Category: McCoy 101 Fall 2017

There was a great change in the way our class tackled the second day of working on our collective course statement. I think as a class we had a better understanding of what was expected of us and we were able to build on it. Maddie had notice a similar change which she talked about in her post on how we ended up using one of the Globe learning outcomes.

The first day the task at hand seemed very confusing. Since most of us have never done anything like this, it was very much out of our comfort zone. Personally, I had a hard time figuring out if what I wanted to say was even relevant to the paragraph we were asked to come up with. For some time I was working on steps farther down the line and did not even realize it. Also the concept of one scribe was a little awkward at first since it seemed like they were doing all the work. Gathering ideas that everyone was saying and linking them together is an extremely difficult task. Towards the end of the class we all worked on the paragraph together and each of us contributed an idea of how to shape our paragraph.

The second day everything was much smoother. We now understood how to narrow down our ideas to work on the task at hand. We were no longer just spitting out ideas but also sharing experiences. It seemed more like a discussion a group of friends would have. My group even went off topic and talked about where we were from and sports. The several minutes we spent getting to know each other better, I think actually brought us closer together and more comfortable with each other. By the end of the day I was no longer worried about expressing my ideas even if they were too much off topic. It could potentially spark an idea for someone else and they can bring it back to the point we needed to make. The second day flew by and we all worked together very well.

Overall I am enjoying this project. I am excited to see how we will continue to work together and what challenges are ahead.

A couple weeks ago, I finally took my 5-hour pre-licensing course with a suitemate of mine in Fairport, NY. Now, spending 5 hours of your Sunday afternoon learning the rules of the road instead of doing your homework or essentially anything else is tedious in nature. My only solace was watching my suitemate, a Long Island native, scrunch her face up in confusion whenever someone mentioned Ayrault Road or gave any reference to passive driving. However, some productivity did arise from this class (aside from the certificate)–we learned the rules of “implied consent”.

Continue reading “Implied Consent”

In class, we discussed different aspects of medical voluntourism and how certain elements can be detrimental towards low-income countries. Recently, I attended a GOLD workshop revolving around planning service trips and I made a “both/and” connection. It’s great to see young people eager to help communities in need; however, such organizations lack the sensitivity needed to actually make a positive difference in a foreign nation. Continue reading “My Medical Voluntourism “Dilemma””

In three different blog posts I will try to breakdown the similarities between Zone One in the treatment of capturing slaves, the medical issues slaves faced due to hard laborious work and how even in death, slaves were not able to find closure.

Over Thanksgiving break I ventured down to the African Burial Ground National Monument with my mother to get a glimpse of this historic site. Unfortunately, the outdoor portion of monument itself we discussed in class was closed off for the winter season and additionally had scaffolding around it, making it almost impossible to see any anything. However, we were able to venture inside to the museum portion of the park which allowed for us to get an amazing and very thorough understanding of what life was like for enslaved Africans in early New York City. After having continually learned this semester about the role race has played in our countries past and after having read Zone One, I felt that this opportunity to visit the monument was one I had to experience as a New Yorker and as a student of our class.

One thing that the museum conveys immediately is the rich history of slavery in NYC and how critical of a role it played in helping to build the city. My mom worked down on Wall Street for close to two decades and I have spent an extensive amount of time down in the area so we thought we knew the area but surprisingly, we had never heard of the monument until Dr. McCoy brought it up in class and I relayed this to my Mom. Upon our visit, what we came to realize was that neither of us truly understood how instrumental slave labor was in creating the area and iconic parts of such as Wall Street and Broadway. To build the city, slaves were forced into working conditions that involved hard laborious work that “started when the sun rose and didn’t end until the sun would set.” This extensive and hard work was shown by researchers who examined excavated remains during the 1992 excavation. Researchers were able to assert how physically demanding this work was after examining remains that showed “evidence of extreme effort in both male and female remains.” The side effect of this type of work resulted in the early onset of multiple medical issues that pained, disfigured and or debilitated slaves. As we learned in Medical Apartheid and as described in the museum, issues such as these would rarely be properly treated and unfortunately lead to many dying early from these issues after suffering a life of torture.

Continue reading “Reflection on Trip to African Burial National Monument”

As students, our knowledge is restrained and sometimes even limited by the structure set in educational institutions. Essentially, the basic foundation for the power structure in educational institutions is that the more knowledge you have, the more authority you own. In this system, epistemophilia and epistemophobia work hand in hand in the authorities of such institutions. On one hand, they crave more knowledge in order to gain more power. On the other hand, a fear of those “under” them expanding their intelligence is developed. In other words, an inferiority complex is found in the system. Of course, not every institution has this environment but, to me, it is usually seen in primary and secondary schools, where this philia often turns into an addiction of being in control of the youth’s education. Continue reading “Only As Strong As The Weakest Link”

(The following post is not affiliated with SUNY Geneseo, but rather a school far, far away)

Dodging stray chairs, I meandered my way across the cafe caressing two steaming cups of coffee. It was a frigid, but sunny November day back home in Buffalo, and I was glad to visit my friend. Approaching the table, she shuffled her abundance of papers and made room for our warm drinks. Carefully, I placed the our drinks down onto the tiny wooden table making sure not to ruin her hours of school work. After a moment of adjusting, our conversation began as usual; I complained about college, she complained about graduate school. It was good to be home.

