Livin la Vida Loca

 

The song that I think best describes my life at SHM is DEFNITELY "Livin la Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin. The English translation (which most of you guys are smart enough to figure out) is "Livin the crazy life."

I feel like this song is appropriate because most days are very chaotic for me especially with handling registration for the annual meeting. I get millions of phone calls a day in regards to anything and everything that involves the annual meeting, AHA, or QSEA. Most of the time people are friendly but not ALL of the time. It can get really nuts when I get multiple phone calls and they involve going in and out of someone's registration trying to adjust their fees. Anytime I deal with money my heart rate sky rockets because money is extremely intimidating, especially when that money is someone else's.

 





 

Sooooo, yeah that is my life here at SHM in a nutshell. Adios!

The song I feel describes me at SHM is Do Better by Say Anything.  Now, I really need to explain because I’m sure I seem very negative right now.

This song is about a band that is doing fairly well and has a lot of talent.  However, they feel that there is more room for them to grow.  I feel this song connects to my work at SHM because although I am doing a good job (at least I think so), there is still room for me to do better.  I am given so much responsibility and opportunities at SHM and I want to make sure I take advantage of the chances I am given.  I want perform at my highest level possible, so that I can reach my full potential.

We don't even have to try, it's always a good time.
 

 Good Time by Owl City is one of my favorite songs, and is probably the only song that I can think of that could even somewhat represent my time here at SHM.

Though it may be overly simplistic, I feel like it fairly accurately describes my time spent here. It seems as if everything that I've enjoyed here at SHM - mostly being the people and relationships I've built over the past 4 months has not been based upon my doings or efforts, but rather that of everyone else here! I definitely feel very blessed to have developed the friendships that I have here, and am so glad that it's always a good time here at SHM! :)

I'm So Appalled!

A song lyric that describes me and I live by and have stated in a post before is “Success is what you make it, take it how come”-Pusha T on So Appalled by Kanye West feat. Jay-Z, CyHi the Prynce, Pusha T, RZA and Swizz Beatz (You can see I am a huge hip hop fan hahaha)

The reason I would say this describes my time at SHM is because I truly believe success is what you make of it. To be successful is an individual’s choice, no one is going to push you to do something or make you work hard. As a person, you have to have that desire to succeed and do what you want. At SHM, I believe we are given the tools to succeed every day because the people here want to see us thrive and be successful. However, that is only step one as I believe how successful I am here at SHM, no matter how much Brendon or Ashley push me will not garner me success. I have to run with the ball and take it and really work to do what I want to do. My success is made at SHM for example by asking questions about different things in the communications department or marketing department. Another way I make my own success is by trying to learn and grow every day and speaking with Brendon on ways I can enhance this experience, not just in these six months but over my career. To succeed you really have to have the motivation and determination to fight for what you want and I believe it is said best when Pusha T says “Success is what you make it. Take it how it comes”. 

PS: If you did not notice So Appalled links to the song if you want to listen hahaha The line I am talking about is at 3 min mark!

Jordan never answered last week's question, so Jordan: you know the drill. Make sure you answer that question and this week's as well. THANKS! 

This week:

What is a song or specific song lyric that describes you/your life at SHM and why?! 

Enjoy !

JANUARY ALREADY?!

 

I can't believe it is JANUARY. This co-op has been flying by! I think what I have been enjoying the most is getting to know everyone around the office as well as getting to know the company better in regards to what actually goes on at the different conferences and all the jargon that gets used around here. I hate to sound cliche, but I have really been learning A LOT about the health/medical industry these past three months and why SHM is such an important organization. Knowing more about SHM also helps me assist the millions (not actually millions I'm being dramatic) of people I talk to about registration everyday. I like being able to confidently answer questions and assist people. I used to get super nervous ("I get super flexible when I'm nervous" -Andy Bernard) whenever my phone would ring, but now that I know the registration system (Experient) and SHM a little better, I have been successfully helping people leaving me feeling like this:

 

 

 

 

Instead of like this:

 

  

 

For the rest of my time at SHM I would like to observe how the annual meeting unfolds. I just find it really interesting to see what all goes into planning a huge conference like this. I REALLY WISH I would get to go, I do a lot of the registration for it so it would be cool to actually get to see what it's like. I am also anxious to get this Exhibitor project really moving, it has been one of my favorite projects so far. Soooooooooooooooooooo, that's it. :-)

 

 

 



What have you really enjoyed so far? What do you hope to do more of in the last half?

It feels like we've been here for so long, but at the same time, it feels as if our first day was only just a few weeks ago. One of the things I've really enjoyed here at SHM is the conversations we've had about preventable medical errors in the hospital setting. Even though they are only articles, the stories we read and discussed about serve as a constant reminder of exactly what we're doing here in the Center, and the ultimate goal and purpose behind weeks and weeks of data entry.

