“Do Not Resusitate,” a Debate or an Order?

In the future, I would like to be a part of the medical field, giving my undivided attention in helping those in need, by trying my best to save lives, both ethically and morally correct. With that being said if CPR saves lives, why would anyone want a DNR order? I find this topic to be very interesting because I know that there is a clear answer, but my instincts and need of wanting to help others, go against that answer. After reading, “An Unconscious Patient with a DNR Tattoo”, I’m not sure if I’m left more aware of the topic or more confused.

Continue reading ““Do Not Resusitate,” a Debate or an Order?”

The Posts I Meant To Write

As we had our last day of class today I thought I’d take the time to write a bit about all the blog posts I wanted to write, but never did. I wanted to make all the points that were floating in my head during class. To talk about the subjects that we covered and to make sure my voice is heard before the semester runs out. I had this grand plan to describe them all and to make this last post easy. Unfortunately, I just don’t think it’s possible to write that post anymore. It’s just not what I wanna talk about.

So instead, here is how this class changed me, and a part of this will probably make it into my self reflection, so sorry Dr. McCoy if this repeats, but I feel it needs to be said. I came into this semester fundamentally changed from who I was at the end of last semester. Changed because of personal life things that I won’t include just because they may make people uncomfortable. But nevertheless, I was having a tough time readjusting back to campus life, and schoolwork was really hard for me. It still has been I’ve had a lot of issues with responsibly getting stuff done, and until recently I had come to believe I was a failure and this semester had just been a waste. That’s all been changing though as we’re coming to the end. And kinda like what Dr. McCoy said in class today this project has given me hope. Given me hope that I can get back to being a normal, functioning, student.

What we did is really incredible when you stop and think about it, between our entire class we made a cohesive, intelligent piece of writing in only one page. That’s arguably the best project I’ve ever done on those grounds alone. It’s given me some real hope for the future of our world and our republic. Because if we are the future, than the future is very bright indeed.

Personally, for me, walking out of class today was very bittersweet. Yes I love being pretty much done with one of my classes, but also this class really helped me both find my stability and rediscover my creativeness. I hope one day to have an experience like this again. I think everyone needs an experience like this so that they can be helped and grow into a stronger person. I didn’t come into this class expecting to walk out with an epiphany, but here I am a changed man. If I could impart one lesson onto whoever ends up reading this, it’s this: when things get bad, and they almost certainly will, be damaged, be hurt, and know that the things that will help you always come from the most unexpected places.

The Principle Of Not Choosing An Irreversible Path When Faced With Uncertainty

Upon swearing the Hippocratic Oath, graduating medical students bind themselves to an ethical code that ensures the overall progress and welfare of their patients. The American Medical Association’s Code of Medical Ethics (1996 edition), “has remained in Western civilization as an expression of ideal conduct for the physician.” (Lawson, 2010.) Today, most graduating medical school students swear to some form of the oath, usually a modernized version. (Pbs.org)  However, medical ethic is still an important and touchy matter in the health field. Medical ethics is derived from Ethics; a moral philosophy that came about with the Sophists of Greece. Even as physicians have long since held themselves to a moral code, there have been rogue physicians who have subjected individuals to unethical experimentation and research. In Medical Apartheid, Harriet Washington details the systemic and medical abuse, discrimination meted out to African-Americans since colonial times. She details the appalling and unethical invasive experimentation and research practices performed throughout history to African-Americans. She opens her book by talking about James Marion Sims, a 19th-century surgeon who is venerated as a selfless benefactor of women for devising ways to repair severe vaginal injuries occurring during child birth. She talks about how he is celebrated despite the fact he honed his skills by performing scores of painful operations on the genitals of black slaves without amnesia. He refused to give them ether even when it was available but gave them to white women. A physician who “cut his way to the top”. His African-American human subjects were mere guinea fowls in his ploy for recognisance in his field. In a twisted Rob-Peter-To-Pay-Paul  manner, he violated every ethical code possible. In this case, Martin Luther King’s quote “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice” does not hold water. These women never had justice.  Continue reading “The Principle Of Not Choosing An Irreversible Path When Faced With Uncertainty”

