I first heard about the VIP program through my school’s pre-med office. I was immediately interested. As a microbiology student, I loved studying science, but felt a calling to also connect with the community I attended school in. Since I want to be a physician, getting involved with the healthcare system seemed like a great way to learn. I will never forget my first shift at Crossroads. The staff was friendly and welcomed me as a shadow. The first thing that struck me as I observed was that there is much more to the patient-physician relationship than the sickness-diagnosis model. Each patient took a few minutes to unload about their personal life, talking about family members, stress at work, or recent tragedy. The practitioner I was shadowing listened to her patients carefully, and did not rush them or jump to conclusions about their physician symptoms.
As a volunteer intern, I keep this shadowing experience in the back of my mind whenever I start a shift. Every patient Crossroads interacts with is a person with their own struggles, stressors, and livelihoods to worry about. A lot of them face unique challenges when trying to get access to healthcare they need. I think about calling my own parents when I am unsure about insurance or scheduling an appointment, and remind myself that I would feel utterly lost if I did not have that resource to fall back on. Being able to help people by making the process of scheduling referrals a little bit easier is one way to make our healthcare system a more inclusive and streamlined for people of all backgrounds. Especially now, with the uncertainty of a pandemic looming over the entire year, any bit of help offered to others is invaluable. I will keep these reflections with me as I continue into medical school, and hope that the lessons I have learned about the sociological aspects of healthcare will be built upon.
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