Tag: medicine

A report paints a thousand words

Last weeks Healthcare tech community roadshow had inundated the researchers with a plethora of fresh data to interpret and analyse. Luckily for me, this meant that I had been presented with the unique opportunity to see the process of report-writing first-hand and live; right at the start of the week. From this, I was able to decide on the format and parameters of my own report.

My suggestion to my friends at the refugee meeting place, for an in-house written monthly publication to be written by the team of regulars that I met with, had not fallen on deaf ears. Over the next several weeks, I hope to help them develop this from an idea to its fruition. Following my visit to the Victoria Hall meeting place, I headed to the office to find it unusually quiet.

Unfortunately, the in-house DJ, who constantly played through his collection of catchy 70’s pop music for everyone in the office, was on leave. After finishing up some coding (this is where you simplify interview transcriptions into easy-to-understand issue points), I asked a colleague if I could help her deliver sessions, on the locality plan, to some community groups. And then came the saddest moment of my 4 weeks, “I would have asked for your help Kishan, but you won’t be with us by then”. Until this point, I had been pretending that my precious Summer was never going to end.

With one hand stroking my beard and the other with a mug of coffee, I spent the rest of my week behind a laptop screen, typing up what I had found out an into a report. From this I learnt, always start writing long pieces of work as soon as possible. By doing so, one is being kind to their future selves.

Bolton is home to the most fulfilling student lunch offer – 2 for £1 Pasties. So technically, London has nothing on Bolton.

Image result for carrs pasties

I’ve always felt a strong connection to my hometown and so it’s been an absolute pleasure to see how supportive the community has been to the refugee and asylum seeker populations. Speaking to Bolton’s newest inhabitants has not only offered me a fresh perspective on life and also helped me to become bolder in striking up conversations with fellow Boltonians. Furthermore, this experience has advanced my understanding of the life course theory which will no doubt aid me in the future in medical practice. Additionally, it has reaffirmed and strengthened my desire to work around policy research and implementation.

A dream for a better Healthcare system

The first two weeks have flown by at Healthwatch Bolton and I’m happy to say that I’ve managed to settle myself on a desk space that is usually free. In this time, I’ve been reborn as a coffee gremlin. It really doesn’t help when there is a funky coffee shop right around the corner!

In the office, I’ve hopped from desk to desk to shadow the in-house community engagement officers and research officers. Developing my understanding of research at collection and analysis was essential for me to start designing a project plan.

On my third day in the office, a visit to the BRASS (Befriending Refugees and Asylum Seekers) Bolton Centre and a review of past case notes captured my attention towards the under-represented and growing refugee population in the Bolton borough. Furthermore, in the past year the borough welcomed 255 refugees from countries including Somalia, Sudan and Congo. This equates to 34 per cent of the total that came to the UK under the Gateway Protection Programme. Realising the cultural and language barriers that may hinder the data collection of this research, I attached myself to the engagement officers who filled me in with their tips and tricks for spontaneous rapport building.

Despite the odd tricky encounter, I’ve loved every moment of my time at BRASS. Almost immediately, I felt at home with my new friends. Not only have people felt comfortable enough to share their deepest concerns and health problems, many have been supportive of my project and some have repeatedly asked me to return and spend more time with them.

Health and social care research is harder than it seems; but the mitigating factor for me is to see the miraculous job of fantastic service providers.

Am I saving lives yet?

It’s Wednesday, time 23:21. I ‘m sitting in the kitchen, reflecting on the past three days. That’s it so far – only three days at Anthony Nolan*. How is it possible that I feel so different than on a Sunday evening?

Are you thinking of doing an internship in a charity? Let me tell you how you’d feel. At the beginning, you are extremely excited. You plan your project, it seems to be the most groundbreaking thing in the world and you cannot wait to pursue it. Then Sunday comes, and you are supposed to start work on Monday morning. Am I good enough? Will they give me anything to do? Is my project really helpful for the charity? Do I have enough skills to work in a place like that? You’ve never done something like that before, so stress gets you and you may even think that it would be better if you just spent your summer working in a pub close to your home.

I can also tell you how you’d feel after the first few days in the Charity.  You will come back home from work after going for drinks with your coworkers, you’ll see your flatmates and when they ask you: “how’s work?”, you’ll honestly say: “it’s loads of work but it’s amazing, I am so happy to be there!’. The excitement is back, you are full of energy and ideas and you are proud of your decision to apply for the Charity Insights Programme.

 


*Anthony Nolan is a charity that saves lives of people with blood cancer. It was the world’s first register that matched donors of blood stem cells or bone marrow to people with blood disorders that desperately needed life-saving transplants. Currently, there are more than 600,000 potential donors on the register. The foundation raises awareness, educates and provides information about the register and donation. Furthermore, they conduct world-class research which leads to improved success rates of transplants and better quality of support provided to patients. Their integration of scientific research with raising awareness, finding donors and supporting patients is, in my opinion, the most important aspect of their work in helping people with blood disorders. I am currently working with The Register Development Team, which recruits donors through a number of different channels and is now looking for new ways to expand this and reach their ambitious objective of recruiting 100,000 stem cell donors per year.

My first week is focused on getting to know everyone, learning about different departments, preparing my first report (organizing an “Away Day” for the team), analyzing their recruitment strategies, participations in meetings for the upcoming projects. It is incredible. Highlights? Being the part of a life-saving process, getting all the stationary I could ever only dreamt about,  going for drinks with coworkers after the 2nd day of work, yoga with coworkers after the 3rd day of work and the list of projects and things I got from my coordinator to work on!

PS. They made me a coffee. Am I even an intern?