At Molina Healthcare, I worked with their College Recruiting Program Coordinator to find shadowing positions were I could experience both managed care and patient care. We determined splitting my time between the family clinics, the Molina offices, and their hospital, College Medical Center would give me a well-rounded experience.

I began my summer internship shadowing family doctors at clinics in southern California. At the clinics, I was required to wear business clothes, covered by an official blue lab coat embroidered with “Future Physicians: Molina Clinic Shadowing Program,” to ensure patients understood my role when I entered the private rooms. These clinics served mostly low-income, Hispanic families with Medicare or Medicaid insurance, which often introduced a language barrier.  With some Spanish background, I was able to understand much of the conversation. Throughout the day we would see patients and complete the appointments by entering notes and ordering labs and prescriptions on the computer system. The most common appointments were for the children of young Hispanic, often single, mothers or for diabetic patients needing an alteration in their medication dose. Through observing interactions with all aged patients, with a large range of healthiness, and with expansive health insurance differences, I could see the importance of having a strong and open relationship with the patients, as well as how the same quality of care was given to all patients at Molina’s clinics.

I worked in their managed healthcare departments, as well. Throughout my experience in these departments, some of the duties I was involved in were triaging patients with the nurses at the Nurse Advice Line, attending meetings, conducting surveys with new mothers, and assisting members who wished to quit smoking. These positions gave me a perspective on the necessary pieces to provide great care to patients and insurance clients.

For the final two weeks of my internship at Molina Healthcare, I shadowed at College Medical Center. College Medical Center is a teaching hospital, meaning they have medical student rotations, residency programs, and daily “lunch lectures” given by doctors and other medical professionals. For the most part, I shadowed under a 2^nd year resident. It was typical for us to go to rounds in the morning, then a lunch lecture, followed by visiting patients. The afternoons were often less structured. Sometimes I would talk with the medical students, and they would share advice on choosing the right medical school and the steps to becoming a practicing doctor. Other days I would see surgeries, such as a C-Section, a colonoscopy, or an open reduction and internal fixation of humeral fracture.

My favorite daily activity was “Rounds,” which is when all of the internal medicine residents and medical students would meet with an established doctor in the conference room and present their cases. Typically, the doctor would quiz them about possible diagnoses or medication possibilities. Although I did not understand much of the terminology they used, as the days went on I could put the patients with their descriptions and understand more of what they were discussing in Rounds. I saw about eight surgeries over the 2 weeks at College Medical Center. Ultimately, my favorite part of this internship was the exposure to the operating rooms. I was particularly intrigued by the orthopedic surgeries. It was quite difficult to grasp that these doctors use drills and screws to fix something besides a building, let alone to fix a human bone. I am planning to look deeper into orthopedics for a career pathway.

The most difficult part of this internship for me was being comfortable around the residents at the hospital. I was very intimidated by their vast knowledge of medical topics, as well as, grasping the idea that I, some day, could be in their position. I am absolutely thrilled with the experience I had. It showed me that realistically, I would love to be a doctor.