Volunteering at Seasons Hospice Care has been one of the most life changing experiences for me. At the beginning of this program, I was told it would be hard at times because the patients are at the end of their life and need some comfort, especially if death is not familiar. I have had experience with hospice care before, because my grandfather was in hospice when I was 11 years old. I remember the doctors and nurses making his last few months as comfortable as possible, while also allowing death to take its natural course. I wanted to be able to provide the same comfort and support to the patients I saw, especially for patients who do not have family because it is hard to go through this alone.
I have been visiting my first patient, Susan, every Friday since August. She has changed my outlook on death by teaching me to accept it. Over the months, I have developed a great relationship with her and learned a lot about her. Every week, she would tell me about her life with her late husband and how she endured her brain injury. Susan’s memory was not great, so each week she would sometimes repeat the same story, which was okay because there were new details that I learned each time. My favorite memories so far are when Susan and I looked at her coloring books and tried to color together. Those little moments helped me form a real connection with Susan.
This program is not just about gaining volunteer experience for medical school applications. It teaches us more about the healthcare system, how we can’t always prevent death, but we can make the process as soothing as possible for the patient. In order to fully understand the medical care system, I believe one needs to experience hospice care. Through hospice care, I have learned to build a relationship with my patients. I learned that hospice is about more than just the end of life. I plan to continue learning from multiple aspects of the healthcare system as I move forward in my career.
I am grateful for the opportunities and growth I’ve received from this experience. I learned to form a connection to the patient and learn about them as a whole and not just their health, which is important for physicians. Hospice care helps teach me that even though death is difficult to grasp and understand, it isn’t always a bad thing. While this experience can be tough, it prepares me to reach my career goal to become a physician assistant. I hope to continue with this program in order to understand more about what death means to us and how to cope with it, as well as to learn to not be afraid of death.