Student Forums
A journal of social practice & professional engagement for the Antioch community
 

Post-Acute Care Continuum: Scaife ’17 at Kettering Health Network in Dayton, Ohio

This winter I was given the opportunity to perform a general internship for the Kettering Health Network in the Advanced Care Department. The Kettering Health Network (KHN) is a non-profit network of eight hospitals, nine emergency departments, and over 120 outpatient facilities throughout Southwest Ohio, all of whom follow the mission to improve the quality of life of the people in the communities they serve through health care and education. The network does this by offering patients advance cancer fighting technology, high qualities for maternity care, brain and spinal surgery, and leading Ohio in cardiac care. Kettering strives for excellence and ensuring patients are given the best experience possible, following the key values of being Trustworthy, Innovative, Caring, Competent, and Collaborative; encouraging all patients to choose “K for Life,” but you can learn more at https://www.ketteringhealth.org/. KHN works directly with the public to promote better health practices, provide outpatient support, and encourage a healthier community through increasing public awareness, health screenings, and patient centered care.

My role in the network is as a general intern working for Dr. Abi Katz D.O., an Antioch Alumni from the class of ’86. Dr. Katz is the Director of Operations of the Post-Acute Care Continuum. She is a doctor specializing in palliative medicine, the medical practice of relieving symptoms, pains, and stresses of serious and chronic illness. I work with her directly by researching, attending meetings, taking notes, creating PowerPoints and spreadsheets, and working on various projects. The project that I have spent a majority of the last two months working on is the Medication Reconciliation Project, which has allowed me to meet with various physicians, nurses, and pharmacists throughout the Kettering Medical Center, the hospital where I primarily work. Medication Reconciliation (med recon for short) is the process of reviewing a patient’s medications and reconciling any possible errors, like duplications, dosage and frequency errors, and potential adverse drug interactions (for a little more information, visit https://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=414912). The intention of this project is to identify areas within the med recon process that could be improved and disseminating this information in the hopes that it will lead to a reduction of these events. I am currently working on a series of work flows that may be used in the future as educational materials for physicians learning med recon.

It is difficult to describe my daily experience, mainly because each day was generally different from the last. My day usually consisted of any combination of the following: researching various topics of information that relates to one of the projects or is something Dr. Katz needs for a reference, creating PowerPoints and Excel spreadsheets to record information and data, meeting with individuals for information on projects, attending larger meetings and taking notes, creating or modifing flow charts that outline systems within the network, transcribing physical information into a digital format, communicating with various members of the network through emails, driving to various locations for meetings, reading articles for information, and meeting with Dr. Katz periodically. Another aspect of my internship has been learning through online modules from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, which have been instructing me on a number of topics that relate to establishing quality improvement projects, ensuring patient safety and centeredness, and leadership skills. After completing all sixteen modules, I was recently able to earn the IHI Open School Certificate of Completion- Basic Level. If you would like to look and take any course, all you need to do is register at https://app.ihi.org/lms/home.aspx.

I am currently a Biomedical Science major, and this Co-op has given me a great opportunity to explore the administrative side of medicine, as well as allowed me to learn of the complexity of the healthcare system. Working in the Advanced Care Department, I have been able to assist in the development of projects and reference materials that will help Dr. Katz as she continues her efforts in improving the quality of patient care for the Kettering Health Network.

Photo credit: Kettering Health Network – https://ketteringhealth.org/mediaroom/articles/index.cfm?x=316#storytop

Post Tags
Share Post
Written by

<p><strong>Roland</strong> is a biomedical science major at Antioch College. A member of the class of 2017, his main themes for Co-op positions have been scientific research and medicine. His current interest is to continue into the medical field following undergraduate, and pursue his goal of becoming an oncologist. </p> <p>In the process of completing his fourth Co-op, Roland's first Co-op was in the spring of 2014 was as a quality control intern for Chroma Technology Inc. in Bellows Falls, VT. While there, worked in a team dynamic and was able to gain experience using spectrophotometric equipment in the inspection of optical filters. Working independently and in teams, he was able to learn various qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques, as well as assist in research and development projects to improve efficiency of process. In the winter of 2015, Roland worked for Dr. Abi Katz, an Antioch alum and palliative physician, in the Post-Acute Care Continuum of the Kettering Health Network. This was his first experience working in a hospital, although most of the work was spent in the administrative aspect of healthcare. He was able to learn about the establishment of advance illness management procedures and palliative medicine.  His main contribution was in a project centered around reducing the number of medication related errors within the Kettering Medical Center. Ultimately this took the form of a medication review process flow that outlined various steps to reduce the possibility of error. In addition, he was able to create a series of learning materials for those just learning to use the medication input and review system. Much of this work involved research and review of literature and obtaining the feedback of physicians, pharmacists, and nurses during interviews. For his third Co-op, Roland traveled to the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel. Working as a volunteer research assistant, he and two other Antioch students were able to learn from Dr. Jeffrey Goldstein, a radiation oncologist and Antioch Alum. The three students were able to gather data on the location and size of internal mammary chain lymph nodes in breast cancer patients, as well as complete a scientific paper that is currently under review. Each student was able to communicate effectively and bring their own skill sets to produce the final paper. </p> <p>Currently, Roland has returned to work for Dr. Katz as a clinical intern for Fidelity Health Care, working within an advance illness management program. He has aided in literature review for transitional care methods for reducing patient readmissions to the hospital, and is also working to establish a care guide copilot that will allow him to work one-on-one with patients and help to identify barriers in their treatment and establish goals to help empower them. </p> <p>Additionally, he has also serve as a tutor for various science courses at Antioch, aiding in the learning of other students and supporting their growth in the subjects. Through tutoring, he has also been able to develop skills in instructing course materials and developing interpersonal skills that promote positive information exchange. He has tutored:</p> <p>CHEM105/160: General Chemistry I&II</p> <p>BIO105/160: General Biology I&II</p> <p>Math160: Calculus II</p> <p>BIO215: Cellular & Molecular Biology</p>

No comments

LEAVE A COMMENT