Last week, I received my letter that confirms that I have completed 10 hours of volunteering. It felt pretty good.

In the last week of volunteering, I helped sort and stuffed invitations for the Art with Heart. It was not the most exciting task but it had to be done. The clinic was very appreciative and very warming in their thank-you's. It made it a little more worth while, knowing that I was doing something for a good cause. Of my time spent at the clinic, I have really enjoyed the friendly atmosphere and environment. No matter what task was given to me for the day, I took it and completed it with effort. Sometimes it may not be very fun or exciting but it was always beneficial. As the end of my required hours are here, I am pleased to say that I will continue volunteering at the clinic. I want to experience more aspects of the healthcare environment and maybe it will steer me into a direction that is actually beneficial to me.

As a side note, not only has this experience helped me gain a better insight in the healthcare realm but it has also strengthen my personal bonds. I have enjoyed waking up and volunteering every Wednesday because I was doing it with a friend, who means greatly to me.

For the next few weeks of volunteering, I helped with everything ranging from shredding paper to filing folders to making posters to shadowing nurses to stuffing envelopes. No matter how little the jobs may seem, I still believe that all the tasks benefit the clinic greatly. Volunteering at San Jose gave me a more insight on the way the clinic is run. There are so many administrative work that must be completed. The little time that I spend at the clinic is not enough to justify fall the work that must be done. One of the main event that the clinic is focusing on is the Art with Heart auction. This is a great way of reaching out to the community to seek support. Art with Heart has been a very successful event for the clinic. I actually had the opportunity to volunteer at the Art with Heart last year. It was a very interesting experience. This year, the event will be on our graduation so I will not be able to help out.

On the fourth week that I volunteered at San Jose, I helped out with medical records. I am familiar with this assignment because I did it back at the old clinic. Medical records is adjusting to the new environment; thus, they are a bit unorganized and needed help sorting out files and whatnot. In addition, patients' files must be pulled several days prior to their appointment. It helps to smooth out the process and make it more efficient in serving the patients. I don't mind helping in medical records; I actually enjoy it. I'm sure it's not as rewarding as serving the patients directly but it's something that must be done. In order for things to be efficient, there are so many things that must happen in the background. I feel as though some of these little things go unacknowledged. Most of the time, people only focus on the primary care that they receive that they sometimes forget about everything else that helps the process runs smoothly.

The second week that I volunteered at San Jose, I helped put together brochures for the clinic. After I was done with that, I had to combined medication to conserve space. There was not much that was needed to be done since there were several other volunteers there as well. Then Sam and I actually went around the clinic looking for an open computer so that I could type up and print out labels for the new physicians' mailbox. This only took me a few minutes to complete and I was done for the day.

The third week, a classmate and I were assigned the task of looking up the top 5 zip codes that San Jose patients come from. Then we looked up all the schools to which belongs to the zip codes. Most schools were from HISD. The clinic actually used this information to actually reach out to the schools. The clinic wants to let more people be aware of the services that is provided by the clinic and the expansion in healthcare at their new location. I think this is a great way of letting more people take advantage of the services. Many people are probably not aware of this opportunity so by reaching out to the schools, the clinic is able to expand into the community. This makes me feel that the little span of time that I offer to the clinic is well worth it.

In the last four weeks, I have been volunteering at San Jose Clinic. I have actually volunteered at this clinic last year through the summer. The new location looks amazing and I was astonished at the transition. The first time I walked into the new clinic, I actually recognized familiar faces. Samantha Sherman was there to greet me and show me around the clinic. There are three stories to the building and it is a major upgrade compared to the old clinic. Although, I did like the old location since it was right across from Minute Maid Park! It was a good feeling to see how far the clinic has come. Since the clinic has expanded, Sam said that there are more people expected to come for medical services. And with the increase in patients, there is actually a need for more doctors and nurses. Thus, I expect the clinic to be busier than before! And I feel that my time spent volunteering here is going to be well worth it.

The first task that was given to me was actually an ongoing project that the clinic started last year. Two classmates and I removed medication from their boxing and placed multiple trays into one box to conserve space. By the time our shift was up, we actually finished the project.