My experience in Cleveland thus far

When I first came to Cleveland for the student exchange program, I was very surprised. Everything seemed to be very quiet, but I quickly learned that it was because students were not back on campus yet. Being that I am from a different culture, I also thought the people were antisocial. That was until I met the lovely junior and senior nursing students. They made me feel very welcome and always helped whenever I asked questions or didn’t know. The professors were helpful as well. As I started intensives, it was very challenging being that I have never taken a class that was so short and compact, however by the second week I had adjusted. 
My experience at the Otis Moss Junior Health Center (Community Clinical) was also amazing even though I was a little apprehensive at first. I had asked my classmates if they had ever heard of that particular site and many of them did not. Being at Otis Moss, the staff made me feel very welcome, the nurses and doctors took every moment as a teaching moment. By the second week I felt comfortable checking in patients (weight, height, temp, urine dip stick test, ECG’s, and venipuncture’s). I even administered immunizations such as PPD, DTap, TB, etc. I was also called upon to administer majority of the flu shots. Being at Otis Moss thought me how imperative it is to work as a team (communication, patients care) so the patients experience can be as satisfying as possible. At the O.M.H.C we were given the opportunity to come up with a project. At O.M.H.C, majority of the lab results of pediatric patients showed that their Vitamin D levels were either deficient or insufficient, therefore our project was to educate patients/parents on Vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency. There are two other group members (Jazmin Townes and Sarah Milligan). Working with them has been a blast. We came up with the idea of doing a pre-test survey to see what people knew about Vitamin D and posters to educate them on ways that Vitamin D levels could be increased (nutrition, sunlight, etc). Overall I really enjoyed both my experience at the Otis Moss Junior health Center. I learned not only from the doctors and nurses but also from my fellow classmates. I’ve learned a lot of different things as an exchange student since I have arrived in Cleveland and hope to learn a lot more before I leave.