THE BEAT: CARE EXTENDERS

UCLA Health System Care Extender Internship Program

Inside … Letter from the Editor… Hello Care Extenders,

The surveyors from the joint commission will come to inspect the hospital. Commission members may question any CE, to prepare yourself for such event, please review the Joint Commission Study Sheet that Silva sent to all Care Extenders. If you cannot find it in your inbox, please email your Department Coordinator who will then forward it to you.

In this edition, there are sections about current events, ethics, health, medical fields and an interview of a Care Extender Alumni. I hope you enjoy reading these articles and email me about your opinions. I have added a section of entertainment with games and an inspirations page. If you have any stories to share about your inspirations or know solutions to any of the puzzles, email me your responses at CEnewslettercoordinator@gmail.com. Two lucky winners will have their picture printed in the next edition.

Current Events Page 2 Ethics Debate Page 3 Heath and Wellness Page 4 Medical Fields Page 5 Interviews & Recognition

Pages 6-9 Inspirations Page 10 Fun & Games Pages 11-12

Taral Patel Newsletter Coordinator

Spring 2011 Current Events

Hand Surgery

Hemispherectomy

Fried foods REPLACED!

Taxes Increased!

The move to the new hospital is planned for January 2011. There will be mandatory training in this Fall rotation for all Care Extenders. Stay tuned for more information in the coming newsletters!

Starting Monday April 11th, fried foods like fried chicken were replaced with oven-baked goods like baked chicken. The increase in fresh food options “represents the next step in the journey to wellness” for the Santa Monica Hospital.

The tax rates within the city of Santa Monica were increased to10.25%. This was effective April 1st resulting in Café Santa Monica and the Gift Shop charging a higher tax rate on all purchases.

After 14 hours of hard work, two surgical teams in Santa Monica completed the first successful hand

transplant. A 26-year-old mom from North California, who lost the right arm 5 years ago, was able to take part in making history and regaining that lost arm. UCLA Hospital’s prestige increased with the efforts of Dr. Kodi Azari, who performed several other surgeries across the nation.

1 in 20 children around the nation suffer from severe epilepsy, which can be solved only by removing half of the brain. This intervention enables them to perform basic functions such as communicating verbally, going to school, and identifying parental relations. Dr. Gary Mathern specializes in surgical treatments for children and commented on the specialty of UCLA being one of the few institutions to perform this surgery.

Construction update:

Spring 2011 Ethics Debate

The Golden Question: If you have a chance of inheriting a fatal disease, should you find out if you have it? Hypothetical Case Study:

Priya has just lost her mother to breast cancer. Watching the battle against the disease of her mother was hard for Priya.

Priya knows that breast cancer usually strikes people in middle age. It is always fatal, and there is no known treatment. She also knows that since the disease is inherited, she has a possibility of getting it herself.

Priya just learned about a test, which can determine if a gene mutation (BRCA 1 or BRCA 2) is present. However, the issue with this test is that even if you have the mutation, there is no guarantee that you will develop breast cancer later on.

She is tempted to take the test. She thinks that if she could find out whether she will get the disease, she could plan for her future. On the other hand, she wonders if it is better not knowing.

If you were Priya, what would you do?

Research today provides us with many means of predicting our medical future. One

technique is karyotyping, which allows for the mapping of the chromosomes. This method is great for determining chromosomal problems like Down syndrome. Thus, a more specific method is gene typing. Through this, specific mutations in the gene can be determined. Thus, the person can be notified of the presence of the mutation.

However, a mutation in BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 only increases the likelihood of a mutation in breast cancer. Similarly, there are many other diseases, which do not have a 100% correlation between the mutation and disease.

Thus the question arises: If you had the decision to learn about the possibility of lethal disease in your near future, should you? The pro would be becoming more aware of your life and where it is going. The con in this situation would be that you might have the mutation but not the disease, which might have unwanted outcomes such as an unnecessary surgery.

