Internship Description

When I report to Kaiser's Surgery Clinic in Terra Linda as a School to Career Intern, I have many duties that I may perform. For example, my first day, I was occupied restocking shelves and watching a small-scale surgery with localized anesthetic in the Minor Room. However, the next day, I went into the chilly Operating Room to observe (in full surgeon gear) a mastectomy and a laparoscopic hernia repair, where the surgeon (Michael Parnes, MD) inserted some prolene (plastic) mesh into the fascia of the abdominal wall to prevent loops of intestine from slipping through and causing pain.

To date, I have:
Helped escort lost Kaiser clients throughout the hospital to find their desired department,
Talked to people in the waiting room as to the status of their loved ones,
Assisted in handing instruments and supplies to medical professionals (NPs, MDs) in wound care,
Washed dirty instruments and assembled "minor packs"- a collection of tools needed for procedures in the Minor Room,
Restocked shelves and refilled containers,
Watched procedures in the minor room/talked to patients to distract them from the procedure that was happening while they were conscious,
and watched operations in the Operating Room in which the patients were under a general anesthetic or sedated to the point where they were sleeping.