Although I had always considered medicine a potential career from hearing my mother’s frequent inspirational recounts as a dentist, it was my volunteer work that awakened my sense of responsibility to the world and my desire to help patients heal. As a volunteer at the UCSF Medical Center, I dashed through corridors with a patient rushing to find his wife in the maternity ward, minutes before she delivered. Witnessing the newborn with the family was a heartening experience, and fostering trust with patients at UCSF Medical has enriched my life immeasurably. Such interactions enhanced my ability to build strong interpersonal bonds, and I was awarded the HEARTS Award from UCSF for exemplary patient care. The hospital became my second home and I realized that I might enjoy working in a health care setting. While volunteering at UCSF, I also discovered the important role that language plays in connecting with patients, and the socio-emotional aspects of healing that may be overlooked in a field that tends to prioritize biological mechanisms. Growing up as a second generation In...
In my life I have seen how even while speaking the same language there can be communication problems. Adding the inability to speck the same language and then the complexity of describing medical conditions, I can see how the situation could turn out poorly and cause troubling effects. This chapter has helped me better understand why the Hmon...
Samarel, N. (1997). Therapeutic touch, dialogue, and women's experiences in breast cancer surgery. Holistic Nursing Practice, 12(1), 62-70.
In the beginning of my senior year I was eager to expand my understanding of how it would be to work in a hospital. An opportunity arose allowing me to volunteer in the hospital at the University of Chicago. I was able to volunteer at the children's playroom, which consisted of a weekly commitment. The daily tasks I had to perform where to enlighten the spirits of children and reduce the amount of anxiety that developed within them when they approached a hospital visit. I would play games, read books, or just company the patients at their bedside. I especially love to interact with the younger patients because their laughter and innocence warms my heart up.
The two videos that I like the most from this class was the ted talk name “America’s native prisoners of war” by Aaron Huey, and the documentary “When Your Hands are tied” by Mia Boccella and Marley Shebala. These two videos brought my attention because in the first video which is the ted talk the author of the video is an outsider of the society that he is trying to represent he did not go through the experience that the native people that he is trying to defend went through. In the documentary when your hands are tied this is a little bit more personal I think because this is a documentary where people from the tribe and people that went through all this obstacles are trying to heal themselves.
who were depressed were 4 to 5 times more likely to have made serious inquiries about
48) "we never got the habit of happiness as others know it. It was always as if
“Art therapy is a form of therapy in making of visual images (paintings, drawings, models etc.) in the presences of a qualified art therapist contributes towards externalization of thoughts and feelings which may otherwise remain unexpressed”(Walter & Gilory, 1992).
It was becoming increasing clear to me that the hospital environment was a community that I knew one day I wanted to be a part of. For three summers, I shadowed one emergency room physician who has been an amazing role model and mentor. This exposure taught me not only a plethora of terms, but to think critically and quickly and to prioritize and reason in ways that had immediate benefit. I also learned a great deal about bedside manner, and how important it is to be culturally and emotionally sensitive to patients. Like my family, this physician noticed so many important things about people- who they are and what matters to them. She knew just when to touch someone on the shoulder, or to step back. She accounted for age and class and race and subtleties that don’t even have words. She viewed each patient as a whole person. One night a woman was brought into the ER after a car crash and needed a neurological exam immediately. She was wearing a hijab. This physician kindly addressed the woman and asked her if she wanted the door closed while she took off her hijab. They both knew the cultural significance, helping this patient to feel respected and less
I knew that my patient confided her fears and was able to help me transition the information smoothly. This experience was phenomenal and I felt very accomplished that day. I knew that I cooperated with the physician, the patient, the caregiver and the security officer and made a difference in my patient’s life. Had I not participated in her care plan, the patient was very determined to fight the security officer and leave the hospital without receiving any treatment. This experience has been very rewarding and I am very excited to be in the field of medicine. This excitement hasn’t died down even for a single moment in the past five years. I am even more committed to the career of osteopathic medicine now that my interests are well established. Community service gives me a sense of altruism. The identification of this value has been very meaningful to me. I want contribute to the betterment of the society by giving my time and contributing to the issues that affect our society. Interacting with several patients from various ethnicities on a daily basis has given me insight into the true meaning of
An individual’s environment consists not only of the seen environment, but also the unseen and storied environment. The physical environment can be manipulated to create a tranquil space for patients to recover. Likewise, the same is true for the unseen and storied environment. Health care providers can manipulate their approach to care to meet the needs of an individual’s emotional and spiritual needs as well, fostering a holistic, whole-body approach to healing.
I know that by doing my job, no matter how different each patient may be, that I have made a difference in someone’s life. I am very content in my job knowing that there is an increasing need in healthcare. With the demand of healthcare today, there will always be a demand for physicians, and with the need of physicians there will always be a need for medical assistants. In this profession the rewards and opportunities will only continue to grow, and there is not a better place to than here in America, because like Ralph Waldo Emerson (journalist, poet, philosopher, and essayist) once said, “America is another name for
I had known for years that I wanted to work in the health care field, but I always believed it would be as a doctor. I watched for the first few years of my brother’s life as he struggled with different health challenges such as being born premature, having croup and breathing difficulty, and speech impairment. Watching my brother struggle and then being able to overcome these difficulties, as well as seeing other children around him who were not as fortunate, really pushed me even at a young age to make a difference. My family, both immediate and extended, were very supportive, and I felt a real positive push towards working hard to achieve that goal of working in health care. In high school, I was fortunate enough to do a cooperative placement at the Peterborough Regional Health Center’s Intensive Care Unit. Through observing rounds and being in the medical setting, I truly knew this is where I wanted to
“A healing hospital is built on the ancient tradition that love is at the center of healing. Within that framework, the Golden Thread – a symbol of our faith in God – requires that we strike a balance between the latest scientific advancements and the demands of the human spirit. As healthcare providers, we are called upon to tend to our patient’s heart and head. For a hospital to truly be healing, the Golden Thread must be continuous. As both healers and patients, it is the Golden Thread that connects us all” (Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, n.d.).
Although we might not all agree on whoever or whatever created the human body, I think we can all agree it is an amazing, self-functioning machine. The ability of the body to maintain a healthy status quo and to heal itself without input is unlike any man made machine in existence. However, with today’s society wanting more and at an ever accelerating rate, the incredible inventions of doctors, engineers and scientists have that work in conjunction with the body to heal is truly amazing. Despite the body’s talent to heal subconsciously, it turns out there is many ways we can affect the process with our current health, both positive and negatively. The human body has programmed ways to recoup and revive damaged cells but in an ever changing world there are many things we can do externally and internally to affect the body’s already amazing process.
Healing is a long process that requires a person physical, mental and spiritual aspects. As a human being if a person has problem in one part of those aspects, he/she don’t feel well and hard to function well. The environment we live in, plays a big factor on person healing process. If there surrounded by a strong healing environment, a patient can recover faster. A healing environment consist of clean environment, a heathy spiritual life, and a strong support system around a person. When a person obtains a well and strong a healing environment, he will have a better and faster healing process.