In the coming newsletters, we will be further exploring these Pros and Cons. In addition, we will be exploring the opinions of Care Extenders with this topic. If you have any comments, suggestions or opinions to share, please email them to me at Careextenders@gmail.com.

Spring 2011 Health and Wellness: Vegetarianism

Definition: A diet that consists of little or no animal products Types of diets:

• Vegan: consuming foods only from plant origin • Lacto-vegetarian: Consuming foods of plant origin and some or all dairy products • Lacto-ovovegetarian: consuming plant foods, dairy products, and eggs • Semi- or partial- vegetarianism: Diet consists of plant foods, may include chicken or fish, dairy products

CHALLENGE: This challenge is based on honor policy. My challenge to you is to try being vegetarian (one of the 4 types) for two weeks. If you succeed in part 1, then move on to part 2. Submit your thoughts and any changes that you notice due to your diet change. The second option for part 2 is to email me your food consumption for one day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and whatever snacks were consumed in between) when you were vegetarian. The first 2 people to email me will get their name and photo printed in the next article along with volunteer hours. Again, this challenge is solely based on honor code.

Challenges in a Vegetarian diet: • Not enough iron intake • Deficiency in Vitamin B12 • Deficiencies in calcium, protein, Vitamin D, riboflavin if enough milk is not

consumed Solutions to above problems:

• Mixing the complete and incomplete proteins to make sure adequate amino acids are received

• Eating more milk and cereal, peanut butter and bread, beans and rice, beans and corn tortilla, and macaroni and cheese

Spring 2011 Medical Fields: Technicians

Emergency Medical Technicians

Radiology Technicians

Dietetic Technicians This technician specializes in nutritional care, which prepares her/him for employment in various settings. The activities performed include: nutritional assessment, planning menus, implementing and evaluating diets, and dietary counseling. Education: Bachelor’s Degree, Usually Dietician Technicians advance to become Dieticians. Salary: $22,627 - $39,779

Radiology Technicians use instruments like CT, MRI, Fluoroscopes, and Sonograms. They work in departments like diagnostic radiography, Nuclear Medicine, Radiotherapy, and Mammography. Education: Bachelor’s Degree certifying the radiographer’s range Salary: Starting at $36,918 and can go up to $64,290 for program directors.

There are 4 types of Emergency medical technicians whose tasks involve: driving the ambulance, performing non-invasive procedures, performing IV therapy, using multi-lumen airway devices, doing cardiac monitoring, and administering pharmaceutical interventions. Education: classroom training varies from 110 hours to 1000 hours depending on which level of EMT training is being taught. Salary: $22,977- $39,482

Spring 2011 Interview of CE Alumni: Christine Thang

1. What was your most memorable experience in Care Extenders? My most memorable Care Extender experience was observing my first delivery during my labor and delivery rotation. Prior to that rotation, I was volunteering in departments where I had a lot of downtime. I had grown used to performing the tasks expected for a hospital volunteer such as transporting patients, picking up medications, and delivering items to the patients. What I did not expect was to be fully involved in an actual hospital procedure to the extent that I was in Labor and Delivery. 2. When you entered Care Extenders, what did you expect from the program? I expected the Care Extender program to instill in me the clinical experiences that were expected in a pre-medical student. I wanted to see, smell, hear, feel, and experience what it meant to work in a hospital. What I did not expect was to become as fully involved in the program as I have. I am passionate about providing new volunteers with higher expectations for the program. As a member on staff, I am committed to keeping the program moving forward. I expect the program to continue progressing as new volunteers join the program, and as we have more volunteers joining staff. 3. What were your career goals and how has Care Extenders impacted that? My career goal like many Care Extenders is to become a physician. What the program has done for me is reassured me that this attainable goal is for me. I have enjoyed working in the hospital setting. The individuals whom I have met through Care Extenders such as hospital staff and even current and past Care Extenders have been valuable to me in sharing with me their thoughts and experiences working in the medical field that reaffirm my desire to join them. 4. For current and prospective Care Extenders, what advise would you impart? As many Care Extenders may have heard before, my advice is: the Care Extender program is what the volunteers make of it. Simply joining the program and going through the motions will not make any volunteer into a successful future healthcare provider. What Care Extenders need to do is be proactive and seek out hospital staff members. There are so many connections to be made in the program and so much to learn. By talking with physicians, nurses, technicians, and other Care Extenders, I have learned so much from the daily work in the hospital to the requirements for applying to medical school.

