Foundations of Medicine 2 Reflection
It’s endearing how dedicated our teachers are to teaching us the importance of teamwork and communication in healthcare, but clearly this idea transcends to every field in life. So on Tuesday we acted as first responders, paramedics, and were part of a code team for a patient in cardiac arrest; as a group we learned the efficiency that comes about with everyone knowing their role in a team. Our CNA lesson this week consisted of learning about empathy – one of my favorite characteristics in people. We watched this video that the Cleveland Clinic put together of different emotions people in one hospital were going through, reactions ranging from happiness to grief to anger and everything in between. What really struck a chord with me was that within the microcosm of the hospital, there was another in an elevator. An old man was worried about how to care for his wife who just had a stroke, a woman had just gotten a divorce, and a young man just had his first child. Three strangers, standing together in an elevator, going through different stages of relatively the same relationship; but you could never tell from their passive faces. Empathy: putting yourself in someone else’s shoes to feel what they’re feeling – a little heart to heart. I’ve always been good at reading people but I’ll admit it’s a bit unnerving to now be expected to do something that’s come naturally, I don’t want to force it if it’s already there.
Speaking of heart to heart, progress is being made on my capstone project as after a chat with my ever resourceful teacher guided me to organizations that work towards basic health care for all. Heart to Heart International is one of those organizations that go all over the world helping out after whatever disaster, wether it be for an Ebola outbreak in Africa or a flood in Louisiana. I’ve been searching for a career that works toward solving the world’s issues as they happen. I’m thoroughly intrigued by this and can’t wait to delve into it and explore more about how they run their system. It’ll be helpful since they get their funding from private donors and if universal health care is going to have a chance, it’s the wealthy that are going to have to give a little up. I didn’t know organizations like KC Cares Health Clinic and Health Partnership Clinic existed; I won’t be flawed in my research again to only research the things that are wrong and not those that are working towards solutions, even if it is just in their local community.
It amuses me how this was a short week due to Labor Day and yet this is my longest blog – good. That means my brain is ticking towards something I want to achieve…now I only need to put a name to that something.
~ Janna Ferdous