Five months ago, wow it doesn’t even seem that long ago. I can’t believe how fast the time went by! The first week at SHM was pretty much the beginning of the rest of my life. I do not know if I learned many things, outside of the actual company, but I realized a lot about life and myself, which is definitely important. I realized that you can’t wake up at noon, roll out of bed and sit in your pj’s anymore… but that I am getting older, and need to be more responsible. I guess you could say the first week was a wake-up call for me.

I wish that during the first week I knew how laid back everyone was here. At first, I am a pretty quiet, and timid person – so it took me a while to open up to everyone. Now, as my time is coming to an end, I finally feel very comfortable, and I wish I would have done that from the very beginning. Everyone always stressed how laid back the environment was, but I didn't believe it at first. I am sure if the future MA's read our blogs they will realize we aren't lying about being laid back!

I think the most beneficial information was not necessarily written down, or said to us. I think by us getting involved right away, and sitting in a Monday morning meeting the first day, and just getting hands on experience was the best information. Especially when you are new, you are probably going to write down everything that someone says (I know Vickyx3 did), and not actually remember everything. Learning by experience, to me, is the best way to fully get into the swing of things. For the most part, I have used everything given to us (MA manual, membership packets, etc.). Even now, after 5 months, I refer back to the membership packet when I forget how to update something on iMIS and reflect back on the MA guide when I need a transportation pass. During the first week, the MA guide is really useful especially with things such as the bathroom code, and the section with the SHM staff.

With the tutorials, pictures may be helpful. I think it would be more trouble than it is worth though, because the tutorials worked just fine and we all made it through our daily activities. I think they are fine as they are, because a lot of things we learn on our own.

TOODLES.

SHOOT - I MEAN N'SYNC!! NOT BSB, SILLY ME.

Bye Bye Bye....

I wish I didn't have to be like the Backstreet Boys and sing "bye bye bye" to Heather.

I WILL MISS YOU HEATHER.

Don't forget what I said earlier... REPRESENT JER-ZAYY!!!



I don't like when people move on in their lives, it makes me sad. However, I am really happy for you HAS and hope everything works out! Good luck with everything, and keep in touch! :)

Looking Waaay Back

Wow that was a long time ago. I just remember the first week only being moderately overwhelming. I have never had a real job like this in my life and stepping into an office for the first time would be EXTREMELY overwhelming for me. I did not know what SHM had in store for me. But the SHM environment turned out to be very warm and comfortable. What I really appreciate is that whatever I was expected to know, I was taught. Everyone was open to questions!

Within the first week, I learned a lot, not only about my own position, but about different aspects of this company. I loved learning about SHM’s foundation and goals. I honestly cannot think of anything that I wish I had learned during the first week, I learned everything (the basics) I wanted to learn! The tutorials were very well constructed. They were simple, informative, and to the point. Also, the “question game- win- and get prize” type of format really made me concentrate on what I was learning about because it created a challenge. It genuinely seemed that the company cared about your learning experience as a Drexel co-op. I know that the people here at SHM want you to learn as much as possible and will try their best to help you meet your learning expectations.

The most useful thing I have learned during the first week was about Hospital Medicine and Outlook! Being introduced to Hospital Medicine encouraged me to look more into it and learn more about medicine in general. And Outlook is amazing, it helps me maintain my punctuality with meetings, my organization, and of course, my communication with SHM staff.

What I appreciate the most about this co-op is that during the first week, I looked forward to waking up and coming to work. I still do that. That is pretty amazing :)

"Free Response"

Looking back from my first week at SHM I think that I have gained a lot more than I could imagine- which sounds quite corny but it seriously is the truth. More than ever I gained my first taste of the real world and what I like to refer to as “Corporate America.” Here in “Corporate America” I realized that 9-5 is not a saying it’s what millions do every day. After adjusting to this there lies what you do in those hours that makes a difference. I know for myself I am a hands on learner (one of the reasons why I chose Drexel) and with this I feel like I learned more in 5 months of being at SHM than my freshman year of college. From little things like excel or giving a presentation to actual projects- whether it be a creative brief for a brochure, or an executive summary of a survey.

There’s not that much I wished I had learned in that first week, but it was a definite learning lesson. I’m just going to throw out there that I cried when I got home from work the first day of work, and one thing I learned quickly is that it gets better with time. What was the most useful information, and what information have you still not used?
The most useful information was probably all in the survival kit- I still refer back to that!

I thought the tutorials were really interesting because it was a glimpse into what was to come. I think that it helped in seeing right away what I would want and not want to do throughout the six months to come. The only thing I would improve is maybe not as long or not as many at once or maybe making them more interactive. I know I was just nervous and overwhelmed the first week, but now I really understand the tutorials now rather than how I felt during them that first week.

