WEEKLY BLOG

Week 4: Help Desk Hiccups      Week four brought me back to the IT Help Desk, though things moved at a much slower pace compared to last week's hardware adventures. Most of my days were spent processing request tickets, updating statuses and answering calls. But just when I thought I had everything under control, I managed to make some clumsy mistakes that I think, taught me more about the job than any perfect day ever could.      Starting the week, having Monday being a chaotic morning, I was managing multiple tickets when I accidentally assigned a network issue to the wrong technician. Instead of routing it to the networking team, I sent it to the technical team which immediately called my line with a very confused tone. By the time I realized my mistake and reassigned it, the original requester had already followed up. Not my finest moment, but at least the networking team got a good laugh out of it when I explained what happened.      The...

Week 3: The IT Detectives of BRHMC      This week felt like going undercover as we conducted a hospital-wide hardware assessment. Though what most staff didn’t know was that this was all preparation for a new system rollout coming soon. With clipboards in hand, my teammate sir Erickson, and I became the unofficial IT detectives of BRHMC, visiting every ward and offices to evaluate computers, printers, and peripherals. It was equal parts fascinating and awkward when nurses would ask why we were checking their computer specs, and we’d have to give vague answers.      The biggest surprise? Just how badly some departments were crammed for space. We found nurses’ stations where three people were sharing one ancient PC, admin offices with printers wedged between filing cabinets, and workstations where the monitor was practically hanging off the desk. One ward had a printer put so precariously on a stack of binders that I held my breath every time someone printed ...

Week 2: Transitioning to Help Desk Operations      My second week at BRHMC's IHOMP department started right where I left off, diving deep into the HOMIS system for more case rate updates. The first two days were all about wrapping up that massive data entry task. It felt satisfying to finally complete it, like finishing a long and tedious puzzle.      Just when I thought I’d become a permanent HOMIS data encoder, Ma’am Annie introduced us to the IT Help Desk system, which is a welcomed change of pace! She walked us through how it works, from processing user requests to managing roles and permissions in HOMIS. We even learned how to install the HOMIS application on other PCs, which made me feel like I was actually doing something technical for once.      Then came the real test. I was handling actual IT Help Desk requests. I was nervous at first but most requests were straightforward, like assigning nurses to their wards or updating case rates...

Week 1: A Slow but Steady Start      The first week of my OJT at Bicol Regional Hospital and Medical Center (BRHMC) under IHOMP was a gentle introduction to the world of healthcare IT. No dramatic rescues of crashing systems... yet, but plenty of learning in small, steady steps.      Day one started with an orientation by Ma’am Annie, who walked us through hospital policies and workplace etiquette. It wasn’t the most thrilling part of the week, but at least I now know where not to wander off to! After that, Sir Jims gave us a quick tour of the different departments, and it was interesting seeing how everything connects behind the scenes. By the afternoon, assignments were handed out, and I landed at IHOMP, where my first task was updating case rate data in HOMIS NX. Not exactly an exciting IT work I imagined, but hey, everyone starts somewhere.      The next two days settled into a routine. Mornings and afternoons spent carefully encoding and...