When I first met “Janice” and her mother, I instantly connected in a meaningful and emotional way. I was not able to speak with the mother, who was ill, but I did talk to “Janice” quite a lot. She had a lot of things to take care of around the house and was getting stressed with having to take care of her mom and her kids. It became an even bigger problem with COVID-19 going on, meaning that her kids would have to stay home from school. Things became even more tough when many people in her family actually got the virus, including her mother. This burden is not easy for anyone, and I had lots of sympathy and wanted to relate to her feelings to the best of my capability. I realized that she was stressed from the start. I worked through ways of calming her down, accepting that her mother will be leaving and that it is important to keep her as comfortable as possible till that point. Our bond became stronger as the weeks went by, and I have continued to talk to her since her mother passed away.
The value of this program for a medical school application is very high because the program has taught the emotional side of being a physician that every doctor needs to know. This program has also helped me grow as a person as I have learned how to communicate to others in a more meaningful way by finding ways to talk to people about their feelings without being overwhelming towards them. It is important to speak about how you are feeling, especially with a topic such as death. I have started to realize that death shouldn’t be something to be scared of, but rather understand that it will happen and work around ways to make something good out of a very difficult situation. It is a natural feeling to be scared of death and do things to avoid it as much as possible. The problem is that the more you put off the inevitable, the more likely that the death won’t be as peaceful or comfortable. It would be more likely that there will be surprises in the death and that there will also be more confusion. Just like our cells in our body, there is a time for things to end. In cells this is called apoptosis, which is their programmed death. Hospice work has affected my sense of vocation is some ways. I do feel a stronger sense that being a doctor is my calling because I think that my personality of being a caring person fits well with the occupation. I work well with relating with one’s feelings, and finding the source of those feelings and how to accept them rather than fight back. This program has taught me many things that I am eternally grateful for. I will carry these lessons onwards in my life and use them as I continue my journey to become a doctor.