Medically Underserved Populations: A Personal Analysis

You’d never think growing up a very sick dad and worried mom would have a made such a positive impact on my life. But in my case, it is the main reason why I have chosen to become a physician’s assistant (PA). In the beginning stages, I was too young to really understand the importance of the doctors and medical staff that worked countless hours to make this medical miracle happen, but as time went on, I began to comprehend the role of the people who were trying to save my dad’s life so he could watch his girls grow up. Seeing a multidisciplinary team of physicians, social workers, and dieticians work so well together to solve a problem made a lasting impression on me. I watched as they spent countless hours analyzing the numbers and evaluating my dad’s physical condition to solve the problem. Working so tirelessly showed how passionate and dedicated the team was. I can 't accredit a single person in that group of medical specialists that inspired me to be to become a physician assistant because each and every one of them played a tremendous role in my journey. I desire to become a PA so that

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What experiences have you had or activities have you participated in that have prepared you to work with underserved populations?

Wide reaching, nurses significantly outnumbered physicians as providers of health care often having utmost vast reach remoteness to underserved communities. Having personally lived in one of the underserved communities in my hometown Western Africa before moving to the United States of America and my life calling to be a nurse from a young age with the deep desire to make a difference. I plan to contribute and continue to contribute immensely to the underserved communities by delivering quality health care to remote regions around the world. I do volunteer service at several clinics in the Atlanta area with many well-known Emory physicians that care for homeless and underserved populations, these volunteer experiences provide me with opportunities and fulfillment to develop added headship skill and experience to meet my daily patients, needs.

An underserved are a population group that experiences significant health disparities. Health disparities are differences in health status when compared to the general population, often characterized by indicators such as higher incidence of disease and disability, increased mortality rates, lower life expectancies, and higher rates of pain and suffering. Rural risk factors for health disparities include geographic isolation, lower socio-economic status, higher rates of health risk behaviors, and limited job opportunities. Higher rates of chronic illness and poor overall health are found in rural communities when compared to urban populations.

Disparities in health and health care in the United States have been a longstanding challenge resulting in some groups receiving less and lower quality health care than others and experiencing poorer health outcomes. Hispanics, Blacks, American Indians/Alaska Natives, and low-income individuals are more likely to be uninsured relative to Whites and those with higher incomes. Low-income individuals and people of color also face increased barriers to accessing care, receive poorer quality care, and experience worse health outcomes. The Department of Health and Human Services Disparities Action Plan (HHS) sets out a series of priorities, strategies, actions, and goals to achieve a vision of a nation free of disparities in health and health care.

As an African American male who was diagnosed with end stage renal disease, I was a patient in need of financial assistance while on dialysis, a patient who needed to use Medicaid to help pay for medical expenses, and a patient that needed a healthcare provider to understand the amount of stress and anxiety I was under. My experience has given me a deeper understanding of what is needed to provide care to underserved communities. Underserved communities are in need of medical providers that are attuned to the social, emotional and economic disparities these patients encounter. For me, from a patient’s viewpoint, everyone deserves to be heard and served fairly. I will use my personal experiences to provide the underserved community in my career as a Nurse Practitioner, so that the underserved population can receive the best care

There are 45 million (17%) Americans without health insurance. Uninsured and special populations are experiencing problems mostly linked to unemployment, cost of health care, low income and decreased employer-based coverage. Also, many people are unable to find health insurance because of pre-existing health conditions. For some, citizenship status may also disqualify them for benefits. One example is Personal Responsibility Act of 1996, which prevents legal immigrant population and their U.S.-born children to receive certain benefits. These people have since experienced decreased access to health insurance, among other problems. Uninsured and special populations are more likely to

Health disparities are present in our health care system. Whether it be racial, educational, or environmental, these disparities exist and are detrimental to health care outcomes. While there have been recent advancements in how to eliminate or reduce these disparities, there is still a major inequity in health care for all individuals.

There is a growing trend where physicians are choosing different specialties instead of choosing primary care, primarily due to the low reimbursement rate in primary care. According to Iglehart (2014),” the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) still projects a shortage of 130,000 physicians by 2025, split almost equally between primary and specialty care” (para. 1). With this decline comes an answer, an increase in the number of nurse practitioners providing patient care, reported 154,00 in 2012 and growing every year (Iglehart, 2014). This increase in nurse practitioners’ helps fill that gap, allow greater health care access to the community, especially special populations. By gaining access to healthcare were a nurse practitioner is the provider not only with the special population have high quality affordable health care, a trusting long lasting relationship will develop. This relationship will break the barriers of; lack of trust, lack of health care education and discrimination. Nursing is a trusted profession that provides education and care that no other health care professional

There is a strong correlation with an individual or group SES and the quality of health care received. Social Economic Class relates to what group of class an individual fit in based on their income, which can include wages, investments or other source. The quality of care depends on the facilities that is offering the services, the staff, accessibility to the service and the kind of health insurance that the person has. Affording health care is expensive and the lower or poor class has to decide between being able to afford food or other daily needs and going to a clinic for screening. Most of the time, individuals who fall in the class will ignore the health signs while

I have had the opportunity to work with many health professionals, but my experience with PAs has solidified my path to becoming a PA. Devoting over 200 hours to shadow PAs of various specialties had allowed me to learn about pulmonary diseases and read CT scans in pulmonary, watch in awe at an ingrown toenail removal in urgent care, and observe patience and individual care in pediatrics. Although I was at the clinics for observation, I eagerly wanted to assist the PAs and care for the patients. I was fully immersed in the topics that were taught to me and found myself lusting for the knowledge and skills to become a PA.

Serving individuals in underserved communities takes more than just intellect, it takes character. Filling your brain with the knowledge of various medications is not enough; rather one must empty oneself and become a vessel for compassion. It takes more than a steady hand, but a steadfast heart and a devotion to ethics and the integrity to align with them even when no one is watching. It takes empathy, it takes virtue, and last it takes a passion for cultivating caring and watching it bloom. Contributing to the Nurse Corps mission while nurturing for individuals in underserved communities, I will use these principles as my guiding light in attending to the visible and invisible needs of every patient I serve.

A population health APN may potentially follow children and adults from varying genders, races, and ethnicity, an APN has been well trained in the management of a diverse population. Understanding and including one’s own beliefs and values, reading, examining, and mingling with these populations, also prepares any professional nurse. Even though she receives support from others, she frequently experiences animosity from physicians, noting never truly feeling treated as a colleague, in the actual sense.

Every now and then I think about my education from kindergarten through senior year of high school and I wonder where I would be and who I would be without it. I have realized that those thirteen years of my life were essential to my development as an individual, for they have shaped me into the person I am today.