Well today was a really good day with a few "odd" occurrences. The day started out with our last class of accounting. Accounting started day earlier than Operations so naturally it ended a day earlier too. As we wrapped up class, I realized I have a lot of work to do in order to get ready for the midterm we are going to have to do in week 1, but I also am excited about. I like the material and I think it can be really applicable to medical practice management.
During class I also was reminded of a few ideas I had about my job situation earlier in the week that I wanted to tell you about. First was the ideas I came up with for my current job and some of the stuff we are doing for the website for Foot and Ankle. I had come up with an idea of a symptom self diagnosis that people could use on our website that essentially helps them know what they could possibly have and then points them to how our doctors treat those conditions better than anyone else can and then gives them an action item on how to contact us. Well I was having a difficult time wrapping my head around exactly how it would lay out and work. While I've been here I did some research and came across an iphone app that does a similar thing. That really opened my mind and helped me realize what I can do with this without making it too complicated or difficult to accomplish. It was like a light bulb went on. So I am excited to get back to get working on that.
The second idea has to do with my job applications. As I have contemplated on why I haven't been getting a good response rate on these job applications, I think there are a few factors. 1. I haven't graduated yet so they see me as still a student, 2. I have very little experience--especially in a healthcare setting, and 3. (which ties into 2) since my experience is so little by way of what I can list on my resume, my resume just blends in with the group.
During one of the CMC events, I had the thought that I need to change it up. For what reason other than tradition and conformity do I submit a resume like everyone else? The purpose of the resume is to show the prospective employer the skills and experience you have and hope that they tie that together in their mind of how that will apply to the position you are applying for. If the tie together goes well enough in their head the hiring person calls them in for interviews, etc. Well my thought is to guide them in the tie together better. I am going to draft a non-traditional resume that still lists my chronological education and work experience, but rather than trying to summarize what I have done at each job and helping adapt that to the position I'm applying for, I will insert the job responsibilities of the new position into my resume and then show how something I have done at another job applies directly to that bulleted responsibility for the new job. (I hope that made sense). Anyway, for me it was another light bulb moment that can help me stand out and hopefully streamline me to the interview pile and not the "everyone else" pile.
After accounting we had operations and then we broke for lunch and the culture dash. It was at this point that I realized what a weird team dynamic I currently have and it initially made me angry. See for the culture dash we are all suppose to go out together and film interviews at key places and then put together the video. Well as we met after class right away everyone on the team was saying how they were going with this group or that group to different places rather than our team sticking together and getting the assignment done. They promised they would get some video at the places they went to and then took off. So there I was by myself, feeling the burden of having to do the "real" interview for the video and then obviously I will be editing and putting it together. I felt like everyone else just blew off the assignment and put it into my lap so I was starting to get pretty mad... but it all worked out. First of all, breaking off allowed me to go to the renok (market) and see what they had to offer and also do some souvenir shopping. I also was able to get an interview while I tagged along with another group. I also thought back to how our team dynamic has worked and we are not a team that really gets together like my last team did. I think we "divide and conquer" a little too much, but with that divide and conquer it has worked out that on every assignment different people have stepped up and taken charge. Even though this video falls into my court quite a bit that also means the paper doesn't and in our other classes other team members have stepped up and taken the load. Our team overall has some disfunction, but every team does and the most important thing to me is that everyone carries their load and overall I think that happens.
Here is the underground tunnel where I bought some souvenirs.
These are the tunnels that are passes under certain big streets and typically
connect to the metro.
One of the sites along Nevski prospect where I took a walk tonight.
Cathedral of Christ and the Spilt Blood.
I've shown this is a previous letter, but today I wandered over there from
Nevski prospect and found this really cool street performer.
Check out the video below.
Oh yeah, here is another cool thing that happened during our culture dash. We were taking a long walk to the penok and as has been happening all week with my classmates, JP started asking me how I knew Russian and why I lived in Moscow. I explained to him that I lived in Moscow for two years while I was serving as a missionary for my church. Usually that is where the conversation stops with most people although some would ask a little further about my language training. JP (who is from Argentina) was the first to ask more about the church. I explained to him what we did as missionaries and then he asked more about what we believe and where our members are. Nate and I both gave some input and then I had to stop to talk to a man on the street to get directions for our group. By the time I got back to the discussion Nate was in the middle of explaining what we believe and what beliefs our church is founded on... essentially the first discussion. It was really cool to be a part of that and for the most part observe it. It felt different because I wasn't a missionary with a "duty" to share this. We were just members sharing our beliefs. Who knows what will happen with JP as he is a pretty big partier that may have a difficult time with other principles if he were to research the church a little more, but it was a cool experience.
After we went to the market, we did some souvenir shopping and I got a few things for you and the boys. When we were done with the culture dash I came back to my room for an hour or so to get some things done and then I headed out for dinner. I've realized through these residencies that I like going out to dinner, but more specifically I like going out to dinner with you. For me it is an experience for both of us so most of the time here, I am not really interested in going to dinner at a nice restaurant. Some of my motivation might be financial as well, but I really do feel like I prefer just to get some quick, simple food. I also was able to spend a good amount of time wandering up and down nevski prospect and that is when I got the video and some of the pictures.
After I got back, I ended up working on my operations quiz for WAY TO LONG for how big of a quiz it was, but oh well.
Now just one more day till its time to get ready to come home!
Love ya,
Brock
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