Hi students/prospective students,
Last time I wrote I had just started my first week at my first practicum. It was one of the greatest experiences I have ever had. It was so refreshing to come into work every day and be excited. That has never happened to me before. That was exactly what I needed to feel like I choose the right program. My parents told me that is what you should look for when starting a career and so it is great to experience that. My first practicum was in the Psych Unit at Ridge Meadows Hospital. After this experience I really, really hope to work with Fraser Health. I loved the computer system, the communication networks, and the team. Everyone was super welcoming and patient with me. I couldn’t have been happier with where I was placed. After working with pysch patients it also makes you more aware about mental illness. I can honestly say that it opened my eyes to things. Before I didn’t really understand mental illness and didn’t bother to take the time to, but now I have total empathy for them. I think everyone should spend a day in the psych unit. Once you read the charts and get to know them, it really makes you think what people struggle with in day to day life. It really is an experience that makes you feel blessed to have a clear head, something that all of us take for granted every day.
At the end of my practicum I didn’t want to leave, I felt comfortable talking to the doctors, processing orders, doing all the duties, and answering the phone. I felt like this was the job I was meant to do. For my second practicum I feel the complete opposite. I was told that I was going to a Post Partum Unit at BC Womens Hospital. That is not the unit that I ended up at though. I don’t want to get into it because it is a subject that is very polarized in Canada, but let’s just say I feel very strongly on this topic. I am in the first week of my practicum and I am struggling. I am not catching on to things as quickly as I did at my last practicum and I feel kind of detached to everything I am trying to ignore what is going on so that I can focus on just doing my jobs, but then I miss details for processing orders. Let’s just say it is a unit that I would never choose to work at and I am really upset that I wasn’t consulted before being placed there. I basically came onto the unit unaware of what was awaiting me.
I hope these three weeks will fly. At this point all I want to do is pass so I can get on with getting hired and start making money! The next time I write I will be a grad!
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