My Personal Growth & Advice

When I started my job at Fairview, I did so with the hope that it would meet two goals I decided upon. The first, that it would allow me a glimpse into the medical field. The second being a desire to work in an environment where I could learn about patients and work closely with them. Both of these goals were met (and exceed) thanks to my time at UMMC. I was given the chance to actually work in a hospital department side by side with both nurses and physicians as well as many other health care workers. I was also able to meet and work with patients from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds, much different from my own. The former experience gave me a new perspective about people who live and follow different lifestyles and cultures and I enjoyed this lesson since it taught me to be more open minded and to respect people with beliefs that are different from my own. So as for personal growth, I see myself having a better understanding the health care field after my experience. I also am happy to say I see myself as more open minded and tolerant of the diverse backgrounds of the people who live in the Twin City metro area, which I think is the greatest lesson this experience has given me.

The advice I would give to other students taking The Future Physicians course is to keep an open mind, to not be afraid to ask questions, and to not be afraid to strike up a conversation with a health professional (physician, nurse, etc.) or even a patient. Keeping an open mind is sometimes hard, especially when you’re dealing with a patient who is upset or yelling at you, but just remember that they are most likely scared and nervous and are just venting their frustrations. Attempt to assist them either by just listening and making sure their concerns are being heard or by passing their questions onto a nurse or someone who can help make the situation right. During the beginning of my time at Fairview (right after training) there were times I had no idea on how to handle a situation or even where to find a certain supply requested by a nurse. If you speak up and ask to clarify or even ask for help, people are usually more than willing to help you out. It’s better to ask and look a little silly then to mess up or have a patient get hurt because you were too shy to speak up. Lastly, some of the best pieces of advice I received were from talking with my co-workers about my future medical school plans. They gave me tips on studying, gave me lists of schools to check out, and even just personal stories about what they had gone through when they were my age. The random words of wisdom they provided were more valuable than any advice I have received from my college advisors over my 4 years here at the U.

I would absolutely recommend this volunteer experience to other students and hope they learn as much as I did while working at Fairview!