Thursday, October 5, 2017

#theVIPExperience Post #31: Chandler Hutchinson

What does the city of Cincinnati mean to you? Is it your starting place, your home?  Where you work? A part of your destination? Through my experience, Cincinnati is all those things. Specifically, Crossroad Health Center is my starting place, my work, and a part of my destination. The last nine months I have spent working here has dramatically challenged me and my perspective on healthcare and, as an upcoming provider, how I would approach treating patients.

When considering working in medicine, I pictured a clean room full of mostly smiling, well dressed patients who were patched up and sent along their way. While this is a nice picture of what working in healthcare may look like, it is mostly far from true. My first few weeks at Crossroad, I encountered patients who were struggling to receive proper nutrition, families who didn’t know if they could afford to bring both children to the doctor this month. In listening to those situations, I was challenged to change how I viewed a provider handled patients. The saying goes, “Good physicians treat the disease, but great physicians treat the patient, “ and I never fully understood that until working at Crossroad. Patients aren’t just treated and discharged here, but rather comforted, encouraged, and counseled. The whole person is treated, not just the illness.

My desire has always been to work in medicine. Crossroad has been a place of work where I found out how medicine operates. It has been my starting place. Not only has it given me experience in the healthcare setting, but it has molded my thinking. Upon becoming a healthcare provider, I desire to carry on what Crossroad has taught me: to treat patients as a whole person and not just a list of symptoms. Since the first few weeks, the latter has held true. The principle of treating the whole person has continued to be upheld by the entirety of the staff, and because of that, Crossroad will always be a part of me and my destination.

   
                                                                                               -- Chandler Hutchinson

2 comments:

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