Service Learning Project : The Service Of A Medical Student

I came to America from Vietnam when I was just three years old. I spent a majority of my life with my grandma, who has always taught me the importance of helping others. She always told me to have; you must give, and if you have nothing to give, you can always give your time. This phase has been a huge guide in my life, and it has truly shaped me into who I am. At a young age, I always felt that my purpose in life was to help people. After attending many doctor visits with my grandma for her health check-ups, I was confident my future occupation would be in the medical field. During these frequent doctor visits, I had the chance to watch the interactions and cooperation among different healthcare professionals in different settings. Being in this inspiring environment, I hoped one day I could mirror them and make a difference in people’s lives and the community. Although I have always wanted to help those in need, I was uncertain of what specific career role would allow me to fulfill my passion for helping others.

As a recent graduate of the Johns Hopkins University and a new Research Technician at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, becoming more familiar with different healthcare settings and helping others in doing so have always been of my interest. From my experience of volunteering as a piano teacher for inner-city children in Baltimore, I have learnt that even a small commitment and emotional support can make a big difference in the daily lives and the happiness of those in need. I have briefly familiarized myself to the hospital environment by shadowing physicians and conducting biomedical research but have yet to translate my volunteering experiences and the lessons learnt from them to the healthcare setting. I am a friendly, optimistic,

In my time volunteering at the hospital, I hope to gain many different experiences. However, there are a few main ones: adaptation through enrichment and dependability. First of all, I want to get to know and adapt to the environment of the hospital and learn how different processes work. This is a crucial part of being in the atmosphere of a clinic. Also, the experiences that I will have at the hospital will help me to understand the routines and entailments of the career I would like to pursue. I hope to become a Physician’s Assistant in the future and this will be the best way to know if it is the right position for me. This enrichment of my understanding will help guide my passion for this career path and hopefully strengthen it.

Through the many trips that my family has taken to the hospital due to various reasons, I have become fond of the hospital and its many wonders. After all the things that the medical field has done for me and my family, I decided to contribute to my local hospital to volunteer and help out those who pay visits to the hospital. Through my exposure to various clinical populations, I want to improve my ability to serve others in this capacity that can guide me towards the medical profession in the future.

Volunteering at Texas Health Presbyterian Plano is my way of giving back to the community while developing critical social skills, and gaining important medical field exposure along the way. It’s an opportunity to change a person’s life, including my own. I volunteered at two hospitals last summer and I’m well acquainted with what volunteering entails and would more than love to do it again. Through this hospital volunteer program, I hope to discover my own passions and talents, while also developing skills that I will utilize throughout my entire high school and college experience.

Prior to walking in, my expectations for what I was about to partake in and experience were all over the place. I didn’t know whether to expect the absolute worst types of situations going on such as people being rushed into medical rooms or the most basic situations such as patients waiting for a strep throat test. I did expect to see a wide range of patients in terms of race, class, age, and gender. Contrary to the patients, I didn’t expect to see a wide range of race, class, age, and gender within the staff. I expected to see mostly female nurses, and male doctors, majority being Caucasian and middle age. I didn’t expect there to be that much security or any type of possible crime that could go on within a medical facility. I expected the waiting area and facility to be very large, large enough to accommodate a lot of patients at once. Lastly, I expected that taking our field notes would be a challenge because writing notes down in front of patients would be awkward and during interviews it would be hard to conduct a good interview while writing the whole time.

I first became exposed to a hospital setting during my early ages of childhood due to my constant issues with my immune system. To my parents, I was commonly referred to as the sick child in the family since I would constantly catch even the simplest of illnesses such as fevers, colds, flus, running nose, severe coughs and much more. The time period, in which I would visit the doctor’s office, lead me to become more accustomed overtime to the environment and eventually grow a passion for what is being done.

deliver patients medical records, and run errands for all of the Nursing Units, Radiology, Admitting, and the general offices. From this experience I exhibited characteristics such as responsibility, caring, and, trustworthiness. Most importantly from this experience I learned you can change a person’s entire day by simply sending a smile their way or offering assistance. The small things in life matter, and I was reminded to live everyday to its fullest, because you never

