Personal Narrative: My Experience At Will Grundy Medical Clinic

There are several experiences that have prepared me to work with underserved populations. My first experience working specifically with underserved populations was in nursing school. During this time, I was able to offer volunteer time to a medical ministry. I remember taking vital signs, medical histories, and glucose checks. The patients at this ministry did not have insurance, so this was the only access healthcare they could afford. A couple of years after graduating, I worked in a home health setting. There were a variety of populations that we worked with, however, the county I worked in was predominantly

My work is done at the community level, specifically with community empowerment and engagement. I have the great opportunity to work with diverse groups of people of a variety of topics. One of the main areas of focus I have spent my time in is healthcare and health services for communities of color. I decided that I wanted to look specifically how the communities I served were impacted by various health inequities. I could do research on the health inequities around education, obesity, maternal health, child health and food scarcity.

My second clinical day at Mercy Defiance Hospital, progressive care unit, was overwhelming but rewarding and very educational. Through the 8 hours I was there, I learned a lot. I engaged myself in many self-directing learning practices to futher promote my professional growth. My first time interaccting with my patient,I was joined with my clinical instructor. While in the room, I got to listen to to my patients heart, lungs, and bowel sounds. I was able to see and examine the patients ostomy bag, as well as help them to the bathroom. There were ways that I can improve my professional growth, suchas,having the confidence to not second guess my self about things to do in assessments. For example, I know how to assess the lungs, I should not second guess where to listen for the sounds. One of my goals for next week dealing with professional growth would be to have the confidence to know what I have learned and use it. My second one being to go into the room with a confident attitude and believe in myself.

The fall of 2014 was the absolute worst few months of my life. It started in the middle of September. My dad suddenly one day had a sharp pain in his side. He said he was fine, but my mom was not having that and got him to go to the hospital. The pain passed but that week they set up all kinds of scans to find out what was wrong. They figured out the pain was just gallstones. They thought they could just remove it, but that did not happen. In the same scan they found a mass in his chest. The doctors did not know what it was, so they came up with a few possibilities. A few weeks later, in the middle of October, they scheduled a surgical biopsy. Dr. Wallace, the surgeon, told us there were a few different outcomes from the surgery. I do not remember it all exactly, but I know there was one bad outcome and three others that were curable and they could fix right then and there. If it was one of the three things they could do a whole nother operation right there that day and remove it. The fourth was cancer.

A unique experience that I had at Norton Women’s and Children’s Hospital was that we also covered labor and delivery and the mother-baby unit. Most of our programming and interventions on these units involved bereavement and grief support, sibling education/support, and memory/legacy making. From my coursework and volunteer experiences at the University of Charleston, South Carolina, I had a solid foundational background with grief and bereavement through our child life courses, our death and dying course, our experiences with Shannon’s Hope, and our experiences with Rainbows. A family is forever changed when there is a loss of a family member, specifically a child (Pearson, 2005). A parents reaction to the death of a child greatly differs

In 2015, I volunteered with Medicine Education and Development for Low Income Families Everywhere (MEDLIFE) in Lima, Peru. Our mission was to help families

I was previously an Albanian citizen. I was raised surrounded by a violent civil war and civil unrest in the nation which is still nowadays plagued by corruption and extreme economic inequalities. Becoming a US citizen was for me an unimaginably great opportunity for which I feel in debt to my now fellow Americans. For this reason, my ultimate career goal is to give back to the great community that has taken me in as one of their own by tackling the problem of inequality between neighborhoods in New York. As a future physician, my goal will be to work in economically disadvantaged areas to not only treat, but also educate children, teenagers, and young adults about their personal health care. With the opportunities that the Summer Public Health Scholars Program can offer me, I plan to ultimately play my part in the nationwide effort of eliminating inequalities of populations in disadvantaged environment so that every American citizen of all ages may one day witness the great opportunities and true equalities that are promised to them under our great

During the program I did research and shadowed, but the most memorable part of the program was following their NeighboorhoodHELP program. The program allows for medical students to provide care to households in the Miami community while allowing them to see the harsh realities of their community. Being a part of that experience was very transformative because it gave me first hand experience with the health disparities in underserved communities. The families had limited health literacy, did not have health insurance, or lived in a food desert. Their ability to make healthy choices or receive proper health care was diminished. The underserved population’s level of health literacy is one factor that keeps these health disparities in our communities a constant. A future goal of mine, as a physician, is to educate and communicate well with my patients. Trying to give them a better insight in making healthier lifestyle choices so they can prevent a number of diseases. During my time in Miami I also had the opportunity to participate in cooking classes for diabetes patients and grade school children. Implementing programs that would increase the access and awareness of healthy food options is something that I want to be a part of in

