I was a bit sad walking in today because it is our last full day of MedEx. Tomorrow is our graduation and we will have to turn in our coats and badges. However, we still had three lectures today and we had field day.
Patient Experience
One of the first lectures of the day was from a man who had gone to the Mayo Clinic. He spoke of his experiences in the clinic and what he saw that was different than any other experience he had had. He kept mentioning treating a person as a person, not just a patient, which really resonated with me. I wrote my college essays on this and it is literally the reason I am going into healthcare.
"I want to pursue medicine so that I can help those like myself smile and laugh through their treatments. I want to make an impact. I hope that I will be able to ease the fear of an unknown disease or treatment. I want to make a person feel like a person, not just a patient, while still offering them the best quality of care I can give." - CJ Doss
I took the quote above straight from my college essay for Anderson University. In this essay, I spoke of my own experiences within Prisma Health and my Type 1 diagnosis. When I was diagnosed, my nurses took the opportunity to get to know me and interact with me. They made me smile and laugh throughout my diagnosis. The interactions that I had with them, were exactly what pushed me onto the healthcare track.
It was truly inspiring and comforting to know that the mindset of treating people as people can make others feel comfortable and safe, truly solidifying my purpose.
Don't Put People in Boxes
Our next lecture of the day lasted about two hours but was very interactive. Each person chose a corner of the room to stand in and as Jenna would read out prompts, people who resonated with them would go and stand in the middle. The prompts were things such as: "You play a sport," or "You have been to another country." I found myself in the middle quite a lot and it was fun to hear everyone's stories and experiences.
One of the prompts was "You have experienced discrimination." I was surprised by just how many people came or didn't come into the middle. It was heartbreaking to hear everyone's stories and truly see the hate that people can have. In Judaism, one of the greatest sins one can commit is hate. I have grown up learning that hate is a terrible thing and no one should hate based on skin color, religion, origin, etc. This philosophy solidifies my knowledge that Judaism is for me. I couldn't believe just how many people could hate as intensely as they do. I also shared my experience with antisemitism within my own school. It was reassuring to see my instructors and fellow tier mates just listen to my (along with everyone else's) story. It made me realize that there were people who, even if they couldn't understand what effect it had on me or the severity of the hatred, people were just willing to listen. I think that that is something that people nowadays lack. Sometimes, the best thing to do and the kindest thing to do is give a person a chance to speak and let them know that their voice is heard.
Travel Nursing
Our last lecture of the day was from a travel nurse. She spoke about her personal experience as well as the logistics of travel nursing. It is something I have always been interested in because my grandmother was a travel nurse. Most of all, however, I just want to see the country and the diversity of each area. Near the end of the lecture, I asked the nurse if she believed that hospitals would become more reliant on travel nurses than staff nurses because more staff nurses are turning to travel nursing instead. She said she did believe that because of COVID staff nurses started to realize their worth and decided to act on that. As I mentioned, I am truly interested in doing travel nursing while I am in my twenties as a way to not only see the country but also save up some money for medical school. I have even considered, if I go to medical school, working with doctors without borders if I can.
Quote of the Day
“We’re here, and then we’re gone, and it’s not about the time we’re here, but what we do with the time.” - Rick Yancey, The 5th Wave
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, we went to Clevland Park and had our field day. We started off with kickball and then did an egg toss. During the kickball game, I got stung by something and ended up going home during the egg toss because I started to react to the sting. However, during the time that I was at field day, we had a lot of fun. A few of us got there early and decided to swing on the playset before heading to the tennis courts. I enjoyed spending time with my tier mates outside of the hospital and hope that I can continue these relationships and activities throughout the year. As today is coming to a close, I am having bitter-sweet emotions. MedEx has been one of the greatest opportunities I have had and I have made some amazing connections; however, tomorrow is our last day and I truly don't want it to end. I hope that I will be able to return for the other tiers and that hope is driving me forward into each step I am taking for the future. I can't wait for day nineteen. I give day eighteen 4 out of 5 stars.
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