[SFU OLC Experience] Using Data to Stop Infection

Program:

Co-operative Education

Work Term 3

Organization

Provincial Health Service Authority

Position Title

IPAC Auditor and Surveillance Analyst

Location:

Vancouver

British Columbia

Canada

Experience Faculty

Science › Statistics

PHSA office

After working for PHSA for nearly 11 months, I feel like the job has had a big impact on me in various aspects. It helped me to grow both as a person and a professional.

Experience Details

Semester

Summer

Year

2023

Skills

Data Collection

Data Analysis

Application and Interview Tips

Getting a Co-op job is like going on a long journey. There are a lot of things to be prepared to succeed. Before I got this job, I was applying to many postings on My Experience. I was writing a cover letter every day and kept updating my resume. To have a good cover letter and resume I recommend checking out SFU OLC's gallery since there are a lot of good examples there that will help you improve your cover letter and resume writing skills. After I got an interview, I started to do some research on the company and write down important information that might be asked during the interview. It is also important to review the job description and figure out how your skills and experiences match the job. Lastly, practice your speaking skills as if you are in the interview and also try to search on the internet what kind of questions the interviewers usually ask in an interview. During the interview, just be confident when you are speaking, and do not forget to send a thank you email after you finished your interview.

During my Experience

Orientation and First Weeks

During my first week at Provincial Health Services Authority, I was given an overview of what the job will be like and provided with the resources I needed for the job like a laptop, headphones, etc. I also spent the first week doing administrative stuff like setting up my new work email, downloading the software needed for work, etc. Other than that, I was also given an office tour and I was actually amazed by the facilities they have in the office.

As a new student who just landed his first job, I feel like being in a real office work environment is overwhelming, but everyone was supportive and I felt welcomed. Other than working on administrative activities, new students are provided with training on the software and required to do courses that help them understand the organization. These courses help new employees to understand the organization's mission, vision, and values.

Learning and Adaptation

As a student with a background in statistics, I was not familiar with anything that is healthcare-related. Meanwhile, my role as an auditor and analyst demands me to go into different healthcare facilities and collect data. In the beginning, it was tough to adapt to the healthcare environment as I needed extra effort to learn more about the workflow. However, by giving extra effort and asking questions I was able to learn more and everyone was very supportive of me. They did not hesitate to share their knowledge and provide me with guidance.

Accomplishments and Challenges

While being part of PHSA some achievements that I have accomplished are: achieving the 95% of Interrater reliability rate, finishing educational material in the form of a poster, and reaching the audit numbers needed for the quarter 1 reporting period of the fiscal year 2023-2024. 95% interrater reliability rate means that after I finish my training as the new hand hygiene auditor, I was tasked to do some audits which will be made as a comparison with the previous audits done by the previous hand hygiene auditors.

The results of my audit were 95% compatible with the result expected and this means that I have finished my training process well. It indicates that I have understood the workflow that I am observing, and I am able to indicate the different environments between the patient environment and the healthcare environment. As a member of the IPAC team in PHSA, one of the tasks of the IPAC team is to educate the healthcare workers about the proper procedure of hand hygiene to prevent the spread of viruses and other infections. An important thing for healthcare workers to understand is the difference between health care and the patient environment. For this quarter, the other hand hygiene auditor and I designed educational material in the form of a poster. This poster aims to educate viewers on the differences between patient and healthcare environments in various settings.

Reflection & Tips

Reflection

In terms of skills, this work term helped me to grow. I managed to improve not just my technical skills like data collection, data analysis, and other data-related skills, but at the same time, I also learned a lot of leadership skills. For example, through this job by attending meetings and events I learned how to network with other professionals who share insights and knowledge and the opportunity to learn about new things I do not know before. I also learned how to write a professional email to my higher-ups, how to communicate and update my job progress to my manager, and by having a work schedule from 8 am to 4 pm from Monday to Friday, it motivated me to improve my time management skill in order to always be on time to work and finish every deadline I have for my job. I believe that these skills will benefit me not only at work but also will be applicable to my daily life.

Most Valuable Aspects of This Experience

After working for PHSA for nearly 11 months, I feel like the job has had a big impact on me in various aspects. It helped me to grow both as a person and a professional. During my time working as an auditor and an analyst I had the opportunity to meet people from various kinds of backgrounds. I have the chance to meet CEOs, hospital directors, nurses, infection control practitioners, and many more. The opportunity to meet and have a conversation with these amazing people is so valuable as it helps me to develop my knowledge and experience. In addition, the chance to be working in a corporate setting helps me understand how I should behave and what to expect when you are working in a company.

Connection to Academic Studies or Career Goals

Before I started my job, I had no experience working in a healthcare environment. I never thought that one day I will be working in the health industry since it is something that is not related to my educational background. However, now I feel like I am enjoying the job that I have and consider it as a potential industry that I would like to work in after I graduate from university.

I am a statistics student with a minor in business, I enjoy working with data and I am passionate about it. From my 3 years of studying at Simon Fraser University, I believe that my strength lies in using computer software to do data analysis, data visualization, and much more data-related work. That is why my dream career would be as a data analyst. Recently I just found out that data analyst is also one of the roles that are needed by the provincial health service authority. After finding out about this, one of my career options after finishing my study at university is to work as a data analyst in the provincial health service authority. As someone familiar with the organization’s culture and environment, I feel like having a career in this organization will be a great thing for me.

Advice for Future Students

Enjoy what you are doing during your work term and make the best out of it. There might be challenges and hardships that you might encounter, but those will help you to learn and grow.
Searching for a job is not easy and sometimes you might receive many rejections, but you should figure out the reason and try to fix it. Eventually, the time will come for you to get a job.
Do not hesitate to ask questions when you do not understand something and be active in giving your opinions or thoughts. During my work term, I initially felt clueless and found it challenging to process new information and adapt in a place where I am not familiar. However, every time I asked questions either to my manager or co-worker they always help me to understand which helped me to improve.
Networking is also very important at work since you might cross paths in the future with someone and you could also learn a lot by talking to someone who has a different job.
Give your best in whatever you do and when you work hard everyone around you will see that and will appreciate it.

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