Alexa Cornetta ’18: Summer Internship at Medical Associates of Greater Boston (Part 2)

As my internship comes to a close this summer, I could not be more grateful to Dr. Riester and all of her employees. I had the greatest experience and all of the patients I had the pleasure to meet and the work I was trusted to do exceeded all of my expectations.
As the weeks went on I was constantly gaining more and more responsibilities until I was performing all of the duties of a medical assistant and receptionist. I was constantly busy for the entirety of the day but loved every minute of it. One of the amazing opportunities I had was I was allowed to sit in on patient meetings with the doctor to hear about their symptoms and medications. The patients loved to talk to me and explain what was going on which was phenomenal for my learning, and Dr. Riester would then write down the names of some of the medications and the diseases that these people had so that I could research them more and compare what I found online and in books to what I had seen in the patient, which was so fascinating. Also, I was trusted to perform blood work on patients that came into the office such as lipid profile tests and A1cs.
For these I would sterilize and prick the patient’s finger and then proceed to squeeze the blood from the finger into a small tube which I would then run through a machine in the lab room. In the lipid profile tests I was checking the total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, and triglycerides in the patient’s blood to check for abnormalities. Depending on the results, this would let the doctor know if the patient is at high risk of heart attack or stroke and what the best choice of action would be. Additionally, I would perform hemoglobin A1c tests, which tests for the patient’s average blood glucose or blood sugar levels over the course of the past three months. This test is used on Dr. Riester’s diabetic patients to see how they are managing their levels, and sometimes, if she is suspicious that the patient is having excessive highs and lows that are averaging into an excellent A1c reading, then she will apply one of the CGMS devices that I talked about in my last journal to test their levels every five minutes, which would allow her to see exactly where the levels seem to change. These blood work responsibilities are new since my last journal, but I am still performing the duties I had then as well including the EKG tests, taking a patient’s weight, and checking blood pressure. I am also active at the front desk answering the phones, sending results to patients in the mail, faxing prescriptions to pharmacies, and filing patients’ medical forms.
I have enjoyed this experience more than I ever could have imagined as it pushed my maturity, confidence, and knowledge of the medical field. It was more than just an internship; it felt like an actual job, and I absolutely loved it. I loved the work I was doing and found in incredibly interesting, but really I loved the people more. Being able to interact with the patients was by far my favorite part and what I will miss the most. These people are incredible, having to deal with so much but still always staying so positive and willing to do anything. They were amazing to get to know and there was nothing better than seeing a patient for a second time and having them recognize me and jump right back into conversation. As I finish up my summer and start back up with school, I will miss being in the office with the amazing people I met, but I am so happy and grateful I received this opportunity. It opened a door of interest in my mind that wasn’t there before and increased my excitement about medicine and biology as a further area of study. I am excited to see what else there is for me in this field.