Our playful and lighthearted venting session regarding school continued until the conversation took a slight turn. My friend began to tell me something that made me immediately think about this course. She adjusted her black, thick-rimmed glasses with her index finger as she explained: Her HIPAA rights were violated. Again. Continue reading “The Time my Friend’s HIPAA Rights Were Violated”

In Zone One, there is death written into every page. One death in particular from Zone One has really stuck in my mind — Gary’s death. His death is vivid and violent, and it seems to mark when Zone One falls. I have been pondering an important question: does Gary (and the other characters we have read about in our other novels) “deserve” to die?

Continue reading “Finding Justice Without Death”

Throughout my reading of Clay’s Ark I constantly questioned myself on what I would do if I was put in the situation of the Maslin’s, infected and forced into a controlled enclave, where the disease was incurable but contained. I tried to understand the reasoning behind Blake’s leaving, which was for his daughters in search for a cure. However, I could not help but wonder if I would have been gutsy enough to leave the safety of the enclave if I had been in Blake’s shoes. Continue reading “Escaping an Epidemic”

A while ago, Emma wrote an incredibly insightful blog post entitled, “What Does it Mean to be “Human?” Quite honestly, it’s a question I have been reflecting on for a while now. Unfortunately, I don’t think I have an answer to this. If anything, I have more questions and thoughts to add.

Aside from consent, humanity and what it means to be human seem to be major themes woven into every piece of writing we’ve read. As Emma so wonderfully explains, Clay’s Ark by Octavia Butler tackles the issue of humanity throughout the novel. Emma addresses the more scientific aspect of the novel. Once the human comes in contact with the foreign organism, they start to lose their human qualities, making them more barbaric. Like Emma says, when Blake attempts to figure out what is wrong with Meda, he finds that the disease had “tampered with Meda’s genetic blueprint” and “had left her no longer human.” (Page 498)

Looking at this one way, the disease literally alters the human it comes in contact with. However, I think Butler wants us to tackle the question of what it means to be human on a level deeper than this. Clay’s Ark is extremely complex. Doctor Blake Maslin and his two daughters, sweet Rane and Keira are abducted on the side of the road one day and taken to an isolated farm where they’re expected to live among these people with a dangerous and deadly disease that they claim there is no escape. Blake is unconvinced, and thinks he will either find a cure for the disease or escape with his girls so they don’t become victims of the farm family. Throughout the novel, we see characters experience bouts of hopelessness, doubt, and anger. At the very end of the novel, we witness sweet, innocent Rane “cradling an automatic rifle” and shooting the heads off of people in order for her and her family to get to safety. (page 614) Just a page after we learn from Blake that he unintentionally betrayed everyone by the doing the worst: spreading the disease to the rest of humanity. Right before he dies, he struggles to say, “I did it. Oh, Jesus. I did it.” (Page 618) All in all, it’s an extremely twisted novel. I think Butler wants us to ask, “what does it mean to be human?” But in a deeper sense. Do we have a responsibility or unspoken agreement to take care of each other, or look out for each other, as fellow humans? If we do, are there any exceptions? What happens when we abandon humanity? Just look at Clay’s Ark. We get a sense that the people on the farm have a sense of family. But once Blake and his daughters try to escape, it seems as though violence just breaks loose. Blake seems to have the intention of escaping the farm right from the get-go. He wants nothing to do with them. Was it Blake’s job, as a father and a doctor to get comfortable in his new place and help Meda and Eli and the rest of the family? At the end of the novel, many died at the hands of Rane and others. Even Blake dies. Despite being infected by the disease, the people on the farm were still “human.” They were a part of the same human race as the Maslin family. I don’t know if I explained this well enough, nor do I think there is one straight answer. But there are some interesting questions to reflect on. What does being a human come down to? Do you think the characters in this book maybe lacked a bit of humanity? Do you think if these people took more measures to care for each other and look out for one another, things would have been different?

While working on our final project in class and discussing medical voluntourism my group came up with a potential reason for why people actually attempt to perform tasks they are no qualified to do. When I think of volunteering, I think of going to an animal shelter and playing with animals. I think of something that brings people joy or working for cause they believe in. Medical voluntourism is much different since it is not free. In the society we live in today, people are always on the hunt to get the best deals. A prime example is Black Friday, which is pretty much a holiday dedicated to bargain shoppers. When people pay for something they want to get their money’s worth. This could potentially cause them to perform tasks that they are not qualified to do just to get the experience for the money they paid.

This point caught my attention and I then decided to research how much medical volunteering in other countries actually costs. I found a website which offers medical volunteering placements and the prices. I looked at the Midwifery Internships Abroad program and this experience is not cheap. For a trip to somewhere like Ghana it is about $2,765 (price chart in link) not including flights and visa. This is pretty pricey; especially for a college student or even someone right out of high school. Although, on the website there is a tab called “Why pay to volunteer?” which breaks down everything the price includes. This section provides great explanations to where the money actually goes. About 51% of the cost is for the individual’s trip while the rest is to maintain the agency and run future projects.

As someone who is working to get myself through school, I would not be able to afford this program. This is why I pursued a job at Strong Memorial Hospital. My job provides me with income and patient interaction. Even if I could financially afford this program, I still don’t think I would feel comfortable helping some give birth, since just transporting a pregnant woman to an exam within the hospital without a nurse makes me anxious. I am in no way trained to assist anyone through labor.

All in all I could see how people would want to get the most out of their experience or almost feel pressured to get hands on experience in order to get their money’s worth. However, this is not something that should be allowed or even expected. Hopefully, our final course statement gives students a better understanding of what they should expect from medical voluntourism.