Through the 2021-2022 school year, I have been able to volunteer with two different patients. In the fall I briefly (only one visit in person) volunteered with “Patient 1”. This was my first in person experience with Heartland Hospice and came after about a year of remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was very interesting to finally be able to put into practice everything I had learned during my training and I was struck by how gracious “Patient 1” was that I was there and visiting.
The majority of my volunteer experience this year was spent with “Patient 2” who I began seeing in the middle of my fall term and saw right up until graduation about every 2 weeks. She was extremely kind and made my time as a volunteer one that I will never forget. Routinely I would see her at times that she did not feel great and while this was one of the toughest parts of volunteering it was also enlightening. This is due to the fact that I was really able to see the toughest side of someone who has a terminal illness. This made me appreciate the force that I could be in “Patient 2’s” life as someone who would be able to come and sit with her even if it was only for around an hour every 2 weeks. I was again struck after each visit with how kind and appreciative she was that I had come. Some weeks were much less active than others and even during those visits it was still nice knowing that I had been able to be there and support her along her journey. I can confidently say that we became friends during the time I was able to volunteer. It was nice being able to not only hear about her life and story but also being able to share how my journey was going in terms of medical school decisions and events like track meets or honor society inductions. I will definitely miss “Patient 2” and will also miss being able to provide her with support during this stage of her life.
I have grown through the last 2 years in a number of ways thanks to hospice. Primarily I have grown as an individual by seeing patients on palliative care. Knowing that I am present as a support has made me understand where medicine can end and personal time and kindness can take over as a primary method of care. It has pushed me to continue investigating how healthcare professionals and the healthcare system can improve as a whole and the role that physicians/PA’s/NP’s can play in being the change the system desperately needs for the elderly and terminally ill.
Through my time volunteering for hospice I have changed direction several times in terms of the speciality I would like to pursue as I continue on the journey to become a physician. Overall I believe that I will pursue geriatirc medicine and may subspecialize beyond that focusing on the cardio-pulmonary systems of elderly patients. The decision to pursue this path came partly from my time as a volunteer and partly from the research that I was involved with at my undergraduate institution. Being a volunteer for individuals on hospice made me realize that it is time that more of an emphasis is placed on palliative care and preventative medicine so that individuals can live healthier lives as well as longer lives. The first step in being able to produce this change is placing myself at the first line of defense in terms of the medical care elderly individuals receive.
I believe that the program is valuable for many reasons but primarily because it shows you one of the toughest sides of medicine and medical care. Seeing patients and individuals who have been placed on hospice is totally different from every other experience in my opinion because we are no longer using medicine to combat illness. At this point in treatment it is about allowing the individual to enjoy the rest of their time and not burdening them with more treatments and trials. During my interview cycle this was one of my most empowering talking points for how I knew I wanted to become a physician. Having this program allowed me to have a background many premedical students do not and really showed me that I am meant to pursue medicine and provide care to all who I can. These lessons will provide me with an amazing background that I will use to become a more caring and well rounded physician no matter what field I ultimately choose to enter.