Professional Development
As someone who wants others to believe in them, I offer respect to fellow classmates while also standing up for what I believe in. This has allowed me to succeed in group work that promotes an environment of support and that is satisfied with the outcomes. For example, a group project on the FoodStorm event that was held on campus in March was one way that I was able to apply my leadership values and philosophy. This event was part of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro's Ashby Dialogues hosted to engage in interdisciplinary conversations about local food needs and to catalyze action just in time to gear up for the 2015 growing season. During the planning and implementation process with my group we were able to be open about all the tasks at hand, felt comfortable discussing how and who would handle them, and showed our true compassion on how we wanted to make a difference in the community through bringing people together to figure out a way to provide food access to those in need. On the day of the FoodStorm event I facilitated group #4: Food Policy. This experience gave me the opportunity to guide the group through shared ideas on interventions and what might work to reduce food insecurities, as well as encouraging participation. This topic brought the diverse group together to help bring fresh ideas to the table. This was a great opportunity for me to engage myself in health education advocacy.
The Executive Leadership Challenge process has changed my level of satisfaction with my experience at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. This experience allowed me to understand myself and how what I do relates to leadership in my professional and personal life. I feel more confident in putting members in my group or team first because I want them to know that I acknowledge that they have helped me accomplish the task at hand and how they are important in what I do. It has also impacted the way I involve others in the process of developing solutions to a problem so everyone that I am working with feels valued and appreciated. I have realized that I am more open to other perspectives and their views. This has made me understand that my view is not always the best and that I don’t need to limit myself with assumptions of others. Every week presented new ways to help me in the other courses I was taking at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro through group work and as a facilitator to be more efficient, caring, and bring innovation to another level. My eyes are open and I think the focus of this challenge brought the unconscious to the conscious.
During my independent study at the Cone Health Family Medicine Residency Clinic in Greensboro, North Carolina the summer of 2015 I became more knowledgeable regarding the role of health educators and certified health coaches within a primary care clinic and their roles in improving patient health outcomes. Over the course of six weeks, I was able to work closely with physicians and other medical staff to navigate all the inner workings of the medical care center. The work I performed consisted of observing and performing a significant portion of patient encounters (calling patients, scheduling appointments, rooming patients, etc.) for a majority of the physicians and residents of the clinic. I additionally helped the current health educator with the responsibilities of organizing, promoting, and conducting Annual Wellness Visits during the practicum. It became apparent that although one certified health education specialist made an impact to reduce patient care gaps, they alone could not do everything that is required to help manage patient panels. What I learned from this experience was that if a teamlet model would be adopted, every physician would have a certified health education specialist and coach assigned to them to spend time on tasks such as panel management, entering data into the electronic medical record, performing Annual Wellness Visits, and/or retrieving basic vitals.
From the skills gained by becoming a Certified Health Coach in the fall of 2015, I have been able to incorporate what I learned to be more effective in one-on-one patient care. Understanding where a patient is coming from through experiencing my own behavior change has helped me become nonjudgmental and more open to patient ideas on what works for them. I now know that establishing an alliance is important to build rapport with someone so they feel comfortable talking and trusting me as a partner in their wellness journey. Gaining this form of collaboration is paramount for each time that I meet a new client. The basic skills of reflecting, asking open-ended questions, affirming and summarizing are all things that I cannot unlearn. Moving forward I believe that I am able to present myself more as a guide and supporter that delivers quality health care that improves patient outcomes and satisfaction. I also feel confident in the ability to recognize and acknowledge that the patient has the choice to decide on what they would like to do and they are ultimately responsible for his or her own health.