Memory Lane

I will never forget the first day of work at SHM on Monday morning. One hour in, the MAs were told that we had a department meeting, and we were expected to be there. Two hours later, we all walked out completely confused and overwhelmed. Looking back, I don't think I would have had it any other way. SHM has always used a kind of "tackle this head-on" approach, and so they kind of threw us right in there and let us assimilate to our new environment. However, I wish that I had learned how quickly things change around here. Who knew that the Monday Morning Meeting would be completely re-vamped? And that SHM would break out the franchise model? To me, I've always considered all of these things as examples of the "real world," aka the working world or "Corporate America" as Emily would call it.

The most useful thing that I have learned here is brand management. I have always been interested in branding because it is such an essential part of a company and its marketing, but I have really gotten to understand the concepts and strategies while working at SHM. Looking back so far, there aren't very many things that I could say I wanted to learn but didn't. SHM made it very clear that I was going to be able to work on what I wanted to build upon and everyone made sure it happened - from Web 2.0 to design to a little PR!

Backtracking to Week 1, I would say that the tutorials were somewhat helpful. It was nice to acknowledge the fact that perhaps we had never worked with many of these systems. But overall, it was very overwhelming. Many of the iMIS tutorials were confusing and were re-explained to us when the time came to apply them. I think in the future, it would be more helpful to introduce new sections of the database as they came along. Even now, with only one month left, I still get lost in iMIS sometimes... I think the franchise model will really help to organize and streamline M&M in general though. And that the next round of MAs will definitely benefit from it. Personally, I'm glad that I was able to witness the before and after effect.

This blog post made me a little sad. :(

One Month to Go...

...weird, isn't it?

Looking back to 5 months ago, what did you gain from your first week at SHM?
What do you wish you had learned in that first week that you didn't?
What was the most useful information, and what information have you still not used?
And lastly, what did you like about the tutorials, and what would you improve upon?

Happy Friday!

The hospitalist profession is fairly new and is growing continuously. If you are a people person then this is for you. You will be able to work with hospital teams and be exposed to professionals from different specialties. As a hospitalist, you are able to facilitate the transition between a patient and his/her specialist to the patient and yourself. You will help accomplish many things for the hospital such as decreasing readmission rates, lengths of stay, significantly reducing costs for hospital per patient, improve coordination, communication, and relationships between physicians and other members of the care provider team.

You don’t even have to have a Medical Degree to practice in the hospital medicine field. You can practice hospital medicine as a Physician Assistant or Nurse Practitioner.

There are some specific perks that you can negotiate. Some interesting ones I have found is that you can negotiate flexible hours, opportunities to go into other areas (i.e. research, teaching), and tuition reimbursement!Also job outlook is looking great as the number of hospitalist jobs is growing. And of course, rising salaries :)

Here is a great article that relates to this question: http://www.the-hospitalist.org/details/article/186162/In_Demand.html

EMSAVINA@HOSPITALMEDICINE.ORG

This is ironic because I was home this weekend and I was talking to my younger sister who is entering into her freshman year at NYU at the end of the month, and is going to be studying medicine. I asked her what she thought her specialty was going to be (even though she has a long way to go) and as she replied: “I have no idea yet” I found myself starting to push the idea of hospital medicine. Some of the points I was making were most of the perks- you get to explore many of the fields you learn, and you don’t have to commit to one specific area. Like Victoria was saying, one of the doctors pointed out about how much you forget when you go into your specialty, and I think that not getting bored of what you’re doing or disregarding what you spend so much time on in school takes away from your experiences. Another point I was selling to her was routine- in many specialties you fall into a routine more quickly than if you were a hospitalist. I know my sister and I’m sure many medical students will agree that they love challenges and not knowing what a normal day is. One of the hospitalists at Cooper was saying how no two days are the same and I think that’s a great selling point. Lastly, one big talking point is the freedom emotionally and literally. I think that as we see in many TV shows doctors can become very close to their patients and often times it can impair their judgment on certain decisions. I think that hospitalist help focus on your job and this is why they improve quality care- because they are able to make good judgment calls in seconds. Also, pushing the freedom point to students is important because doctors are often times unable to have hobbies outside of their career. Many of the hospitalist at Cooper said how they were able to have families, and personal hobbies outside their job because of the free time you are able to have as a hospitalist!

Tomatoes and Onions

If I were to talk to med students, I would ask them if they really love the specialty that they do. I was always told that if I didn't love something, I should not pursue my career in that path. Obviously, they have a passion for medicine, and if they do not want to be in one specialty for the rest of their career, I think the hospitalist field would be the best for them.

