1. Ask questions! If you ever have any doubts about what needs to be done, ask any of the staff. They are all really helpful. Ask if they need any help. If you arrive in the mornings, they'll often need you to restock the medications. Usually after about an hour, they'll start getting patients. Make sure to ask if you can assist with checking in patients - this is great practice for your interviewing skills.

On the day of volunteering, students must sign in on the Amigos Sign-in sheet at the clinic with a date, time, and signature.  Each Monday, this sign-in sheet will be faxed to the clinic volunteer coordinator (Jessica Vavra).  Students who do not show up for a scheduled volunteer shift will not be allowed to sign up or volunteer for the following month.

2. Procedure for Checking in Patients

            A. Make sure that the room where you will bring the patient is not in use and is clean with fresh paper sheeting. Ask the nurse or doctor which room is best to bring them into.

            B. Get the next patient file from the central desk and check to see if the patient prefers English or Spanish.           

              C. Go out to the waiting room and call the patient in. Greet them and introduce yourself. Tell them that you are a medical student from Wayne State University and that you are going to check them in. (I’ve included helpful Spanish phrases for each step)

                                Hola. ¿Como está?                                                    Hi. How are you?

                    Me llamo ____. Soy estudiante                                  My name is ____. I am a de medicina de Wayne State Univ.                              medical student at Wayne State University.

            D. Take them over to scale and take their weight, located in the hallway. Record the date and the patient’s weight in the vital signs table.

                        Primero, vamos a medir el peso.                               First, we’ll measure your weight.

                        ¿Se puede parar aquí por favor?                                     Can you stand here please?

            E. Take the patient to his/her room and have him/her sit on the examining table.  Take the patient’s temperature and pulse; there are small pulse readers that can be applied to the index finger in the hallway between the patient rooms (if you can't find one, or it is broken, just take it manually via radial pulse). If you have learned, take the patient’s blood pressure. You can have the doctor recheck if you still aren’t fully comfortable doing this.

                        Vamos al cuarto.                                                             Let’s go to your room.

                        Siéntese aquí por favor                                                    Sit here please.

                        Voy a tomar la temperatura.                               I’m going to take your temperature.

                        ¿Me permite el brazo?                                                      Can I have your arm?

                        Voy a tomar el pulso.                                                       I’m to take your pulse.

                        ¿Se puede levantar la manga?                                          Can you raise your sleeve?

                        Voy a tomar la presión arterial            .            I’m going to take your blood pressure.

            F. Tell the patient that the doctor will be in soon. Ask if they have any questions.  Close the door and put the patient’s file in the holder next to the room’s door.

                        El doctor va a venir pronto.                                      The doctor will come soon.

                        ¿Tiene una pregunta?                                                Do you have any questions?

3. Shadowing the Doctor

            A. The doctors are very willing to let you observe and even do some of the easier tests. They’ll probably offer, but if not just ask.

            B. Make sure to ask if there are any tasks that you could help out with. The doctors often have some semi-menial tasks such as looking up a form on the internet, or filling out prescriptions. You will probably learn something from it and it’s a great way to help out the doctors that take time to show us their craft.

4. Practice Patient Interviews

            A. This is a great place to practice your History of Present Illness and Social History skills.

            B.  Be sure to ask the doctor which patients you should interview.

If you have any questions, you may contact Jessica Vavra, Covenant Coordinator, at jvavra @ med.wayne.edu.

2009, N. Nelson

Updated 2010, Emily Nagler