Employer/Student Study

In a 2015 employer/student survey done by Hart Research Associates, which was presented at the beginning of the syllabus, there were several key findings which ultimately relate back to Geneseo Learning Outcomes Baccalaureate Education: GLOBE. Firstly, the researchers found that employers overwhelmingly endorse broad learning as the best preparation for long term success as these skills are important for a wide range of potential occupations. These broad skills must cut across majors and be demonstrated proficiently. These desirable skills include written and oral communication skills, team-work skills, ethical-decision making, critical thinking, and the ability to apply these skills to real world applications. These overlapping skills presented in the research as well as GLOBE include critical thinking, communication, creative thinking and leadership and collaboration. The Geneseo mission statement also clearly articulates that the most important skills Geneseo attempts to improve cut across all majors. This is a central principle to liberal arts schools in general.

 

Later in the study, the researchers assess “How much more likely your company is to consider hiring a recent college graduate if they have had this experience, completed this course?” The results indicate that a study abroad program was actually the least appealing while an internship was the most. This goes back to the consistent reference of medical voluntourism. While we came to the collective realization that many students simply study abroad to distinguish themselves from others, this study suggests that there are more lucrative avenues for making oneself appealing to employers. Students allegedly travel to help both their resumes as well as the indigenous people. Throughout the semester, we have questioned the latter assumption as we find that many medical voluntourist programs create adverse effects as students either lack training and/or a deep respect and understanding of the people they are ‘helping’. However, this study shreds doubt on the other assumption, that study abroad programs make students a lot more appealing employers. While it may help, the study finds that time would be better well spent by either honing skills (through senior thesis writing, or taking writing course) or developing real experience (internships, apprenticeships, projects). The most essential, key finding however was that acquiring specific knowledge and skills for a specific occupation before entering the field was not the best path for long-term success. This means that building general skills applicable across fields is superior to learning specific skills. This course is therefore preparing us for future employment as improving writing and general communicating skills, as well as critical thinking, has been central to this course through the blog posting and in class discussions.

 

28 English Majors and A One Page Paper

Our final project for the Octavia Butler course was to create a one paged “something” that would be completed collectively by the entire class. When I first learned about the nature of this assignment, my initial reaction was one of panic. I could not imagine 28 individuals working together to create something. I feared that the process would not go smoothly and that not everyone’s efforts would be sufficiently included. I pondered how much simpler the assignment would be if each of us had to create a one page paper on our own. Working creatively can be difficult as an individual, but the ideas of many individuals in one space would certainly be a challenge.

After speaking with other individuals in the class, I learned that many of us had similar apprehensions regarding this one-paged collaborative paper. This knowledge was comforting to me because I was happy to learn that my anxieties were not unique. As a class, we knew going into this project that communication would be a crucial component to our success.

I was very impressed with the democratic ways in which decisions for this project were made. Initially, I feared that the majority of this assignment would be taken over by 3-4 outgoing individuals. But to my surprise, every decision made regarding this project was agreed upon by everyone. That being said, Google polls became our best friend in the beginning stages of this project. People would share ideas with the group that would then be voted on before we moved forward. This way, everyone’s opinions could be heard, and decisions would be made with everyone’s opinions considered.

The structure of the project was only the first obstacle. Once we decided on creating a “How to Guide” for dealing with the traps in Octavia Butler’s fiction, we had to struggle with our next task: making it only one page in length. As english majors, we all have the capability to expand on this topic for well over one page. Making a succinct point among 28 individuals became a very difficult and sometimes daunting obstacle.

This task became a little easier when we began to brainstorm specific traps that Octavia Butler sets up for us. We all shouted out ideas that were written on the whiteboard for us all to see. As a class, we narrowed these traps down to three main issues we all deal with in her fiction. By narrowing our focus, it allowed for us to channel our energy and creativity to specific sections of her fiction. It also created an opportunity for the class to divide amongst ourselves into three smaller groups that focused on one topic. By doing this, we were more easily able to express our thoughts in detail to our group members.  

