Professional Practice in Bioscience - Assignment Example

Part a. Where did you undertake your work placement and what was your role? I worked in the Burwood bird and animal hospital as an intern. My role was to accompany and assist the doctor during his consultations. In addition, I was required to carry out risk assessment on some of the animals brought to the hospital albeit under the supervision of a doctor. I chose the Burwood bird and animal hospital because of its good reputation and expansive experience in dealing with animal health. Opened in 1981, it is one of the oldest animal hospitals in the region with a culture and tradition of excellence of which I wanted to be a part of. b. Why did you choose this work place? Working here will significantly affect my career trajectory since I hope to work as veterinary doctor in my own clinic in the near future. This hospital will provide me experience in dealing with animals in real hospital conditions. Secondly, working with the professional staff of doctors, I expect to learn from their vast experience. They also have a variety of devices and medical technology such as an X-ray machine all, which I will become proficient at using making me a better future veterinary practitioner. 1. Teamwork a. Describe a time when you had to arrive at a compromise with your team, or had to help others arrive at a compromise. As an intern at the Burwood hospital, have had to work as part of a team mostly with my fellow interns assigned duties by the doctor in charge. One of the first duties we were assigned as interns was to carry out an inventory of the facility; we were divided into two teams of 3 each. One was assigned to the laboratories while the other (mine) was to inventory the equipment in the whole hospital. The first team finished a day before mine but accidently one of them deleted the data they had collected and they were unable to recover it. I proposed we work together and help them redo their work in time, members of my group were however against the idea since it meant they would have to sacrifice their entire free Saturday to clean up someone else’s mess. I however convinced them to agree and assisted the other team for at least half the day. The doctor in charge had given us the Job as a team of six so he was not aware we were divided in two, therefore I knew if we delivered half complete work and blamed the other team it would reflect negatively on the whole team. b. Describe a situation when you were a member of a team that struggled or failed to accomplish its goal. What were the reasons for this? However, even after our efforts to help them, their part of the inventory came up short after submission. It turned out that in the hurry to complete the job in time, they had overlooked tens of items, which resulted in the whole inventory inclusive of our part being cancelled, and the team was asked to repeat the process under the supervisor of a senior veterinary doctor. I can attribute the failure to our lack of cooperation as well as poor management, the two team leader’s I included should have ensured that the group worked in harmony and even if we needed to divide work we should not have created independent groups. 2. Communication a. Tell me about a time when you persuaded people to do something your way and the outcome. I was once invited to make give a speech during a community youth Organisation meeting in my town. The issues being addressed included water pollution by local industrialist as well as poor wasted disposal techniques by households. I talked about the need for us as youths to take decisive action and show support for organisations that were trying to safeguard our environment, which is also our future. I was successful in mobilizing my fellow youths to start a campaign dubbed “keep our town clean” we collected money through marches, selling branded t-shirts and other merchandise. The funds were then donated to local environmental organisations, which were championing the fight against industrial pollution. b. Describe a time when you have used your communication skills to resolve a dispute. During my internship, two of my colleagues had a disagreement after a medication error resulted in the death of a critically ill Parrot. Each blamed the other and after a week of heated exchanges, they simply ceased talking to each other. This was quite awkward since they were on the same teams for several group activities. In the end I sat each down separately, I had each of them tell me their grievances about the other and what they were willing to forgive, I requested we have a joint meeting where they would discuss their problem rationally with me as the moderator. Albeit reluctantly they agreed and I sat with them and helped them thrash out the issue, they finally agreed to bury the hatchet and out the team was functional once more. 3. Time Management a. Tell me about a time when you missed a deadline. What were the consequences? During my placement, I once had to present the findings of a minor study my fellow interns and I had been tool to conduct on why some of the clients were opting to go to other hospitals. I was tasked with summarising the data and writing the report. The work proved a lot to integrate into my regular schedule and I ended up submitting it a two days late. The supervisor was understanding but he reprimanded me and told me my professional credibility will can faulted if I failed to deliver on time irrespective of my reasons for not doing so therefore it is my job to prioritize tasks and create time for urgent tasks. b. Tell me about a time when your study or work schedule suddenly changed. How did this affect your other commitments? How did you manage the situation? In my first year of college, I was scheduled to make a presentation to my class on a class project I had been working on. This was to be on a Tuesday, and the next day I was supposed to travel with my friends on a road trip that we had planned for over a month. However, two days before the presentation, my professor informed me that it had been moved to Wednesday. I had to choose between schoolwork and the trip; however, I managed to convince the professor to let us present very early in the morning. Fortunately, he was agreeable and I managed to give the presentation and at the same time take the trip in good time. 4. Initiative and Leadership a. When have you used initiative to solve a problem without