#theVIPexperience Post #202: Claire Deitz

    "I first found out about the Crossroad Health Center VIP program from my freshman year biology teacher. The second I heard about it, I knew it was something I wanted to get involved in right away. However, I was slightly concerned because I knew most people in the program were pre-med and planned on going to medical school. I had planned to be a genetic counselor one day and then later get my PhD in neurogenetics, so I was unsure if this was something I could even do. Upon applying, I realized it really is for everyone that has interest in bettering the community. 

    Most people are aware that there are numerous obstacles in healthcare, but Crossroad really shows you just how deep those issues are. There are the financial, language, transportation, and availability barriers, each slightly different from each other. When scheduling appointments for patients, there can be multiple problems that come up along the way. With our training and community, we can overcome these problems for the patients.

    Not only do I feel that I am helping to better patients' lives in this program, I also feel that I am being welcomed into a community of bright future and current healthcare workers. Everyone I meet has the same care for patients that you do and it truly helps the environment flourish. It is crazy to think that I am already almost done with my second rotation and about to start my final once, but this community makes it seem less scary. Everyone gets to grow with each other and build off of one another. 

    Crossroad has taught me how to feel more comfortable in a healthcare setting as well as how to be more compassionate. Obviously, I still have a lot left to learn in my time here at Crossroad, but I'm lucky to be learning it here. I can't wait to see what the next few months bring for myself and everyone in the program."

#theVIPexperience Post #201: Jillian Covell

    "I grew up in a small suburb outside of Cleveland, Ohio. Nearly everyone had health insurance provided by one of their parent's jobs and they were able to see whatever doctor they wanted whenever they wanted. I grew up thinking anyone could make any appointment they needed, not even wondering if I would need a referral. And appointments with my dentist every six months were normal, not an added benefit to my insurance plan. My time at Crossroad has opened my eyes to the privilege that I have grown up with. It had also opened my mind to thinking about less privileged people. It has been a life-altering experience working with the wonderful community that Crossroad serves. We serve a population of individuals who may not have the time or means to get to appointments or get their medications. It has certainly taught me a lot more than school ever has about the looming inequalities among different populations in the country.

    My time as a VIP has been extremely fulfilling and I feel honored to have been able to spend time helping as many individuals as I have. It has been a reaffirming experience in regard to my own interest, as I know with even more certainty that I belong in the medical field. It has been extremely rewarding knowing that the little bits of help we provide by helping to schedule patients at their referral appointments are enough to brighten their who day and take a large load off their backs. It is not always easy trying to maneuver around their insurance and schedules, but every time we can help it is the greatest feeling in the world. Being able to serve this community is a huge honor, and I am so grateful to have this experience and learn more about these individuals and our society as a whole."

#theVIPexperience Post #200: Tannishtha Ray

 

    "I began my first rotation as a VIP in my first year of college. I had a narrow mindset of what the world of healthcare looked like but I knew that I was passionate about helping others through medicine. Being a Crossroad VIP has altered my knowledge and commitment to medicine in a positive direction for many reasons. First, I now have a greater understanding of what it means to be any sort of healthcare provider. I have met so many people working at Crossroad and they each play a very important role in treating and advocating for patients. While they may not be directly interacting with the patient, their compassion and effort to help out their community is what makes Crossroad such an effective and productive center. Another aspect of medicine that I have learned at Crossroad is how challenging it can be to reach patients--both literally and figuratively. Working with patients who are often too busy or less informed about important aspect of healthcare can definitely be difficult. No matter how understanding the patient is and how passionate you are helping them, it takes time and effort to make appointments and have patients follow through with those appointments. Various obstacles in life often take away from the patient's ability to focus on their own well-being, and this can be hard to witness at times. Fortunately, I have had many positive experiences where I can see the impact I am making on these patients, even just as a volunteer. This feeling of being able to help make someone's life easier is very rewarding and has motivated me even more to become a physician. Overall, I am grateful for my time at Crossroad and it has taught me a lot about working in a healthcare setting and what the purpose of being a healthcare professional is. It has also given me a greater understanding of what Community Health is and how crucial it is to help patients who aren't always prioritzized or able to recent devent healthcare in other places."

