Undoubtedly, there is a general fear and discomfort surrounding death. People are quick to ask why I would ever want to volunteer to visit hospice patients instead of choosing something more uplifting. The answer is simple: The patients I’ve met are more than diagnoses and life expectancy calculations. My experience with hospice has taught me … Continue reading “Life Lessons at the End-of-Life”
The Importance of Hospice Care Experience for Pre-Meds
In the past, I have spent countless hours volunteering in the hospital and working as a medical scribe. I would constantly be surrounded by patients, but have never been able to truly connect with any of these individuals. I would only see them once or twice before they would be discharged. Therefore, when I saw … Continue reading “The Importance of Hospice Care Experience for Pre-Meds”
The Importance of Trust
Throughout my time as a hospice volunteer, I have realized that end of life care is a lot more than providing comfort and assistance to a patient in their final stage of life. There are a lot of emotions involved and it is important to understand what the patient wants out of their hospice experience. … Continue reading “The Importance of Trust”
Invaluable Intangibles
Invaluable Intangibles My involvement with the Athena Institute Pre-Med Hospice program has challenged my vision of being a physician in a fast-paced emergency room and reshaped my rigid definition of medicine. Now, I consider my calling to healthcare as more of a call to healing than a call to cure. Reading Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal … Continue reading “Invaluable Intangibles”
Healthcare for the Dying
Having experienced the quality of care provided to relatives in my personal life who had benefitted from hospice care, I was pushed in the initial direction of becoming a volunteer just to give back to an organization that had given so much to the people in my life in their various conditions of dying. Since … Continue reading “Healthcare for the Dying”
Putting my voice into it: lessons from 2022
The first solo visit I had with Hannah*, I couldn’t get a word in. Literally. It was a Saturday morning and, after some confused wandering through the facility’s winding halls, I arrived at the open door of my patient. She was napping, or at least I thought she had been when I arrived. As is … Continue reading “Putting my voice into it: lessons from 2022”
Reflecting on Passage
Over the past 6 months, I have experienced an entirely new side of medicine and healthcare. Through the connections I formed with my hospice patient, as well as group discussions and reflections throughout this period, I have gained invaluable experience and insight that has allowed me to develop my professional and personal skills. Moreover, my … Continue reading “Reflecting on Passage”
Changing My Perspective
Before I started my journey as a hospice volunteer, I was already set on the idea of medical school. I wanted to learn how people’s bodies worked, how disease affected them, and how I could save them. In a way, I guess you could say that I had a bit of a savior complex, as … Continue reading “Changing My Perspective”
With Compassion Comes Empathy
Volunteering for hospice during the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted several realizations about American healthcare as a system and myself as an individual. Initially, I wanted to interact with patients due to a shadowing experience in oncology and hematology. The physician leading the cases for that day spent time with the patients, not only going over … Continue reading “With Compassion Comes Empathy”
Journey Through Empathy
Throughout the Athena Hospice Program I have been able to learn the intricacies of care taking, how to cope with death, and how to support someone who has experienced a large loss in their life. Since I started the program I was excited for what was to come and what I would learn from this … Continue reading “Journey Through Empathy”