At the end of the fall semester last year a patient who we’ve been with for over a year passed away. At first it was hard because we were close to her and her family. After she passed we were given another patient who ended up passing around one to two weeks after we met … Continue reading “My Hospice Experience”
Category: Athena Hospice Program
this is for posts in the category of Athena Hospice
Meeting Patients Where They Are
I began volunteering in hospice to become more comfortable with a topic that once felt distant to me: death. As a pre-medical student, I knew caring for patients at the end of life would be part of medicine, yet I had never experienced the death of someone close to me. What began as an effort … Continue reading “Meeting Patients Where They Are”
Hospice volunteering gave me a new outlook on patient care, aging, and life
Participating in the ANOVA program has been an invaluable experience for me because it has provided me with the opportunity to interact with patients in a way that I never have before. While many premeds may have clinical jobs where they are doing routine patient care, we often don’t get to build emotional connections with … Continue reading “Hospice volunteering gave me a new outlook on patient care, aging, and life”
Connection Through Compassion and Listening
One of my most meaningful relationships with a patient was with one I was visiting for about two months before his passing in the beginning of December. He was a businessman all his life, and after my first visit with him, it seemed as though we would have nothing in common. He only really spoke … Continue reading “Connection Through Compassion and Listening”
Honoring Every Patient
My experiences as a hospice volunteer have helped me understand the vocation of a doctor. The Athena training impacted how I think about medicine and a doctor’s role, especially for patients nearing death. In particular, I appreciated the lessons in listening well, paying attention to patients’ behavior, and practicing self-care as a medical professional. Through … Continue reading “Honoring Every Patient”
Learning to Navigate End of Life Care as a Hospice Volunteer
As a pre-med hospice volunteer I have had the opportunity to gain an experience that has shaped me into the person I am now and the person I will be going into med school. When I first started volunteering for Hospice, I had just started taking a course in medical anthropology in which we discussed … Continue reading “Learning to Navigate End of Life Care as a Hospice Volunteer”
Death does not only accompany sorrow but also reminiscence.
The patient who stood out the most to me was this lady who had heart disease. Our conversations were never in a good logical flow, nor did they deepen our liaisons since she forgot who I am the moment I left the room. However, I personally found our interactions to be clear hints of her … Continue reading “Death does not only accompany sorrow but also reminiscence.”
The Privilege of Presence
I have thus far only been seeing one patient throughout my time as a hospice care volunteer—we’ll call her “C.” On the surface, our relationship is straightforward: she is a patient, and I am her volunteer. There is a kind of professional boundary that exists between us, and she does not know my name or … Continue reading “The Privilege of Presence”
Connecting without words
For my volunteer experience in the Athena program, I was partnered up with a woman we’ll call “Lisa.” At this point in her life, “Lisa” has been in hospice care for almost two years living under her daughter’s care. While “Lisa” is responsive and can form short words, she is mostly nonverbal which initially provided … Continue reading “Connecting without words”
Hospice Volunteer–A Reflection of The Patient and The Self
I have spent my time as a hospice volunteer learning and reflecting on what it means to care for someone in their last stages of life. My understanding of death and what it means for the person experiencing it has completely shifted over the last few months. As acknowledged in many of our prompts, death … Continue reading “Hospice Volunteer–A Reflection of The Patient and The Self”