After collaborating within our groups, we came together as a class to discuss what we came up with. We thought of ways to edit each group’s work in ways that would strengthen our project as well as make each of the three parts work together as a whole. I was very impressed with the manner in which my classmates offered constructive criticism to their peers. It was clear that everyone was taking into account that if their ideas were cut from the project, that it wasn’t anything personal. Everyone was very mature about making decisions that would be best for the project, even if this included massive amounts of tweaking and critiquing.

The experience of creating a one page piece with the efforts of 28 individuals was quite eye opening. Completing this project was certainly challenging at times, but the group’s effort to communicate well and ability to be inclusive to everyone, helped us to accomplish something that we are all proud of. It is quite amazing that 28 individuals were able to have a part of a project that is only one page in length. Each person in the class helped to improve the “How to guide” even further. By having so many sets of eyes working on this project, it incorporated all of our interpretations of how we felt about Octavia Butler’s Fiction and the course as a whole.

 

This section part of this blog post is a reflection of my experience with our project after it was presented to Dr. McCoy:  

 

Before Dr. McCoy entered the room, we all sat and discussed the most efficient way to present it to her. We decided that if each of us read a line from our project it would continue to reinforce the nature of us all coming together. As Dr. McCoy entered the room, she sat in the center of all of us in a circle and we began to read aloud our project. By her emotional and positive response to our project, I felt relieved but also not surprised. I feel immensely proud of everyone in our class for several reasons. We were able to share our ideas in a way where all of us were heard and all of our opinions were considered. We talked about how the nature of this project was challenging for us, but also elaborated on how that was a good thing. All of us struggled with certain themes in Butler’s fiction but were also able to efficiently deal with these struggles to help create strong conceptual points in our project.

Next, in our discussion of why we felt we deserved an A on the project, it reminded me of how far we have come as a group. At the start of this project, all of us were well aware that we were pressed for time and that we needed to work efficiently and diligently to be able to produce a project with the level of quality that we all aimed for. Although we worked under time constraints, we still managed to discuss thoroughly the important structural and contextual aspects of this project. In my opinion, it was quite commendable how we were able to reach a consensus on these issues in a timely manner as well as moving forward when everyone felt comfortable. Our system of democracy that we created among the 28 of us also helped tremendously in ensuring fairness and equal representation of ideas. Also, the fact that we were able to effectively break up into smaller groups to discuss specific ideas pertaining to the text in the project, more of our voices could be heard. It is often easier to speak up, especially for shy individuals, in smaller groups. One of the most prominent reasons why I was so impressed with our class is that we were able to disagree and discuss ideas in a polite manner. Often when someone critiques another individual’s idea, it can come off as harsh or demeaning. Everyone in the class was not only open to criticism, but fair and kind with the criticisms that they offered. We all accepted critiques because we had a mutual understanding that we needed to do what was best for the project as a whole.

Of course, it was exceptionally flattering when Dr. McCoy expressed her gratitude to us for creating this project. Speaking for everyone in the class, I can say that we are all extremely proud of the work we put into this project. Throughout its creation, we always kept in mind a concept that we learned in the course: language will always fail us. I felt that as a group, we did an excellent job in keeping this obstacle in mind, as well as intelligently choosing our words and presenting our ideas carefully so that we did not find ourselves trapped.

