Starting Up Again...

Because we had to do this same project for Dr. Nordyke's Medical Microbiology class, I am excited to do this project again; however, this time I will be much more comfortable with the clinic and it will be interesting to research the cell biology of the most common diseases seen in under-served Houston clinics. Since I was already volunteering at San Jose Clinic during the Spring semester, I decided to continue to volunteer there through out the summer as well. I went once a week for 2 hours and instead of always bouncing around from place to place every week, I was allowed to have the "job" of assisting the front desk. Because the secretary tends to get swamped with phone calls and constantly directing patients where to go, it was my job to try to help her direct patients to various parts of the clinic. I also have to make sure that the patients all wear a "visitor" badge before they are allowed to leave the lobby.

Once Fall semester started, I took a break from San Jose but I started back up again this week. It was great working with the people at the clinic again, talking and catching up with them. When I first started volunteering at San Jose, I was really disappointed that they rarely let students actually go into the dental or medical clinics, only letting them do paperwork or other miscellaneous tasks. But after spending the summer at San Jose, I really learned more about the clinic and the daily problems that occur when running these types of clinics. I am definitely very comfortable now working at San Jose as it has a great, friendly group of people and it helps so many people in need everyday.