#theVIPexperience Post #199: Kalysta Humenik

 

    "My experience as a Crossroad Health Intern has greatly changed my perspective of healthcare. I have always known that I have wanted to be a doctor, since I was around the age of 3. Going through the process of becoming a doctor, one of the best experiences has been being a VIP. I have been a resident of Cincinnati my entire life, and it wasn't until I became an intern that I realized how much my community needs help. The healthcare system unfortunately has a lot of barriers when it comes to everyone receiving quality and affordable care. Crossroad is a place where all members of the community can access healthcare regardless of ethnicity, language, gender, sexuality, and income. Through Crossroad I have been able to help so many patients get connection with the proper healthcare providers to get help. Not only have I been able to help others through the VIP program, but patients are also helping me understand more about what they go through as a patient in a corrupt system. Being an intern at Crossroad has greatly changed my outlook on healthcare. The health of a patient should not be based on the amount of money they have, the color of their skin, their gender, their religion, and so much more. It was ultimately saddening to realized how many people are negatively affected by barriers they can't control. However, I vow as a doctor that I will always help those in my community get access to the care they need regardless. I highly recommend this program to anyone who wants to help the community. To the future VIPs at Crossroad, I hope you enjoyed your time at Crossroad Health Clinic and realize how much of an impact you are making on the community."

#theVIPexperience Post #198: Nicole Ntim

    "During my senior year of high school, I was educated on the equity problems in healthcare. One of my STEM teachers introduced the equity problem that had been going on in our healthcare systems for so long. It bothered me so much that people were being treated differently based on their ethnicities and races, a factor that simply cannot be controlled. From there, I was interested in doing my own research. I soon learned about the disproportionate statistics in treatment and care found in minority groups. Even diagnosing darker skin patients with diseases, such as skin cancer, go undetected since darker skin tones aren't found in medical books. I realized that diversity is seen as an impediment for proper treatment in the healthcare world. At the end of my high school STEM course, we were given a project to create an innovative medical device. I decided to make a presentation showing how poorly minorities are treatment in healthcare along with the innovate medical device of a healthcare book that shows diseases and illness on a vast range of skin tones. The project helped me realized that there are so many underrepresented people whose needs aren't met because they aren't being seen nor heard. To combat this problem, we need more representation. Our communities need to take a dive deeper into healthcare and play their parts to see a change. It has become so important for me to pursue a career in the medical field to lead as representation for the minority communities. As a Ghanaian-American myself, I know that I don't typically see many Ghanaian healthcare workers.

    After spending my first year of college heavily involved in the African American Cultural Resource Center I decided to steer into a direction where I can focus on healthcare. I applied for the CVIP position after hearing about it from my peers. I was soo accepted and excelled from there. As a CVIP, I love the interaction that I am able to receive from patients. I also love being able to volunteer for an underserved community because it's the small steps like these that help grow our communities. Every conversation I have with a patient, every joyful response I hear, and every health center that I call has been refreshing. I love being able to help others. It's also so beautiful to see the love that each Crossroads employee has for one another. They're always so sweet and helpful. Crossroads Health Center is a wonderful place where diversity is promoted and accepted. It's a place where each minority is treated with care and respected, a place where values are upheld, and everyone is welcomed."

#theVIPexperience Post #197: Stephanie Garcia

    

    "When entering the Crossroad Volunteer Internship Program, it was very eye-opening and welcoming. It was eye-opening because Crossroad tackles helping people within and outside of the community that struggles with getting proper healthcare. They provide offices like a pharmacy, clinic, and dentist for their patients. Not only that, but Crossroad takes in a lot of patients that do not have insurance at an affordable price, which is one of the things that I love about Crossroad, and made me feel welcomed. As for someone lucky to have annual checkups, my parents back in their home country were not so lucky. Clinics and hospitals were so far away from where they were from, and they had to resort to home remedies or use whatever they could find to treat their wounds, even if they had to put sand and soil on their wounds. Looking back at my parents' struggles, I always wanted something like or similar to Crossroad to exist at the time of my parents' medical struggles. Having my parents' struggles in mind, I appreciate all the hard work Crossroad had done for the patients.