To this day, my mother, a CNA at a local hospital where she’s been for the past 24 year, fears going to hospitals herself; let that sink in. This is common in the community in which I was raised and I’m sure in many other underserved communities across this nation as well. Many do not trust in our healthcare system and I want to work towards changing their perspective. I want to educate those in underserved communities on the importance of taking care of themselves and seeking treatment when necessary. Having been raised in an underserved community myself, I believe that I am in a unique position to truly make a difference. My other hope is that I can inspire the children of these communities to follow their dreams. Maybe, just maybe, they will be able to use our similarities as a starting point as they embark on the lifelong journey of self-identification and self-discovery. Having the opportunity to pursue my dream of becoming a physician, coupled with the potential impact that I can have on communities that are often neglected is the reason that I want to be a healthcare professional.

This week I found myself in the OR. Lakewood Ranch Medical Center specializes in orthopedics. Specifically hips and knee replacements. This day one hip and three knee revisions were on the list for the day that I was able to witness. The surgeries themselves were something to see but the meat of the day was the nurse I was assigned to. He demonstrated and educated me to the duties of the RN in the OR: Stocking the general supplies needed, assisting in bringing the specific tools and supplies needed for that surgery, documenting everything from orders to supplies to medications, prepping the patient physically- cleaning and draping the patient leaving the surgical site exposed, assisting in the cleanup and turnover of the surgical suite.

I have earned 5 hours for this activity by learning about my career goals and medical schools in general. I recently visited the University of Florida's campus and visited the UF Health Center. They have a very nice facility and they do a lot of research. It is now the goal to get into UF's medical school. We did talk to an admissions counselor, who suggested that as soon as I get into college, I should started doing internships and be a part of a research team. This will be an area of growth I will need to work on since I tend to be shy when it comes to going certain organizations I am new to.

People of ethnic minorities and those who are economically disadvantaged often have trouble finding medical help that is affordable for their families. For many years I have wanted to work with underrepresented and disadvantaged populations. Although I may not be a traditional ethnic minority, I do have a very good understand of the struggles that come from being poor, and how hard it can be to pay even simple medical bills. I understand that there is an epidemic of health disparities in America, and I want to help end it. The reasons I want to work with underrepresented and disadvantaged populations is because of personal experiences, because I want to help end health disparities in America, and because helping minorities is very rewarding

At UC Davis I explored all the health-related organizations and decided to join a public health advocacy group called RIVER (Recognizing Illnesses Very Early and Responding). RIVER prioritized educating underserved populations in Davis and the Greater Sacramento area about how essential preventive care is to one’s health. Through my participation in RIVER as an exercise intern and a board member, I became an advocate for preventive health. As I learned more about preventive care, I applied that knowledge by teaching individuals from these underprivileged communities how to make healthier lifestyle changes through exercise and nutrition education. One program I had the opportunity to be involved in was RIVER’s Healthy Heroes program at Ethel Philips Elementary. Since most these children were facing some form of adversity, I helped to develop a program that would motivate these children to prioritize their health early to prevent future complications affiliated with poor lifestyle choices. Because of this program, my passion for prevention and public health grew. This organization’s mission resonated with me and inspired me to become a physician who integrated preventive care with

Through monthly health fairs and an annual health fair in my hometown Monterey Park, I became aware of the health issues plaguing my community. As a student-run organization, we handled the logistics of the health fair, which included contacting venues, health care professionals, and local organizations. At health fairs, I interacted with patients by conducting blood pressure and body mass index screenings. Based on their results, I then educated patients on how they could achieve a healthier lifestyle by making changes to their diet and exercise routine. It was amazing to see so many patients that were willing to fix their bad habits and improve their health. In addition, I provided them with information as to where and how they could attain low-income or free health services. Witnessing the patients’ appreciation and desire to make lifestyle changes gave me the feeling that I was truly helping to improve their health and making an impact on my community. I believe that this experience has prepared me to be a physician who takes the time to understand diverse cultures and simplifies health topics to ensure

“My head and left arm has been hurting constantly since three days,” as I heard him complain but refused to go to the ER or make an appointment with the primary physician. As I over heard him vomiting, I rushed him to the Abington Memorial Hospital ER as I recall it was 9pm that day. The first thing that was performed on him was an EKG after I had described the signs and symptoms to the nurses at the front desk. He was soon rushed into the room as the nurse told us he had been suffering from a major myocardial attack.