I've also really enjoyed the current project I'm working on for MARQUIS, which involves matching the IDs for over 3,000 medications. Though it is indeed very tedious, it constantly amazes me how there can be so many medications in existence, and what types of drugs people often put into their body. The Medication Database has definitely been very educational in terms of learning what every drug does and the effect it has on our body. My unexpected self-taught study of pharmacology coupled with my data entry for patient medications allows me to see exactly what kind of patients take what kind of medications, as well as the alarming number of medications each patient intakes on a daily basis. Some patients take an upwards number of 30 medications at the same time.

In the last half of the co-op, I hope I am able to continue learning more about what patients go through (even if it's only behind the scenes), and to be able to at least contribute to some of the research and changes to be made for patient quality improvement. Moreover, I hope I am able to take part in more of the calls that go on for some of the committees and subcommittees for SHM - for example, the pediatric committee that Ann had mentioned before. I really wish our co-op extended for a longer period of time so that I would be able to attend HM13 and be able to further communicate with many of the physicians and healthcare professionals about their experiences in the hospital setting, as well as attend the many sessions offered at HM13.

I’m not going to say I can’t believe we are half way through this co-op because that is cliché and clearly I can believe it since I own a calendar.  But nevertheless, time has gone by really fast.  It is amazing to think how long I have been here, but it is equally amazing to think about how much I have learned in such a short amount of time. 

What I have found to be the most enjoyable part of my time at SHM are the opportunities I am given to learn about myself and my future career objectives.  Coming into my first co-op I knew I enjoyed marketing, but I had no idea in which direction I wanted to go with it.  Now, after completing only half of my first co-op, I already have a better understand of what I want to do in this field.  

I told Hayley I was interested in the design and layout aspect of marketing and she let me sit in on the art meeting and gave me creative briefs to work on.  Also, I told her that market research seemed interesting to me.  Hayley made me a crucial part of the market research team and I learned how much I enjoy that sub-field of marketing.  Now, I know that design and layout and market research are two subjects I want to learn more about at Drexel and continue working on at future co-ops.

What is next for me at SHM?!

       So far at SHM, I have enjoyed everything! I really enjoyed this coop so far and can’t wait to learn more in my final months. What I specifically enjoyed in my department is media relations as well as the social media aspect of Marketing and Communications. Just today they were asking me what I think I wanted to do for my future. Short answer in the meeting was "I am not sure" Ashley told me that is not the right answer. I felt silly at first but they both really put it in perspective and really helped me in thinking about what I really liked and didn't like here and what I could do in the future. It led me to actually think about what I would want to do in Marketing today and thinking about how they can relate to my career development. I tied this back to my work on social media as well as getting into a career maybe in Media Relations as I have taken a likening to working with Brendon and Ashley on Wiley content and generating media for SHM and working with various writers. I have found that very interesting. That is one big thing I have enjoyed and am grateful is working for Ashley and Brendon, as they have been the best bosses I could ask for as they both push me to do my best work. They always have my best interests first and are making sure that what I am doing is interesting and what I want to be doing. I have had no complaints as I always feel like I have a good amount of work that I am always working on and I know when I get here their are tasks for me to work on that are helping me enhance my professional career. I have learned so much in such a short time that truthfully I did not believe I would learn in just 6 months.

       Brendon and Ashley have allowed me to access many great channels such as Cision which allows me to follow media that relates to hospital medicine and SHM in general. Also, being a part of Wiley conversations and learning a lot of great things that go into generating content and creating awesome social media strategies. My biggest thing second half would have to be perfecting social media strategies and content gathering using HootSuite. I think being able how to use applications like HootSuite and Cision is great for my career development as well as drafting content and formatting is something I have taken to a likening. Ashley is always helping me with my writing and how I can make it better and relate to SHM, whether I am drafting social media posts or drafting webinar content, I have really liked that and plan to ask for more content like this. With Ashley leaving its going to be a hard transition for SHM and Brendon but it is going to be something I can learn from and a way for me to take on maybe some of the roles Ashley leaves behind and assist Brendon as much as I can. I am excited for these next few months and going to miss SHM in April when the coop is over!

PS. If you have not noticed by now, I write a lot so sorry for it being so such a long post! hahaha

GUESS WHAT.

You're almost half way done your co-op here. Crazy, right?

What have you really enjoyed so far? What do you hope to do more of in the last half? 

You will get asked this question during our check-in lunch later this month so there's no better time to prepare your answer than NOW! 

Also, get excited for the co-op party on Thursday, it'll be a great time.