    Crossroad made me feel welcome because the patients I call and interact with over the phone have a similar situation that my family and I have been through in the US healthcare system. Not only that but as a VIP that knows Spanish fluently, I'm able to help lots of Spanish speakers due to the language barrier they have with English. I know Spanish is not the only language barrier that patients experience, but the staff at Crossroad are there to help patients that are non-English speakers, lack transportation, and have no insurance. Working as a VIP, I'm able to help bridge the connection between the patients with either their provider or physician. Knowing that the little interactions that we, VIPs, have with patients are huge help for them in the long run, especially with patients that have not experience the best healthcare in their past. Something I have learned that I wish I knew was that Crossroad can help with transportation. As a VIP, we help schedule patients' transportation so they can arrive at their appointment. A clinic like Crossroad provides these resources and has the opportunity to have programs like the Volunteer Internship Program all are trying to make a difference in everyone's lives so they can have the best care that they need to live a long healthy life. I am grateful for being a VIP so I can see the providers' point of view in a clinical setting in a patient-provider relationship. Furthermore, I will take everything that i have learned and incorporate my experience into my future medical journey."

#theVIPexperience Post #196: Akansha Khadka

    "I come from an underprivileged and a 3rd-world country that has been developing, struggling for decades over social and political issues. The nation's instability hindered proper healthcare, social mobility and comprised education, to name a few. A generation before mine, girls were fortunate enough to go to school, abandoning farm work or heck, working day and night to attend a couple hours of school. The refugee camps of Nepal witnessed un-ending poverty cycles, famine, seeking out intense labor jobs to provide for the family, and lack of basic healthcare. In my own family, I have lived through my grandparents face the hardships of losing their sons in a rural area with no hospitals nearby. Within minutes, my uncle had died with an unexplainable ear pain. The closest hospital was 50 minutes away, hidden behind the hills and roads less taken. He was 6 years old, the other one, 13. They had lost two songs and the social disability they felt was a separate concern. Ever since 5, I continued to have seen all kinds of social determinants of health and it shaped people's lives forever. There were floods, fire destroying bamboo-built residences, and countless deaths. One in particular, I remember a 7-year-old boy lying dead, washed away by the flood. His lungs were filled with fluids, he appeared blue. It must've been several hours. You could hear the mother's cry for hours till dawn. The helplessness, lack of resources and treatments or diagnosis of diseases are still prevalent in millions of people. I knew I wanted to go up to help this cause. Most specifically, when I came to America, I knew I could dream big and work for them. I could help people and their conditions. There are other struggling nations, and refugee camps. I wanted to go around with the UN- setting up base camps and reaching as many people as I could. These would be the once-a-month visits patients would have to wait for back home.

    I am passionate, kind, curious, hardworking, and a caring personality. I knew what I wanted, what to do, whom to contact, when, how to get started early and how to seek these opportunities or further aid. These are the traits and skills I have used for all my experiences. When it comes to healthcare, I want to give it my all and have been. When I heard about Crossroad, I knew I wanted to work with patients who are limited in opportunities and face health disparities. Patients that face the most disparities are often the ones with higher rates/risk of chronic diseases and mortality. I wanted to make Crossroad a crucial part of my undergraduate years. It has allowed me to gain clinical exposure, interact with patients, help with their needs and work with them post their appointments. This was the first time I dealt with patient referrals, insurance companies and scheduling transportation. 

    The experience truly allowed me to think about ways the elderly, minority, and the disabled population experience these disparities. Whether it be language barriers, transportation, age, socioeconomic status, insurance, lack of living assistance or family, whatever the patient was dealing with on the other end of the phone call, they were happy we were part of the process. The work I did left me with joy as I recall my mother doing the same work for my sick grandparents who had several conditions. I am aware of the tedious phone calls, doctor appointments, regular checkups, and the strength it takes to do this. This is crucial especially when you are old and sick, needing to seek out medical professionals. You need aid, reminders, ways to get proper attention and care. I am lucky to have the opportunity to assist every individual. These are exposures, lessons, and skills I will always need throughout my journey. One way to sum up this experience has been 'fulfilling.' I had patients so grateful, thanking me countless times over the phone. It's been eye-opening in terms of witnessing behind the scenes the healthcare in gentrified areas, more specially, cities in America. I have retained a lot, learned important skills, worked professionally trying to help incoming VIPs. I know the work will continue and there will be amazing future VIPs. Never forget why you are here and remember that you are making an impact."