The Forbidden Thought

In dystopian works (especially those set in zombie apocalypses like Zone One), the idea of the “forbidden thought,” also known as giving up and committing suicide, is so deeply ingrained and common into the setting that it is often overlooked (or at least I know I have). This is usually due to the focus on a main set of heroic characters that fight tooth and nail against these blood-thirsty zombies. However, Colson Whitehead combats this familiar theme with his very own Mark Spitz. Continue reading “The Forbidden Thought”

United We Stand

As a child, my favorite response about where I came from was “It’s the melting pot of the world,” and I still stand by that phrase today. While my race is Chinese, I consider my ethnicity to be Chinese-American. The interrelationship between these two words is what defines the very core of my being because one cannot exist without the other. Throughout my life, the traditions and values from both my Chinese home and my American education have reflected and overlapped with each other to ultimately create one well-integrated upbringing. In combination with my constant exposure to other cultures, I grew up constantly finding the middle ground to any problem or situation. Contrary to the phrase “no man’s land,” there should be no uncertainty or fear for two cultures to meet, especially in the medical field. Continue reading “United We Stand”

Use of Cadavers in Undergraduate Schools

How amazing that people are donating their bodies to science when they pass away? I think it’s incredible and I think I would like to donate mine in the future. However I would prefer to have it is donated to Medical Schools. One of my coworkers took human gross anatomy as an undergraduate at Rochester Institute of Technology. Initially I was pretty upset with her because I felt like students in undergrad would not appreciate the donation to its full potential. I have done dissections in my anatomy lab of a cow eye and sheep brain. I know that people often don’t appreciate those but I’m not sure how comparable that to a human body. My coworker then told me she decided that she doesn’t want to get into the medical field anymore the semester after. Continue reading “Use of Cadavers in Undergraduate Schools”

Collective Course Statement: How We Met Learning Outcomes Working Through It

On the Geneseo website, Geneseo’s Mission Statement is followed by GLOBE: Geneseo Learning Outcomes for Baccalaureate Education. These learning outcomes are sought after by all professors in all academic fields at Geneseo. In crafting our final collective course statement, which relates GLOBE and the work we’ve done in class concerning medical voluntourism, we are informing prospective study abroad students about the implications their travel will have on the indigenous people they seek to help. There are many motivations for going abroad, some are intrinsic and some self-seeking and career related. Nonetheless, motivation is less important than the actual results.

 

In working together in individual groups, and ultimately as a collective group, we demonstrated key learning outcomes as they are presented on the website. The eight outcomes highlighted are as follows:

  1. Critical Thinking
  2. Communication
  3. Quantitative, Computational, and Symbolic Reasoning
  4. Informational and Digital Literacy
  5. Creativity and Creative Thinking
  6. Leadership and Collaboration
  7. Diversity and Pluralism
  8. Global Awareness and Engagement

This end of year assignment deals with numbers 1,2,5,6,7 and 8 specifically. Assessing these learning outcomes through this assignment actually improves these skills, in a meta way. Most of the course statement is about medical voluntourism as we refer to various readings throughout the semester. Taking this information and regurgitating it for future study abroad students in a concise way where students understand and respect the indigenous populations requires critical thinking. Communication skills were also central to this assignment as taking the thoughts of over 25 students and condensing it into less than two pages of concise information required communication among sub groups as well as communication between these groups, and ultimately all students in the class at the end. Combining all this information in a cohesive way also required creativity as well as leadership and collaboration. This collective statement is a collaboration in itself and through group work, people had to display leadership (being scribes in group discussions) as well as a respect for the leaders. As there is a diversity of opinion and experience across the class, coming together was essential. The most operative learning outcome, global awareness and engagement, was developed through the content of the statement itself. Shaping what it requires to be a good global citizen when voluntouring was central to the statement, and this is the skill that was most notably improved on for me because other assignments had dealt with the other outcomes where global awareness and engagement is rarely, if ever the focus, of my English and Psychology courses. All skills listed above are important and were mostly honed through the development of the course statement, however the final one was most significantly improved.

Rethinking Canonicity in my English Degree (again)

This semester, I took two literature classes: English 451 and a survey course on British literature pre-1700. Because I had to (belatedly) complete my English Major Self-Reflective Advisement Paper, I spent some time thinkING about the value both classes contributed to my degree.

Continue reading “Rethinking Canonicity in my English Degree (again)”