School: Swarthmore

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”

While I have not had the experience of interacting with any Hospice patients yet, I know that I’ve learned a lot just from replying to the prompts and completing the training. Prior to this year, I never gave much thought to dying and the moments leading up to it, but now, I’m aware. I’m aware … Continue reading “How I’ve Grown”

The journey to medicine is often misleading. Medical schools recruit based on grades, research experience, and MCAT scores. This emphasis on scores and science more often than not makes pre-med students overlook other crucial aspects of medicine such as taking care of dying patients. As a premed student, I want to become a doctor and … Continue reading “Lessons that I learned from the program”

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”

Before becoming a Hospice volunteer, I had just recently begun thinking more critically about my ingrained assumptions surrounding end of life care and death. An anthropology course I took in the spring of 2020, titled “Culture, Health and Illness”, made my beliefs more visible as it discussed many of the ways that biomedicine focuses on … Continue reading “Impact of compassion in treating the patient over the disease”

Over the past 7 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 “To New Experiences”

Working as a hospice volunteer this year was an unconventional experience. As I struggled to recalibrate to online classes, and to a summer and many semesters alone at home, I spent a period of time leaving this line of work to the wayside. During this past summer, I decided to reach out to a program … Continue reading “Connection in Loneliness”

Dealing with the mundane stress of the COVID-19 pandemic has been quite exhausting: academically, emotionally, spiritually. In these times of prolonged isolation, I am constantly reminded of the importance of human connection, something we have all been greatly deprived of over the past year. While I did not get the chance to build patient relationships … Continue reading “To be interpersonal requires acknowledgement of body, mind, and spirit.”

I only had one patient relationship throughout the year before it got cut short by the COVID pandemic. I met Jane early in the fall on my first visit with my volunteer coordinator, and she was a tough cookie. At 105 years old, she was full of life. Jane had one close family member remaining … Continue reading “The Power of Companionship and the Impact of Meaningful Patient Care”

Since starting the program, I have not had all too many opportunities to visit Plush Mills Senior Living, and the visitations have been unfortunately cut short due to the ongoing pandemic. However, in the limited time that I was able to come spend at Plush Mills, I have cherished my time with Sue. A lovely … Continue reading “More than a Stepping Stone”