Other Outstanding CEs: These CEs were awarded scholarships by the UCLA Health System Auxiliary and recognized for their hard work and participation in the Care Extender Program. Going from left to right: Omid Yousefian, Megan Segal, Silva Thomas (CE Program Manager), Nicole Leiser, and Bryan Pezeshki.

Bryan Tran

While working in PICU, a nurse asked me to entertain a child. Initially, I had difficulty because the child was agitated by not recognizing me. I started humming and the child fell asleep.

Spring 2011 Care Extenders of the Rotation

RRH-7 ICU Amy Huh

My most memorable experience at 7ICU was when I acted as a translator for a nice elderly Korean couple. The patient was uncomfortable but couldn't communicate with the doctors because he did not speak English. I was able to help him and his wife by giving them the care and the attention they needed.

RRH-7W- CTU Jessica Cook

Cynthia Wang

My most memorable experience was helping the nurses and doctors during a Code Blue on my floor.

My most memorable experience at 7W-CTU was getting to talk to one of the doctors about his job and medical school experiences. He told me about the type of characteristics medical schools look for, why he chose to go into his particular field, and emphasized that medicine is really only for those who are truly dedicated to helping others. He even offered to come visit me during another shift to see how I was doing.

RRH-8N Brian Truong

While watching a patient, I asked "What's wrong with him? He doesn't seem normal." The secretary replied that he was "confused" which also made me confused but curious. When the RN returned, I asked her what was wrong with the patient and she told me he was confused and they did not know why since he had already received a liver transplant. Even after receiving a liver transplant, which should have significantly improved his health, there the patient was hopelessly confused with nurses and doctors trying to figure out why he was not recovering.

RRH-8EW Nivedita Kar An innocent man has been driving and got hit by a drunk driver and he was suffering broken ribs, ulcers, and a broken neck and had severe injuries and was undergoing quite intensive surgeries. He had just gotten out of a post-op surgery because his ribs were starting to puncture his lungs. I had gone in there to give him ice cream and we got to talk about how quickly his life had changed.

RRH-MICU Francis Yang

In one shift, a wedding occurred in a terminally ill patient’s room. Someone accidentally set off an alarm and a lady who was coding was transferred to the unit.

Joyce Rivera

Jessica Chew

I was a bit concerned when I didn't see a 9-month patient who had received a liver for a couple weeks, but her physician assured me that she was recovering in another unit.

Observing the nurse replace a child's ostomy bag, and having to soothe and keep the child calm during the process.

RRH-Peds

RRH-WW ICU

Spring 2011

SMH- L&D A

Faith Idemundia

SMH- L&D B Laika Roy

Natasha Adamski

SMH- Med Surg

Andrea Abaloni

Between Friday and Monday of my last three/four days of this rotation, I observed the contrasting agony and elation that childbirth can be. I witnessed both the tragedy and the promise of hope that trying to bring forth a special life can be.

I helped Stephanie (one of the nurses) deliver a baby by holding the patient's leg as she pushed.

One of my favorite experiences came from watching a mother who was having a C-section for her twins.

I was able to observe the nurses dressing the wounds of a man that had necrotizing fasciitis. It was a great learning experience and the nurses were willing to explain the causes of necrotizing fasciitis as well as the purpose of the specific type of bandaging they were using.

SMH- LKC Emily Van Houdt

LKC affirmed my passion to go into medicine. Through witnessing their patient interactions, I have learned how to be a better volunteer.

