Encounter #3

One of the requirements of one my classes called HLSC 101 – Intro to Health Care involves shadowing a health care professional of your choosing. After several obstacles, I was given the opportunity to shadow a physician assistant at Holy Cross Hospital. However, Dr. McKenzie told me, this past Monday, that I needed a recent documentation of my current flu shot as well as a tuberculosis (TB) test document. This would ensure the safety of the people that I would come into contact with and myself.

            Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. One of the main issues with this disease is that it can be easily transmitted from person to person through the air. This disease can be fatal and is currently affecting about one-third of the world’s population. (To learn more about tuberculosis read my blog entry for February 21, 2014 titled Investigations #1). I had a flu shot before but I have never had a TB test to my knowledge. I will receive a tuberculin skin test next week from my doctor. Basically I learned that the doctor would inject a fluid into my skin called tuberculin and after 2-3 days I will come back to have my arm checked for a reaction. If a person has a positive skin test, they would have a raised, hard area or swelling that is present in the skin. If they do not, then there would not be any hard area or swelling that is present in the skin.

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/tb/topic/testing/default.htm