Week 1 of Internship

West Middlesex University Hospital

I’m not really sure where to even begin on my internship. I really like the people I am working around. They have all been extremely nice and welcoming. The first two days were pretty interesting I’d say. I am starting out with finding patients and searching for their NHS numbers so the hospital doesn’t have to pay for the patient’s treatment or surgery. If the NHS number isn’t phone the NHS Trust won’t pay for it and the hospital is responsible for the billing.

Where I walk in Everyday

The first day of my internship I couldn’t really do much. I needed a specific card and login to be able to access their systems. I went through my training of what I would be doing and then went down to a rehabilitation ward to obverse how it is typically run. It was somewhat chaotic and unorganized there were over 20 patients and only 2 nurses for the day. Everyone else was either off that day or had called in sick. I had to help with a few things dealing with patients; I was totally out of my element.

My second day was completely different but was just as unorganized. The guy that was supposed to get my papers together and taken care of didn’t do anything so everything had to be done when I got there in the morning. When I got there I filled out my part of the papers and someone else had to take over to do the rest. Then there was confusion about if I would even be able to get a card to access the system since I didn’t have an NHS number, thankfully they got it figured out and got around that part. It took a few hours before everything was figured out, signed and printed off. I finally went through more training and was able to actually work.

I think for a few weeks anyway I will be working on this assignment but I know eventually I will be moving around to other departments in the hospital such as HR and finance. Currently there are issues they are trying to figure out in the Trust Executive’ s office so when that is taken care of and figured out hopefully I will be able to work more closely with that department.

Getting Settled

Journal

Well week 1 is over and it is the end of week 2. Things are going pretty good so far here. I am still in the stage of being excited about everything around me and all the things there is still left to do. It seems like the last few days are the first days I had to actually sit down and relax. Everything has kind of blended together from the first week. The first weekend here was a lot of fun. A big group of us all went to the student union for the first time. There was a ton of people there but it was awesome being able to meet other students who live in London.  I have found that it has been a little difficult to find a group to hang out with in the beginning. Everyone is extremely nice and I am always with someone but to find an actual group was hard. There are a lot of central people and some of them tend to be a little cliquish. There are times when it seems like some of them are in high school and they are nice but they aren’t really willing to allow anyone else to really get in with their group. I hope for their sake they get over that before the end of the semester. I wouldn’t think that anyone would want to spend a semester in London and not get to know or become good friends with anyone beside who they already hang out with at school.  
                Week 2 has been a lot easier I think. I am finally beginning to settle into a routine of work, class, and my free time. I figured out a good group of people to hang out with and have made travel plans with a few others. I am also starting to really get a sense of where I am at when I am wondering around London. The tube is getting easier and easier to use, the buses however that is a different story. I still have yet to figure out the buses, and I am sure it is going to take a lot longer to figure those out. I am beginning to walk like a “Londoner” and I find myself getting really annoyed when I am behind someone slow or when someone just stops in the middle of a walk way. Another thing I have noticed about myself being here is that like a Londoner I tend to be a lot quieter when I go places. Typically I am a loud person but since being here I keep to myself a lot. Usually now when I go somewhere I have my music playing and my Kindle so I can read. I actually like keeping to myself when on the tube or walking somewhere. It is good changes from the way things are back at home. I am ready to begin week 3 and continue my exploring and wondering around London!