Also, I would stress the flexibilty offered with a hospitalist. I think a lot of people would find interest in this, because the medical field can be very demanding, and I am sure can get very stressful. With the flexibility factor, it may allow for you to not be as busy, which is definitely a positive for many people!

Perks of Hospital Medicine

From our field trip to Cooper Hospital, I think the biggest advantage of being in hospital medicine is the flexibility that it allows you individually as a doctor. Many of the hospitalists that we spoke with used the majority of their time for education or research. That would be a key point to emphasize to young students or resident/fellows because most of them are unsure of what they want to commit to as a career. As a hospitalist, they will be able to practice while staying up to date with updates in internal medicine. I remember one doctor saying how his wife practices in a specialty and she ended up forgetting smaller details of general internal medicine. He, on the other hand, has a wide variety of patients, so he has no trouble remembering them. The relationship with the patient is also different than the standard procedures. Instead of being pressured to do rounds in the morning, hospitalists also have flexibility in this area.

Plus, it's always changing, so you'll never get bored!

Pick It Up

If I see a project falling behind, or someone slacking, I would simply ask them, "How are things going?". This would be just to give them a heads up, or at least help them archive it in their short term memory. I am a straightforward communicator, so if I see a co-worker of mine that needs to get on a project, I might give em a little "Hey you need to get on that, it was due.....or it is due and 'we' still haven't come up with anything. " It's simple. (Maybe not for others). As for motivation, I think that it is important to help the person recognize all of the successful things they have accomplished, and how their continual efforts is the only way the project will be successful.

Insert Clever Title Here.

Today we took a field trip to Cooper Hospital in the never so lovely Camden, NJ.
Thirteen of us sat down with a group of about ten hospitalists and had the opportunity to learn what they do, why they do it, and what they think of our society.

The one thing we all took away from this was that there is constant change in the hospital medicine program. We learned that they think the most valuable learning comes from meeting pre-courses, and we, as well as they, are curious as to how we can better reach out to students and residents in order to sway them into a field in hospital medicine.

Some ideas that were thrown around were to have separate sections during meetings for students, and to create a "how to teach hospital medicine" rather than approaching a group and teaching them about different areas of it.

If you had to convince a student or resident into committing to a career in hospital medicine, what tools and talking points would you use to make them convinced that this career is the best choice for them?

Please answer this question no later than August 14. :)

Techno Beats

I think that most of the time when someone starts falling behind, or is lacking motivation on a project it is because they have lost sight of the big picture. In the case of SHM the main goal is to move hospital medicine forward and improve patient care. I think that even for me the day to day tasks that are necessary to achieve this goal are sometimes overwhelming and it’s important to take a step back and remember why what you’re doing is important. I think for the MA’s a good example is membership- I can remember to the beginning of our time here I didn’t understand why we had to do certain tasks, when there was so much more that had to be done and seemed way more important. I think now that I understand the long term goal I don’t mind doing membership at all because I see the importance of how each assignment we get builds on each other. So to answer the question about how to motivate I would say to show them- for example in the membership case actually go to a chapter meeting, or for me: getting to go to the FHM video shoot I got to meet actual members and I began to appreciate membership more.

Sometimes in our lives..

We all have pain, we all have sorrows. But if we are wise, we know that there's always tomorrow.

Great, classic song. However, if I ever saw someone falling behind in a project, I would first and foremost lend a hand, and ask if they need work. However, there are often many times where I can not be of assistance to a project. If that was the case, I would probably ask them if they wanted to take a break and just go hang out. I know when I get stressed and behind on things, I tend to freak out and it is just terrible. Even though I would be taking some time out of their work day, it may relax them, allowing for better and faster work after. There are some days that people are just having a bad day though. If that was the situation, I would try to talk to them, but if they were not having it, I would let them keep working because, we're all humans and sometimes we just don't want to talk to anyone about our problems. If the problem continued and the project wasn't being completed after a few days, I would have to step in.

So, in the end - I guess it really matters who this happened to, and the situation. People handle things in many different ways, so the way you approach the situation would be different with each person. If it were my fellow MA's.... I would tell them to suck it up, and get the job done! :)

Shoulder to Lean On!

If I saw a co-worker that was struggling with something or falling behind with a project, I would ask them about it regularly. Sometimes when someone is there to motivate us, it creates a bigger spark of interest. If that still didn't work, I would ask how I could help. I think that everyone at SHM does a great job with this. When somebody asks for help, people are always ready to lend a hand. Even when I call people over and over again with small questions, I know they won't mind picking up to answer them every single time. Another recent example is during our Monday Morning Meeting. One of the essential Dashboard questions is "What can the rest of the department do to help?" It's great to know that it's not just all for show, and that people really do follow up on you because they care. 'Cause we are a family! :)