The Impact Of Service Learning On Residency Interviews

“Never be a doctor if you’re going to have any loans to pay back.” “Don’t do this to yourself.” “You’ll never have a family if you go to medical school.” “The two worst jobs in America belong to physicians and teachers.” Without even soliciting their advice, physicians noticed my “Pre-medical Volunteer” nametag, and immediately approached me with words of discouragement. I participated in a volunteer summer internship at St. Mary Hospital in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, following my sophomore year of college, in an effort to gain more experience in the medical field and solidify my lifelong desire to become a physician. Throughout the eight weeks, I spent mandatory hours in both the Emergency Room and the Operating Room, made contacts with physicians in specific areas of interest, and spent time shadowing them. In addition, each of us in the program attended weekly business meetings in which administrators of the hospital and local physicians spoke to us about their particular positions and experiences. Unlike the many years of high school I spent volunteering at a hospital and a nursing home, where I was limited to carrying around food trays and refilling cups of water, I was able to gain hands-on and more intimate experience. Initially uneasy at the site of the blood gushing into plastic sheets draped around the orthopedic surgeon’s patient in the OR, it took only a few days to grow accustomed to the images on the television screen during a laparoscopic procedure and the

A Service Learning project is one of the project requirements to complete the Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree through Ferris State University (FSU). My Service Learning experience was completed at the VA Medical Center (VAMC) in November, 2014. This paper includes details of the facility along with the contact information for the coordinator of the project. A description of my role as a volunteer, critical reflection of my experience, and a synthesis of the Service Learning are also included.

Through the many trips that my family has taken to the hospital due to various reasons, I have become fond of the hospital and its many wonders. After all the things that the medical field has done for me and my family, I decided to contribute to my local hospital to volunteer and help out those who pay visits to the hospital. Through my exposure to various clinical populations, I want to improve my ability to serve others in this capacity that can guide me towards the medical profession in the future.

As the vice president of my Health Occupations Students of America club at my school, I have worked hard to expand the focus of medial outreach for my community. While the club is mainly focused on competitive events, I realized there was a lack of exposure in the medical aspects. Because of this, my club had expanded its purpose by revisiting what it means to be a physician and connecting to the community as we did when I lead my club in hosting a day at our local Space Coast Fair to boost emotional support for the elderly from assisted living

It is also a “boundary spanning” activity in that it requires active involvement from people both within and outside of the classroom context, often resulting in participant contributors who represent a variety of generations, ethnicities, social groups, and experience levels (Billig and Furco, 2002, p.vii). Service-learning is designed to reduce the boundaries between an institutional campus environment and the community around it. It is designed to connect learning to real experience through service and reflection (Ball and Schilling, 2006; Becker, 2000). As a baseline to facilitate this development, service-learning is distinct from other types of community service and civic engagement experiences in that the service-learning experience must not only have a service and reflective component but also be clearly tied to the curriculum through learning objectives and theoretical underpinnings (Bloomquist, 2015; Pritchard, 2001). As Barbara Holland, former Director of the U.S. National Service-Learning Clearinghouse, shared, “Service-learning is all in the hyphen. It is the enrichment of specific learning goals through structured community service opportunities that respond to community-identified needs and opportunities.” (Kenworthy-U’Ren, Taylor, and Petri, 2006: 121).

The first day, I have arrived at the Ambulatory Care office I was a bit nervous because I did not know what they would expect of me. Mr. Price first professionally greeted me and shared with me the Dallas VA mission statement, to fulfill President Lincoln's promise “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's Veterans.” Mr. Price then provided me with a nametag and a projected itinerary for this week. During the first week of my service learning, I was taught how to properly answer telephones, greet patients, and schedule appointments. By performing these tasks, I was able to enhance my medical terminology and communication skills. Although I was not directly exposed to patient care, shadowing a healthcare manager allowed me to witness the actions that occur behind the scenes that make a difference in improving the quality of care that patients receive.

Service Learning is an educational strategy set in place to enlighten students with instruction and experience, in addition to improve learning , teach responsibility, and support the community. Service learning is vital to the development of the student, given that it intertwines academic and personal development together. It is aimed to enhance a student’s learning in all aspects of life.

In reviewing this learners track 1 residency action plan, goals for skill development that were discussed at the end of track 1 included practicing and using observation, open-ended questions, and silence. This learner practiced these skills among other skills between track 1 and track 2 by using them at work and with family members. These skills were also used in everyday conversations as well as in role-plays with family members. In addition, a professional development goals was to join the American School Counselor Association. This goal was completed and opportunities for professional development continues through the use of their website and magazine. In the area of personal development the goal was to take more personal time and spend more time with family. This goal was also accomplished through prioritizing and scheduling.

