Hi guys!
I hope everyone had a great week! Over the course of the last few days, I have been working on (surprise, surprise) passing yet another string of tests and quizzes to become certified for conducting clinical surveys. But in all honesty, it's been pretty fun!
In order to interact with patients and physicians in a clinical setting, I've been taking training courses and assessments for CITI, HIPAA, and SHOW.
Before I begin detailing my experience with each, I just wanted to give a quick side note about my research question. Turns out being in high school (in combination with being under 18) results in complications with directly surveying patients, so my study has evolved to a slightly different approach to narrative medicine. As such, my new research question is: How does storytelling impact a clinician's experience in patient care? In hindsight, this is actually a wonderful opportunity for me because there already exists some research on the effects of storytelling on patient health and relationships; however, almost no investigations study the effect that storytelling has on clinicians in their ability to diagnose and improve treatments for their patients.
In continuation with the certification trainings, I would like to discuss the types of questions in and significance of each.
Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI): The goal of CITI is to ensure public trust, integrity, and quality in research. Under the University of Arizona College of Medicine branch, I was able to take the Social and Behavioral Research Investigators (HSR) course which covered lessons in healthcare ethics, federal research regulations, risk of assessment, human subjects in research, and privacy or confidentiality protections. I was particularly interested by the modules "Research with Children", "Research with Prisoners", and "Research with International Minorities" because it's so fascinating to see that in healthcare, each individual is valued for their unique contribution to the patient world.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) Training: The purpose of HIPAA is to secure privacy while maintaining efficiency in portability of patient information. HIPAA training is meant for higher-degree physicians running a private practice and graduate students practicing for medicine, so admittedly this was a bit more challenging to comprehend. Essentially, I was able to learn what PHI (individually identifiable health information) is and the uses and disclosure procedures of it. I personally really liked the "special circumstances" section which included medical scenarios in law enforcement, decedent and familial records, and military and national intelligence activities because this showed how complex the interdisciplinary nature of practicing medicine truly is.
Student Health Outreach for Wellness (SHOW) Clinical Orientation: The SHOW training was relatively simplistic and the goal is to take a holistic approach in providing a safe environment to patients experiencing homelessness in the community. I was introduced to SHOW-specific clinic flow and the different codes which are universal in hospital and clinical settings: code red for fire, code yellow for a bomb threat, code blue for cardiac arrest, code gray for security alert, and code orange for hazardous material incident. (Definitely realized the colors of the rainbow aren't so peaceful anymore)
Overall, taking these orientations and assessments (fun fact: I got straight A's) was an unforgettable experience. I'm so glad to already feel like I'm a part of the medical community that I strive to be in as a physician. Now that I'm officially certified to interact with patients, doctors, and medical students, I'm looking forward to beginning my interview and survey process soon!
Thank you so much for reading! Please check in next Friday for my weekly update!
Anivarya
This sounds like the following weeks are going to be exciting. I do think, even though your original question was interesting, that the change to its impact on clinicians will yield even greater and more significant results. I am looking forward to see what you find!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear you have been able to easily refocus your research question. Also, nice job receiving all of the proper training required for this project (this will most definitely have a strong logos and ethos appeal to your audience). I can't wait to hear more about your findings!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a really interesting topic! I am glad you were able to easily alter your question without shifting too much away from your original intent. It seems like you went through a very long process, but its good that you enjoyed it! I look forward to hearing more about your results.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear that you were able to turn a potential problem in your favor. I look forward to seeing the discoveries that you make in this area that no one has studied before.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your classmates, Anivarya: it seems like you're restructuring your exploration in a really productive way, one that has (I think) further-reaching implications than what you had initially planned. I also suspect this will help narrow your focus in a way that will help make your work over the next several weeks a little more manageable! As someone interested in pursuing a medical degree, how have these trainings in which you've participated shaped your appreciation for and/or awareness of the particular ethical concerns that face professionals in the medical field?
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting change to your experiment, Anivarya. I'm excited to see the results of your research. I think that if narrative medicine is going to be implemented in any real way, the impact on clinicians must be researched as thoroughly as the impact on patients. Doctors would have so much more incentive to modify their practice if they know the changes will benefit the clinician as well as the patient. I look forward to your updates.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the feedback Ms. Kynor, Ms. Andoga, Max, Eli, Crystal, and CJ! Ms. Andoga, I think I've always known that because healthcare deals with the life of an individual, a lot of policies have been enforced to prevent disruption of privacy and confidentiality. But I've always seen this from the perspective that our society is so litigious; these trainings really brought some insight to the gravity of dealing with a patients and all the people they has ever associated themselves with. Which, of course, is the full circle of medicine - a physician isn't just fighting for life over death, but for the patient's whole story.
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