The past week has been quite an adventure. My mentor, and the founding director of the Rodham Institute, Dr. El-Bayoumi, left on vacation for a few weeks. The pace at the Rodham has slowed down. Mainly, I have been helping out in the office with odds and ends. The Rodham puts on a summer camp for high school students, manly kids whose parents work at the George Washington Hospital, to educate and introduce health related topics, as well as to provide the students with opportunities that they would otherwise not have. It’s called the Health Education Leadership Program, or H.E.L.P. for short. A majority of my time has been spent preparing for the program, organizing morning activities and constructing worksheets and examples for the social impact project that they will be working on. We also began to sort through and analyze the results of the “See The City You Serve” event from this last Thursday.
A doodle of the White House
Some street dancers in Chinatown. Their show included front flipping over four people.
Wednesday and Thursday I spent in a clinic, shadowing the GW medical residents. On Thursday I worked with Dr. Dallas, who taught me how to perform a basic patient examination. We listened to their heart to check for irregular beats, or heart murmurs, lungs to check for fluid, and swelling in various body parts. He walked me through writing notes on the patient visits and the various components of our patients’ ailments. He also explained the importance of providing treatment that you believe is the correct course of action, but also coincides with what your patient wants and needs. It was an amazing experience to be able to interact with patients. Thursday was also the weekly “Grand Rounds” lecture. This week the topic was Bipolar disorder, the many controversies that are associated with it, and appropriate treatment.
Besides my work at the Rodham and the GW Clinic, I have tried to take advantage of some extra free time to explore D.C. I visited the largest climbing wall in the nation, Earth Treks in Rockville. I also climbed in Carderock, which is a short drive from D.C. I have visited several Smithsonian museums. My favorite is the National Portrait Gallery. D.C. has many attractions to offer. I have been to a free concert at the National American Art Museum and the National Zoo. One of my favorite spots has become the small park just outside the steps of the white house. There are often street performers and protesters camped out in the square, but the park itself provides a tranquil escape from the city.
The nation’s largest climbing gym
Climbing at Carderock
I am looking forward to this coming week. I am excited to help run the H.E.L.P. camp and work with local students. I have finally settled into the bustle of D.C., becoming a pro at navigating the metro and walking the city. The staff at the Rodham has welcomed me in and I have learned a lot from them.
There are no comments published yet.