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Jorge's Pumas

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One Saturday morning, I sat in a compact examination room of the Haven Free Clinic nearby Yale’s sprawling campus volunteering my services as a nutrition counselor. Jorge, my patient, was in his early fifties and a new immigrant from Latin America. Like many of my patients, he suffered from hypertension and weight issues His taciturn disposition belied the flux and uncertainty that many of my patients faced as new immigrants from Latin America. As a first generation American born to Ghanaian parents, I probed on how my experiences could help me make sense of Jorge’s life. I noticed that Jorge had a Pumas keychain from the Mexican soccer league. Upon asking him how the team was doing, his face lit up as he told me their stats and his soccer …show more content…

One of my main goals as a medical student is to learn how the human body communicates within itself and the world while maintaining the narratives told through our senses, our emotions, our thoughts, and our actions. At Haven, I could help Jorge by sharing my interpretation of what my body was trying to tell me, but I didn't have the knowledge or the medical vocabulary to translate the body's own, unique language. This expanding language is practiced through medicine. At TTUHSC SOM, not only do I want to learn how to understand how to comprehend the complex and fascinating language of medicine, but my goal is also to provide effective health care through a thorough understanding of human behavior and share these ideas and stories through creative …show more content…

Stories, like people, are dynamic entities to interact with, and they play a role in bringing patients and physicians to terms with the realities of the healthcare and its evolving role in society. For example, I was able to reach Jorge effectively at Haven Free Clinic because I found an authentic connection to his own personal narrative.

I embrace the search for the effective, mutual beneficial relationships within medicine that aims to improve the lives of patients and fellow physicians to uncover the body’s complexities that are not always apparent through pure medical intervention. It’s not an endeavor that can be done with haste. Only with deliberate focus and care can I learn how to hone a person’s tale to their own telling and maintain their wellbeing. I look forward to the

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