The Pre-Med Student: Navigating Your Clinical Experiences
There is no way I could cover the entire in and outs of my 2017 3-month clinical summer internship experience in one blog post, you all would be reading forever. So I isolated two perspectives of my experience: one for the “pre-med student’s clinical experience” and the other for the typical “college intern”. Check out my previous post for the typical intern perspective.
If you’re a pre-med student, I’m sure you know about how important getting clinical experience is. In today’s day and age hospitals and clinics have put more stipulations on what volunteers and interns can do, which means that we as pre-med students have to become a little more creative about shaping our clinical experiences so that we can get a well-rounded idea of a career in medicine. This summer I served as an administrative and clinical intern in a hemodialysis outpatient clinic for 3 months (please see my internship experience blog post for an idea of my roles in the clinic). During this time, I observed a few challenges and rewards that medical professionals face. I was able to observe the joy and satisfaction from patients when they made health improvements due to the collective work of the medical staff from putting patients first. In the same environment, I also observed the challenge and privilege placed on physicians who treated terminally ill patients who were mentally and physically exhausted from being on hemodialysis.
Witnessing medicine, I noticed that although physicians do not have complete control over the health of their patients, they have complete control over their experience in a healthcare setting and that is so important. When patients came to dialysis daily, they lost control over their life in this arena. This lack of self-control can be an insecure and really difficult experience. As the sailor of their ship, I observed how to empathetically help patients cope with their medical condition and how to interact and talk to patients in a professional yet approachable tone. When greeting patients I was taught that there were three important steps: introducing one’s self by name, informing patient on duration of visit, and a smile.
The physicians and nurses I shadowed were also faced with the limitations of the healthcare system (hospital policies), whether that be a lack of resources or the ability to only do so much for patients due to ethical and legal bounds. They also had patients who had unique challenges aside from having kidney complications (dialysis), that were an integral part of providing them with quality care and keeping them as healthy as possible. Getting to know patients and their caregivers well, assisted medical professionals in combating some of those challenges and treating and healing their patients better. Listening carefully to patient’s concerns and following up on patient’s daily also provided better health outcomes for patients.
Having this experience, re-affirmed and solidified my desire to work within medicine. This service-oriented field is both a science and an art, and my immense passion for bringing justice to the people of my home motivates me to work towards my goal. Using a patient’s story to advocate for them vocally and heal them holistically is why I know a career in medicine is for me. Since healthcare is a right, providing quality care and service provides the justice that any human being so morally deserves. I am excited and anxious to see what my future clinical experiences hold. I hope they provide me with an authentic depiction of what medicine is like, the good and the bad.