In addition, while much of the presentation was admittedly a recap of information I already knew, there were a few pieces of valuable information presented. One bit of information was the deconstruction of the personal statement. I did not know there were actually two components to the personal statement: the disadvantage statement and the personal statement itself. I got to listen to one medical student’s personal statement that described her immigrant family upbringing and how her relationship with her mother shaped her goals. In her personal statement, she described her experiences and included specific examples that ultimately formed a narrative. One of the examples she used was her shadowing experience with a primary care physician I had heard before that medical schools wants to know why you want to study medicine, but when I tried to write something resembling a personal statement, it still felt like something was missing. Hearing this example clarified for me that the personal statement doesn’t have to be some literary wonder, it just has to be genuine and articulate. I heard her story and I thought, “I could write something like that.”

I began volunteering at the Hospital for Special Surgery, to get an overview of what is is like to work at a hospital. Volunteering at a hospital was an eye opening experience, because I got to encounter how physicians, and medical staff communicate, and listen to their patients. These two skills are essential to understand patient needs, and therefore make the right decisions in diagnosing diseases. My role at the hospital was to provide snacks, beverages, and aid kits to patients, families, and medical staff. I have witnessed families that stayed up long nights, because they had loved ones undergo surgery. Any person that has a loved one undergo surgery becomes worried and scared, because of the uncertainty that lies ahead. However, the imperative skills that I have learned and exceeded on was my communication skills. Communicating with these families, and patients was exceedingly important, because you have to place yourself in their shoes to understand the situation they are in. I met young patients, as young as 5 years old, that were in the hospital for days recovering from surgery, or undergoing

For the Service Learning Assignment, I decided to volunteer at Northwind Rehabilitation and Health Care Center. My current interest is working in the medical field that deals with babies. The service learning placement that best fit my schedule was Northwind Rehabilitation and Health Care Center. This organization works with mostly senior citizens that need special care at all times. There were times where individuals that were not senior citizens that came there because it is not strictly a nursing home. The residents are not able to care for themselves and need constant supervision to ensure their safety. Some of the resident may require physical therapy. My responsibilities was to interact with the different residents on each visit and complete

According to Kathleen Flecky and Lynn Gitlow, service-learning is defined as, “learning that occurs in experiences, reflection, and civic engagement” (Flecky & Gitlow, 2011). In recent years more universities are implementing service learning into their curriculum. A key concept of service learning is civic responsibility. Civic responsibility can simply be defined as your responsibilities as a citizen. As will be shown later in this paper, service learning can have many benefits not only to a student, but also to the community members

Hospitals are a great way for a medical student to serve the community as well as gain valuable experience in their future field. For this reason, I have spent around forty hours from the end of the summer up until now volunteering at HonorHealth hospital. I volunteered as a transporter, what this means is that I move equipment, medical documents and lab samples around the hospital. I also help discharge patients by pushing them in a wheelchair to their car. Through this experience I was able to make life easier on people who were vulnerable and trying to recover as well as the busy staff member who treated them. I had many interactions with people and by from this I have a better understanding of impact my service had. I will be discussing: How psychology can explain social interaction, how outside factors can influence a person 's sense of self, how behaviors and situations can help you understand a person, the importance of communication as well as focus, and the environment shapes the organization.

The Society for Experiential Education defines service learning as, “any carefully monitored service experience in which a student has intentional learning goals and reflects actively on what he or she is learning throughout the experience” (Staton 1). Service learning is a great opportunity to get extra learning experiences while also experiencing the community around the universities campus. “Service learning allows students to apply what they are learning from their instructors, peers, and readings to genuine tasks that occur outside the four walls of the classroom while simultaneously helping others” (Staton 1). Universities are using service learning to expand beyond the classroom and provide students with experiences that will

As a student, I have become more aware of the needs of my community. I have always worked at being active in my community to help those in need. Most of my volunteer work revolved around collecting donations and lending a helping hand at shelters. My volunteer work did not usually involve an academic base. I was not concerned with the ins and outs of why homelessness was a problem or the difficulty women faced finding assistance to escape abusive relationships. I just knew the shelters were always in need of donations and that is where I found myself helping most. In this paper, I will describe a personal experience I have had with service learning. I will also select one service learning idea from the National Student Nurses’ Association planning guideline that interests me and describe how this type of experience will enhance my nursing student experience.