Friday, November 17, 2017

#theVIPExperience Post #38: Colleen Guffey

There is a common stereotype of what going to a hospital or doctor’s office should be like… it should be like Grey’s Anatomy.  This stereotype is far from true especially for the communities such as the one that Crossroad Health Center reaches out too.  I shadowed Dr. Delaat and Valerie Smith-MBake (RN) at the West location in the pediatrics unit.  One of the most eye opening cases that I was able to witness was a patient that spoke no English; we had to call a translator to translate everything that was being said.  It was a challenging process, time-consuming, and frustrating but the providers at Crossroad are persistent, patient, and willing to jump through different barriers to be able to serve their patients.  Crossroad reaches out to patients of all ages. I have seen a newborn that are barely a week old to patients as old as seventy to eighty. 
           
When I heard about Crossroad internship I was super excited about getting the internship but I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into.  I had shadowed a breast surgeon previous to shadowing Dr. Delaat and the difference between the two were extremely different.  Shadowing Dr. Delaat opened my eyes to the type of children that are brought to these low income health centers and made me want to potentially work with children when I complete my education.  Starting the internship work at Crossroad after shadowing was not what I expected the internship to be like.  It wasn’t difficult work, but the work that was required needs to be done proficiently and in a timely matter.  The work that is required is to call patients that the provider has referred to see specialist at a different location and see if they need help scheduling their appointment.  From that point, it is our job to call the office and and schedule the time, location, and date for the appointment then check back with the patient.  There are often many obstacles that the patient faces: transportation, quickness of appointment dates, insurance acceptance, being able to reach the scheduler, and calling an office that will accept referrals outside of their practice.  This isn’t always the easiest task and often requires contacting the patients multiple times. But it is nonetheless rewarding.

           
The most rewarding aspect of this internship is the in-person referrals.  In this case, you see the patients and the amount of pain that they are in.  At this point there is nothing else WE can do for them, but we can lift some of the burden and anxiety of scheduling an appointment for them.  It is a very rewarding and eye-opening internship that allows pre-medicine students like me to look at a different type of health care system.  If you have the opportunity to apply to this internship, you totally should.  Not just for the volunteer hours and experience, but to express empathy to this type of community and to understand the different challenges they face when it comes to healthcare and insurance.  

                                                                                                                -- Colleen Guffey

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