A particular patient who stood out to me was my first patient, and even though we did not spend that much time together, she impacted my view of life the most. She taught me a lot based on her own life experiences. We would often discuss what was going on in my life or talk about what she used to do when she was younger. One of the most important lessons she has taught me was to enjoy life. I remember her asking me what I do on a daily basis and I told her that most of my days are filled with classes and studying. I mentioned how I often do not have much time for myself, and she reminded me of the importance of making time for myself regardless of my schedule. My experience with her has allowed me to really rethink how I spend my time and realize it is important to prioritize myself as well as my schoolwork. By hearing this, it really helped me change the way I spend my time, and I have made more time dedicated to myself and to do self-care. My experience with this patient taught me the importance of hearing and listening to other stories and their advice.
I have grown during the course of my hospice experience as being apart of this program has taught me how important words are. I think the amount I think before I speak has changed quite a bit after working closely with my patient. I feel like working with patients has made me realize the importance of being careful with your words, as they are in such a vulnerable state, hence everything you say or do can have a huge impact on them. I think these experiences have taught me how important it is to truly listen and understand your patient as that is what they truly need at this point. I have learned how to interact with my patients better and learned to sympathize with them. This has impacted my personal life as it has shown me that you truly can never understand what someone is going through, but you can try and make them feel better or not alone by simply just listening and being there for them.
I think this program was a valuable experience to have as an undergrad as it taught me there is more to being a doctor than just providing treatment and care. A doctor’s role is beyond that as it also involves sympathizing and being empathetic toward a patient in any situation where no treatment can be done. It is important to be a part of the support system that your patient needs and someone that your patient can trust/rely on. This program allowed me to gain insight to the importance of not just physical helping a patient but emotionally as well. Patients in hospice are in a very vulnerable state and everything that you say can have a big impact on them in their last months of life. It is important to know what to say and how to talk to them without making them feel upset. I believe that this program has helped me understand how to deal and care for patients during their end of life journey and how to make it slightly more fulfilling.