A 21-year-old female was brought in by the paramedics, briefing the team that she was found unconscious on the woman’s restroom floor. Upon arrival, she was confused and frightened as she stared at the uniformed strangers in an unfamiliar environment. As other paramedics were taking her vitals, I softly spoke to her and reassured her that she was in a safe place and she will be taken care of. By accompanying her and sharing each other’s stories, she was able to calm down as well as have her trust instilled in our team. As she went from a defensive to relaxed demeanor, I have realized that these bedside manners are what open a gateway to patient trust. Gaining patients trust was a challenging but crucial skill in order to provide strong patient care. Regardless of what she was doing at the event, our team’s focus was on her health. This mirrors the core mission statement of Rock Med, “setting the standards in non-judgemental medicine”. It is this approach that I want to apply into my career as a physician; taking the initiative by actively engaging with patient in order to bring comfort and trust in their most vulnerable time. I have seen many physicians disregard consoling patients during a time of need. It is not enough to simply treat the patient. A good physician will also bring comfort throughout the healing process, putting aside patient worries. This simple yet

During my junior year, connections through Sports Medicine exposed me to the hospital environment. After volunteering for a few hospital events, I decided to apply for a permanent volunteer position at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. I now work on a Med/Surg nursing unit weekly, and I love giving back to my community in this way. The Sports Medicine Program is the educational opportunity that enabled me to explore and expand my passion for serving others, and led me toward pursuing a career in

I quickly recognized I wanted to practice medicine as part of a team and under supervision. However, I still desired sufficient independence with extensive and in-depth training. With this in mind, I began forming opinions about the various careers in healthcare until I came across the PA profession. By shadowing Araya, a PA, at a clinic, I observed how she provided sensitive and comprehensive care to the patients. She took time to explain to the patients their diagnoses in a warm, personable,and comforting attitude, which were all personality traits that I possess. I was extremely pleased of the lengths the PA went to in order to make the patient feel included and taken care of. Prior to this experience, I knew I wanted to construct strong relationships with my future patients and understand and treat patients as a whole. Not only was this palpable within the care Araya provided to her patients, but I now have the opportunity to build relationships with patients as a healthcare volunteer at Jamati Clinic by listening attentively to their main concerns as well as their outlook on their

When volunteering at a hospital, I felt like I was one of the PA students that were doing their clinical rotations in the surgery clinic. When the PA students had conversations about interesting surgical cases, I always joined them. Every time they went to the operating room, I felt left out because I was just a volunteer and was not allowed in the

In September 2015, I had an opportunity to join the team of volunteers of the Inspira Medical Center in Woodbury. I joined the Emergency Department. My shifts were once a week for three to six hours. I had a chance to interact with patients, mostly to help ease their anxiety and fear. This experience was valuable because it allowed me not just to observe, but also to look at healthcare from the perspective of a patient. I realized that I did not have to be a licensed practitioner to understand patients’ concerns and fears. I also realized that any effort on my part to help ease such worries would go a long way towards helping the patient feel more secure in themselves and their

For this service learning project, my group and I organized a goods drive. We placed donation boxes around Denton for art-therapy supplies. The group also held an event on November 6, 2017, at Texas Woman’s University to encourage students to make donations. All the donations went to the Child Advocacy Center in Denton; this organization provides assistance to children that have been victims of physical or sexual abuse. This service learning project relates to the theories and ideas in chapter 13 and chapter 14 of Women’s Lives: A Psychological Exploration. Chapter 13 relates to mental health, and it signifies the importance of social support during stressful

During my time there, I shadowed a pediatric doctor. While I was asking him questions, he was called into an emergency surgery, and I was unfortunately not old enough to watch according to the hospital restrictions. So as I was waiting around, a PA swooped me up and let me shadow her instead. I was embarrassed to admit to her that I was not aware of a PA’s responsibilities to the hospital. Throughout the rest of the day, I followed the PA into patient rooms and recovery rooms. I was able to observe how the PA interacted with patients with such a reassuring and caring attitude that I had not seen with the previous physician I had met. I not only respected her compassionate personality, but I related to it.