My first day in a doctor's office was CRAZY! I have been to the doctor's office before, but I have never experienced it like I did today! It is one thing to be a patient at an office, but it is completely and totally different to be working in one. First off, I should explain to those of you who don't know that I am currently externing at a doctor’s office so that I can finish up my medical assisting program. I have 7 hours down and 145 to go. I'm working at a family practice that treats mostly people who do not speak English. Out of the however many patients we worked with today none of them spoke, wrote, or even understood English. Not one of them understood me, and all of them needed a translator. Have I said it enough ways that no one understood me?!? To be honest this really didn't bother me too much, I just felt inadequate when trying to help them and can only imagine how they felt when working with me.
I felt like a tea cup today, they were pouring out all this information that I had to learn and most of is was just pouring out the sides of my pour little cup. Things like locating files by DOB, and others by last name depending on what kind of insurance they had didn't stick. While things like blood draws, injections, answering phones and making appointments took up all the space my poor little cup could handle. Luckily, I think my tea cup was big enough for the lead MA and the Doctor because at the end of the day they both said they liked me and that I was one of the best externs they had worked with. Phew! Maybe I will be able to make it through the next 145 hours alive! :)
I know that this next month is going to be so hard, but it is giving me good experience that I can apply to other places I work. Can I also mention, how much I love the fact that I get to help these people. Who knows maybe I will learn Korean, or Cambodian after interacting with our patients so much, or then again maybe I won’t, but it was a cool idea anyway, huh?
