5-Aug-2023

I was able to get my hands on an eye-opening experience. I got to volunteer at an OBGYN office and clinic in my area, and I have to say, I learned so many new things. I regularly visited this clinic between July 24, 2023, and Aug 4, 2023. For a good chunk of time during the days, I sat with the employees and watched as they were constantly clicking around on their computers. One of them was showing me different functions on her laptop and was explaining to me what she was doing. I noticed her entering many different things about each patient into a database. Things like the patient’s medical history, her family medical history, current medications she’s taking, and her sexual history and activity information. While that was going on, the other employee near me was taking vitals of the incoming patients. She checked their weight, blood pressure, asked about their recent menstrual cycle, and sent them to take a urine sample. For some new patients, they take a urine sample to check for pregnancy. The patient gives them a sample from the restroom, and the nurses take a small pregnancy test to dip in the urine. Once they finish doing that, they let it sit and wait for the results. If it shows a single line, it’s negative. And two lines mean positive. I even got to help send patients to the restroom, instructing them on what to do. In the middle of everything happening, the gynecologist took me to watch a few checkups with her patients from time to time. I even got a few chances to assist with little ones. There was one who had just given birth a few weeks before, and was doing a follow up. While the doctor checked up on the mother’s health, I got to hold the wriggling baby in my arms! It was so sweet to see both of them nice and healthy. There was another patient who had a 1 year old beside her, and she was pregnant with her second child. The young toddler was so curious, and was touching everything in sight. To prevent any mishaps, I sat down with the 1 year old in my lap, and managed to keep him entertained until his mom was done with her checkup. I also grasped some new information during my days there. For instance, I learned how a gynecologist checks a growing baby’s heartbeat. She uses an NST (No-Stress Test) to monitor the baby’s heartbeat and check if it’s doing well or not. The machine is attached to a camera-like tool which the doctor attaches to the belly, and it prints out a continuous measurement of the heartbeat. On that chart, there’s a grid, and the squiggly line has to be within a specific range to know that the baby is doing okay. It was touching to see the mother’s relieved face, knowing her healthy bundle of joy would soon be welcomed into the world. Another interesting thing I saw was how an ultrasound is done. Once again, the doctor uses that camera-like tool and slowly runs it across the belly. A screen shows whatever part the camera is showing, and the doctor proceeds to take different measurements of the baby’s body. This was a golden opportunity for me, giving me a real life experience of a doctor’s office. I am sure this will help me immensely in my future career.