Ann Yufa

Saturday, April 30, was the busiest day in Post Partum as well as in Labor & Delivery (who had no Care Extenders on staff during my 7-11pm shift) that I have ever seen. For those four hours, there was not a moment for me to even sit as Post Partum along with Labor & Delivery consistently needed my help. The charge nurse of Post Partum, Diane, was frantically working around the department. Work had not died down at the end of my shift, especially when an antepartum patient in her 22nd week went into labor. I told Diane and notified L&D that I would stay that night and continue helping until the frenzy had died down. That night, I left Post Partum at 3 am. The nurses were so caring and considerate. Even as they thanked me for my extra help, they all kept telling me to go home, expressing how worried they were about how I would get home [even though I let them know I have a car] and how much sleep I would get. They fed me and talked to me. For a tiny moment I felt as though I had ten mothers.

SMH- Post Partum

SMH- Greeters Adam Clark

A lonely old man came into the hospital and explained to me that he would be coming in for surgery in about two weeks and he wanted to MAKE SURE that he could park his truck himself. Why? Because the truck was "20 years old and in perfect condition“ and he had taken great care of it. In a way, the truck was obviously his most important item. The man said he had cancer and was scheduled for surgery to remove the tumor. There was a good chance that he would not survive. Really, I think this patient wanted to feel as though he had SOME control over his life still by being allowed to park the truck himself. So, I got Ruben, the parking manager, and we worked it out so that the man would be allowed to park without using valet.

SMH- ER A Julia Cser

Most recently, I helped clean and bandage wounds for a gentleman who had been in a very bad bicycle accident. His extensive wounds did not affect his wonderful attitude, and he was so grateful for our efforts.

Spring 2011

Krishnal Sail Phillip Pham

RRH-7 ICU RRH-7W- CTU

Jerry Markar-Araghi on the left and Cristina Pruett on the right

RRH-8N

RRH-Peds RRH-WW ICU

Jennifer Demoss

RRH-MICU

Takahiro Ohara on the left and Adrian Bacong on the right

Chris Ferruzzi

SMH- L&D A

Courtney Heck

SMH- Med Surg

SMH- Oncology SMH- Peds

Jeanette Baux on the left and Michael Klein on the right

SMH- CCL Aisha Grayson

SMH- Floaters Hannah Tan

SMH- PP Minyoung Yu

Tony Kong

SMH- OR Escort Kirin Escher

Kevin Nishada

SMH- Greeters

SMH- Greeters SMH- ER B

Cyn Jiang

Julissa Reyes

SMH- ER A

SMH- Radiology

Madeline Schwarz on the left and Justin Salehi on the

SMH- Radiology Erica Tukiainen

If you want to pursue the field of medicine and understand what it takes to become a member of the healthcare team (whether you want to be a nurse, a physician, a care partner or a social worker), learning about these members’ personal experiences is essential. The Radiology Department was a great opportunity for this because there were so many doctors, nurses and technicians available.

A little old lady goes to the doctor and says, “Doctor I have this problem with gas, but it really doesn’t bother me too much. They never smell and are always silent. As a matter of fact, I’ve passed gas at least 20 times since I’ve been here in your office. You didn’t know I was doing it because they don’t smell and are silent.” The Doctor says, “I see. Take these pills and come back to see me next week.” The next week the lady goes back. “Doctor,” she says, “ I don’t know what you gave me, but now when I pass gas… although still silent… it stinks terribly.” The Doctor says, “Good, now that we have cleared up your sinuses, let’s work on your hearing.”

Little old Lady

HELP NEEDED! If you would like to make any contributions to the newsletter via jokes or articles please email me at CEnewslettercoordinator@gmail.com. You will receive volunteer hours for your contributions.

Inspirations: Goals

Quo t e s :

Story : One Year t o Liv e

Implementing: • “If you want to live a happy life, tie it to

a goal, not to people or things.” –Albert Einstein

• “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.”—Winston Curchill

• “When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.”—Confucius

• “First, have a definite, clear practical ideal: a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve the ends: wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third: adjust all your means to that end” -- Aristotle

With the power of imagination, anything is possible. Thus, even the impossible can become possible through a vision. Having a vision is the first step to success. Introspection: Do you have a goal? Have created definite path for achieving that goal? Do you have the right attitude to tackle any obstacles?

