Final Week

With the clinic closed on Wednesday do to Thanksgiving, I chose to volunteer on Monday in the morning. I was sent to the dental clinic once again, with boxes that STILL needed to be recorded! The head dentist that I usually see was not there this week as he was taking the whole week off to visit his family. With this being my final week, I started to realize how long I had been volunteering at San Jose. Starting last semester, through the summer, and now finally the fall semester, I have definitely seen myself transition from a complete "newbie" to someone who is friends with the other workers and familiar with how the clinic operates. I think everybody should try to volunteer at an underserved clinic at some point, especially those interested in the healthcare field. It's good to see the other side of healthcare, outside of hospitals or private practices. As students, we get to observe how procedures change based on the amount of resources available, and this may be something that will prepare us for our future career.

This Service Learning Project has been a very useful project. Not only have I been able to talk about my experiences during my interviews, but it overall helped us learn more about clinics around Houston and certain aspects of the healthcare system. Hopefully, our brochures will help the patients learn more about various diseases they are at risk for and we can help prevent any unnecessary diseases from spreading.