HEALTH SCIENCE

INTERNSHIP

JOSEPH F. SULLIVAN CENTER101 Edwards Hall

Clemson SC 29631

Melissa G. McCool

Health Science Intern

August – December 2016

Clemson University

Introduction

As a Health Science student at Clemson University, it is a requirement to obtain a health related internship with the opportunity to gain on-the-job experiences and develop professional skills.

I had the privilege of serving as a Health Science Intern in the Joseph F. Sullivan Center, which is located in Edwards Hall on Clemson University's campus.

This PowerPoint will serve as an overview of my experiences interning at the Joseph F. Sullivan Center. It provides a description of the site and department I worked for, a list of my roles and daily duties, and some of the projects I completed.

JOSEPH F. SULLIVAN

CENTERThe Joseph F. Sullivan Center is an interdisciplinary health center at Clemson University, which is one of the oldest continuously operating nurse managed health centers. The center originally started as a “Family Health Center” in the 1970s providing services by nursing faculty free of charge. The first director, Dr. Barger, did a community assessment and evolved the clinic throughout the next 20 years while also creating a purpose and long term goals for the center. He established relationships with key community leaders, physicians, and public health advocates to expand the center's capabilities. In 1992, Blue Cross/Blue Shield provided an endowment to help fund the employee wellness program at Clemson University.

Today the Sullivan Center offers a range of services from health promotion and annual physicals with the CU4Health program, to lab services, immunizations, and disease management.

Joseph F. Sullivan Center

Vision

Vision: The Joseph F. Sullivan Center is an

integrating force for creating multidisciplinary

partnerships focused on innovative methods

to enhance community well-being that

promotes positive human development, skill

building and creative leadership.

Joseph F. Sullivan CenterMission & Values

Values:

Relationships define health.

Holistic balance is wellness.

Affordable care is a right of all.

Transdiciplinary teams promote

positive skills.

A global and environmental

perspective is critical to human

development.

Mission: The Joseph F.

Sullivan Center will drive

community health research

initiatives providing

innovative, real-life student

learning.

101 Edwards Hall

Daily Responsibilities and

Duties Patient intake: height, weight, waist circumference,

blood pressure, temperature, reason for visit, target health histories, primary care provider to fax labs to

Entry of all patient information into Allscripts

Lab duties include urinalysis, hemoglobin and glucose checks, pregnancy testing

Clean exam rooms after each patient and restocking rooms

Assisting front staff with paperwork, as needed

Preparing for BCN offsite clinics and making Wise Women binders

CU4Health Counseling

CU WELL: CU4Health

Counseling

As a part of my internship I also had the

opportunity to intern for the CU Well program at

the JFSC.

CU Well is a comprehensive wellness program for

employees, faculty and staff on campus at

Clemson University. The CU Well program

includes the CU4Health health risk appraisal,

which is available annually for employees and

staff.

CU4Health includes blood work, BMI screening,

blood pressure screening and an individual

counseling session with a trained health educator,

which was the position I served as under

Responsibilities and Duties:

CU4Health

Assessment consists of:

Online health risk assessment that generates a risk

for chronic conditions through questionnaire. Also

involves weight management (BMI), blood pressure

analysis, eating habits, etc.

Lab Work

Blood Lipid Panel, Complete Blood Chemistry, and Basic

Metabolic Panel

The online health risk assessment is comprised of an array of questions that ask

about current fitness level, stress coping mechanisms, eating habits, and general

lifestyle questions. It then generates an overall wellness rating that incorporates

family history and all personal health measurements like BMI, height, weight, waist

circumference, etc. It also provides a wellness overview that generates a risk for

each category (example is provided below)

Responsibilities and Duties:

CU4Health Counseling

The patient would come in for blood work and then schedule a follow up counseling visit for one week later.

They would also complete the online health risk assessment before coming in for counseling.

My roles/responsibilities as the health counselor included:

Printing all lab work before the patient’s appointment

Reviewing any additional labs and referring them to their primary care provider

Counseling patient on lab work and online assessment

Providing health counseling after assessing the patient’s health score and lab work

Charting any health history and goals established

CU 4 Health Counseling

This is a picture of me counseling a

patient for the CU4Health program.

Counseling sessions usually last

about 20-30 minutes. We start with

reviewing their lab work and online

health risk appraisal and then end

the session with setting goals and

answering any questions they may

have.

Daily Responsibilities and

Duties

I performed patient intake daily which included collecting information such as

height, weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, temperature, reason for

visit, target health histories. It was then my duty to enter the information into

the patient’s chart electronically through Allscripts

Daily Responsibilities and

Duties

My lab duties included urinalysis, hemoglobin, glucose checks, and pregnancy

testing. I also helped prepare the blood samples before being sent off to the

lab.

Daily Responsibilities and

Duties

This is a picture of the lab where

blood was drawn daily in order to be

tested and vaccinations were

administered.

The picture below depicts what a

standard patient room looks like. The

Joseph F. Sullivan Center has three

standard patient rooms and one

operation room. It was my

responsibility to clean the rooms after

every patient and verify the rooms were

stocked.

Daily Responsibilities and

Duties

This is a picture of the stock room. It

was my responsibility to make sure we

had everything in stock and up to date.

We also used these supplies to prepare

for off site clinics.

This is the autoclave machine. I

had to use this multiple times to

sterilize instruments used

during procedures.

Intern Project

The intern project I was assigned was to update the MSDS lab manual and ensure that all materials used in the center were current.

Material Safety Data Sheets are important because they raise awareness about the hazards of chemical materials and provide information on the precautions one should take around the chemical materials.

Employers are responsible to make sure that all controlled products have an up-to-date (less than three years old) MSDS when it enters the workplace.

Internship Outcomes and

Conclusion Completing my internship at the Joseph F. Sullivan center

allowed me to reach many personal goals and further

prepared me for a career in the medical profession. This

experience expanded my knowledge of the health care field

and built my confidence when dealing with patients. I truly

benefited in all aspects of life through this experience.

I understand and feel more prepared for the emotional aspect of

working in the health field specifically with at risk or difficult

patients.

I understand the purpose of a health promotion plan and am fully

prepared to counsel patients on blood work and a health risk

assessment.

I feel more confident communicating with professionals, patients,

and other medical staff.

I understand the purpose of proper medical procedure and

confidential of medical records.