WEEKLY BLOG

Week 7: System Demo Session      This week marked an important milestone as we conducted the first demo training for the upcoming HOMIS+ system. The session was set up at our department with the system displayed on a large TV monitor, while our experienced members walked the hospital staff through the new features and workflows. My role was to carefully document all user feedback and concerns during the presentation.      At first, I expected this to be a simple note-taking task. However, I quickly realized how invested the staff were in this transition. Doctors, nurses, and administrative personnel asked thoughtful questions about data migration, report generation, and daily workflows. Some were enthusiastic about the improvements, while others expressed hesitation about changing systems they'd used for years. Keeping up with the rapid-fire questions while ensuring accurate minutes was more challenging than I anticipated.      A pleasant sur...

Week 6: The Documentation Marathon      This week was all about crossing the finish line with the HOMIS+ user manual. What I thought would be simple final touches turned into an unexpected battle with formatting and consistency. I can safely say that Google Docs and I developed a love-hate relationship. Just when I thought I had all the headings perfectly aligned, something would mysteriously shift. The numbering system for steps kept resetting itself, and don't even get me started on how screenshots would jump around the page when I added new text.      The work was more tedious than I anticipated. Making sure every section followed the same structure, that all the terminology matched, and that the screenshots were clear and properly labeled became a repetitive cycle of write-check-edit-repeat. There were moments when I'd stare at the screen wondering, "Didn't I already fix this exact same issue three pages ago?"      As the deadline for nex...

Week 5: Learning the Art of Documentation      Week five introduced me to a completely new challenge, which was documentation. The HOMIS team was tasked with creating a user manual for the upcoming HOMIS+ system, and to my surprise, I was going to be part of the process. On Monday, we held a meeting to divide responsibilities, with each team member assigned a specific module. I was given the OPD (Outpatient Department) module, which felt equal parts exciting and intimidating since I was still fairly new to the system myself.      At first, I underestimated how difficult it would be to explain a system I was still learning myself. There were moments when I'd take what I thought was the perfect screenshot, only to realize later that it didn't clearly show the necessary steps. I must have redone the same section three times before getting it right. The real challenge was finding the balance between technical accuracy and user-friendly language. What made perfe...

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...