Reference: http://thinkexist.com/quotations/goals/2.html

Anthony Burgess war 40 when he learned that he had only one year to live. He had a brain tumor that would kill him within a year. He know he had a battle on his hands. He was completely broke at the time, and he didn't have anything to leave behind for his wife, Lynne, soon to be a widow.

Burgess had never been a professional novelist in the past, but he always knew the potential was inside him to be a writer. So, for the sole purpose of leaving royalties behind for his wife, he put a piece of paper into a typewriter and began writing. He had no certainty that he would even be published, but he couldn't think of anything else to do.

"It was January of 1960," he said, "and according to the prognosis, I had a winter and spring and summer to live through, and would die with the fall of the leaf."

In that time Burgess wrote energetically, finishing five and a half novels before the year was through (very nearly the entire lifetime output of E.M. Forster, and almost twice that of J. D. Salinger.) But Burgess did not die. His cancer had gone into remission and then disappeared altogether. In his long and full life as a novelist (he is best known for A Clock-work Orange), he wrote more than 70 books, but without the death sentence from cancer, he may not have written at all.

Many of us are like Anthony Burgess, hiding greatness inside, waiting for some external emergency to bring it out. Ask yourself what you'd do if you had Anthony Burgess's original predicament. " If I had just a year to live, how would I live differently? What exactly would I do?"

Spring 2011 Fun and Games

Medical Mystery Abdominal CT scans take cross-sectional X-rays of the stomach areas and are an important technique for diagnosing particular abdominal problems. Below are images of different abdominal CT scans spotting different diseases.

A B

C D

A doctor with four patients sent in orders for abdominal CT scans. That night, the radiology technician was really tired. Even though his shift had 30 minutes [barely enough time to complete everything], he took the x-rays of all four patients. When the intern came in that night, he noticed that the x-ray’s labels were missing. Can you help solve this mystery? Match the X-rays with the following diseases:

1. Liver Cirrhosis: scarred tissue of Liver 2. Neuroblastoma in the Liver: malignant tumor in Liver 3. Lymph node metastases (spreading cancer)= appears as tumor in Lymph 4. Spleen and Liver Metastasis, a stage of intestinal cancer

Spring 2011

Crossword : Exercise Find 10 words bellow:

W X O F Q B E A C K B P N F W S B C X N R D F R F R R I J C F C O S N E P A E L U G D A D N A C I T O O F C C H E S I A M V Q Q S X V K I G M T Y X S Z S W L V X X U G R T K S U D I E W V I F J N Y H S I A I I R R B R X E U P A V C M V R V N L E A L P O X V I S O Y R I D I E O T T E D A K E J F V S V Q A T S B Y I C O O R D I N A T I O N O E A T O T O Q R U M F F J K P P M O T G N X L N A M U M C D Y T P H L E A B Z B U F F D T P G X T A Y O M W F C H P Q K O K K C B V M J G R Y P Z G G Z Z Z Y Q P I V R G Y M N A S I U M B T S R E N K J A U X Y N Z H T H G I E W R E V O

Questions: 1. A contributory factor in processing food: ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 2. When pressure exceeds 140/90mmHg ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 3. Hand – Eye ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 4. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ causes you to become dizzy 5. Gymnasts are ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___. 6. Bone ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ are common in sports. 7. Basketball is played in a ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 8. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ is important in sports-med. 9. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ makes a loosing team win. 10. Obese people are ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___.

Submit your answers to me by July 1st and two winners will win volunteer hours. Stay tuned for the next edition to get answers for these puzzles.

In addition, if you would like to contribute more to the newsletter, your help would be greatly appreciated and you will receive volunteer hours equivalent up to one shift.