being asked? During my second year in school, I volunteered at an animal’s shelter where stray animals would be collected and rehabilitated. One of the challenges I encountered had to do with record keeping since most of them were kept on paper ledgers. One Friday, I remained after hours: using an old CPU in the office, I designed a database system that the staff could use to update the data on the animals. Soon everyone was using the new system and the collection of information became much more efficient and easy. b. Describe a time where a problem arose and your supervisor was not available? What happened? At Burwood clinic, I once had to handle a client who had brought a puppy whose leg had been run over by a car. Personally I though the best thing would have been to euthanize it but since I did not have the skills or authority to make such a decision I called my supervisor who was a veterinary doctor at the hospital. He asked me to place it in a cage, give it some water, and talk comfort the girl as he drove over. It took him over an hour to get there but during the time I managed to calm her down and convince her that to wait for the doctor to come since I my attempting anting on her pet may only worsen its condition. 5. Problem Solving a. Tell me about a time when you have had to decide between two options and how you made a decision? After high school, I had to choose between pursuing a career in law and biomedicine. My parents wanted me to become a lawyer and I had been thinking about it for quite some time. In fact, I had even applied to law school, nevertheless I was ambivalent and a part of me felt I would be better off becoming a veterinary since I loved animals very much. Finally, when I had to make the decision, ended up pursing biomedicine a decision I have never regretted. Although I sometimes wonder how I would have turned out as a lawyer, I am confident that I ended up in my rightful profession. b. Describe a time when you used the wrong solution to a problem. What did you do about it? Mistakes made by veterinary are sometimes as serious as those made by doctors only in our case it not human life that is lost (Aleccia, 2010). At the Burwood clinic, I was given a blood sample of a cat a client had brought in to test for Diabetes. Unfortunately, I accidentally misfiled the blood work and tested a different sample. The veterinary technician treated the cat for diabetes and injected it with insulin because of my misdiagnosis. I discovered my error the next day and immediately communicated this to the technician who ceased the treatment and there were no ill effects. 6. Relationship Building a. Tell me about a time when you’ve had to build a relationship with someone you’ve never met. When I joined college, it was my first experience living outside home. I was quite apprehensive especially since I would be sharing a dorm room with a complete stranger. My first roommate was a medical student, he was very quiet, and in the first, few weeks always appeared withdrawn and disconnected from everything but his studies. However, I gradually came to understand his introversion and we bonded over the things both of us like such as soccer and art. By the end of the semester, he had become one of my closest friends and remains as such even today. b. Give me an example of a time when you had to deal with a difficult person. What happened? During my placement, I once had to deal with an irate client who thought we were mishandling his pet dog when we tied it down and sedated it although it had bitten one of the technicians. He claimed his dog was a disciplined pet and we were simply too experienced. When I realized he was determined to make as scene I firmly told him he could let us deal with the problem or we will be happy to let him take his dog elsewhere. I expected him to yell some more but even as I braced myself for this, he just mumbled something intelligible and left without another word, when I called to advise him that his dog had been seen to, he made no mention of the incident and left a generous tip. 7. Issues of OH&S Making reference to the material and information provided in Workshop 9 and in the Study Guide, explain and give an example of how you could improve safe work practices in: (a) your work placement organization; and (b) other places where you have worked. Safety is a primary concern in any organization particularly those dealing in treatment and health care (Stärk et al., 2006). In my current organization, I would improve the health and safety conditions for both animals and staff by ensuring safety practices are adhered to (Rabinowitz & Conti, 2010). For example, I would implement a system where the staff has to carefully record treatments schedule and adhere to the safety policy. To avoid overdoses and misdiagnosis, I would ensure all staff members and volunteers are informed about safe working practices to minimize the risk of accidents resulting from ignorance. 8. Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities a. Were you able to utilize the discipline specific knowledge and skills gained throughout your degree in your work placement? If so, how? Part of my undergraduate degree included skill necessary for a veterinary office such as; cell and molecular science units, mammalian growth and development and laboratory professional skills (Kaneko, Harvey & Bruss, 2008). I had the chance to utilize most of these especially my laboratory skills since the hospital had an expansive and well stock laboratory with a variety of equipment such as an X-ray machine. Consequently, I became adept at using most of the equipment required in my professional and I believe this has increased my overall competence. References Aleccia, J. 2010. When Vets Make Mistakes, Pets Pay The Price. NBC News. [online] Available from http://www.nbcnews.com/id/35286379/ns/health-pet_health/t/when-vets-make-mistakes-pets-pay-price/#.VDeuIPmSxic Kaneko, J. J., Harvey, J. W., & Bruss, M. L. (Eds.). 2008. Clinical biochemistry of domestic animals. Massachusetts: Academic press. Rabinowitz P. & Conti, L. 2010. Human-animal medicine: clinical approaches to zoonoses, toxicants and other shared health risks. Maryland Heights, Mo.: Saunders/Elsevier, Stärk, K. D. et al. 2006. Concepts for risk-based surveillance in the field of veterinary medicine and veterinary public health: Review of current approaches. BMC Health Services Research, 6(1), 20. Read More