Field Placement: Veterans’ Administration Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Patient Education Resource Center (PERC)
Location: North Hills, CA
Preceptor: Paul West,VAGLAH Patient Education Coordinator
Student Name: Jennifer Tsai
Year: 2004

WHO
The target population that I served were those in need of patient education, which included almost all patients. The make-up of VA patients is mostly middle aged to elderly, male veterans. Many of the patients suffered from or were at great risk for chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and high cholesterol. More specifically, I worked with patients who were former substance abusers as well as nursing care patients. A secondary target population included medical residents and teaching them the importance of health education and patient satisfaction.

WHAT
My role at the PERC was to help all patients with health information needs receive health education and to help improve the PERC health education system for VAGLAH. This was done through individual health education counseling, weekly and monthly health education classes, gathering and initiating evaluation of patient satisfaction surveys, and helping to set up a new PERC location at the downtown LA VA.

WHEN & WHERE
My internship took place from June 23, 2004 to September 17, 2004. I worked approximately 40 hours each week. My primary place of work was at the Sepulveda VA campus; however, I did make visits to other VA locations including downtown LA and West LA.

HOW
Health education was provided through individual counseling and health education classes and lectures. I used handouts, powerpoint presentations, food models, anatomy models, posters, and videos as instructional tools. I collaborated with a VA physician to improve patient satisfaction surveys and evaluate associated data.

WHY
I chose to work in this internship because I wanted to work in the clinical/hospital environment where I would have lots of opportunity for patient contact as well as the opportunity to work with a variety of health professionals including nurses, doctors, dieticians, pharmacists, and social workers. The goal of the PERC internship also went hand in hand with my goals of increasing the health of the community and the individual through patient education and showing patients how to be proactive about their health. Health education serves as a strong tool for preventive medicine.

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