Being a hospice volunteer has been a special experience. I’ve learned about a different aspect of healthcare and myself and gained new tools that I can use in my future career through this experience. I’ve also learned the value of conversation and how truly listening can give you insight into a person’s life. I’ve become more empathetic and accepting of situations, since everyone is on their own path of life. My hospice experience has helped me learn to accept death as a part of life, not the end of it, and that helping someone experience the death they desire can truly mean something.
This program is invaluable to a medical school application because it provides an incredibly difference experience that is much more personal. You get to learn about people’s families, their livelihoods, what they love to do, and their pain. In this way, it can help anyone who wants to be a doctor to learn to respect and care for their patients more intimately and make sure they don’t just become another case on a list.
I had one particularly meaningful experience with a patient, whom I saw go through good times and bad with her health, though I was happy to be alongside her. She always remembered me and would ask about how my family was or about a trip I went on. I loved to talk to her about going to Disney World, since it was a place she really liked to visit. I also loved when she told me about her kids and what they were doing as she seemed very proud of them. We also bonded when talking about her basketball days since we both love to play sports. It’s a wonderful thing to just listen to a person share what they really enjoy.
I think these experiences will affect how I will act when I am a physical therapy. Physical therapy is another vocation that allows for time to get to know your patient like hospice. I can use my experience with hospice to be able to have meaning conversations with my patients and really listen to what they are saying. I can also use my deeper sense of empathy that I have found through hospice in order to really understand the pain and troubles they are going through that come with injury. I do not want to just treat the problem; I want to make sure their life is better. The hospice volunteer program was a great experience, and I really would recommend it to anyone wanting to go into any type of medicine. There are so many things to learn that can help you be a better professional and a better person. I am very thankful for my experience.