I have very much enjoyed being a hospice volunteer over the past six months. I have learned a lot in my short time in this program, and this program has probed some deeper thinking about important topics within me. My patients have been wonderful, and even though we did not speak, due to certain barriers, … Continue reading “The Integration of Faith and Death”
Program Year Ending: 2017
Program Year Ending 2017
From country, culture to death
As an international student from China, whose first language is not English and who has never had any previous experience of how hospice works, this VA hospital program definitely is very meaningful to me. Originally, I thought hospice simply meant caring for people in hospital, just as what volunteers normally did in every hospital. But … Continue reading “From country, culture to death”
Lessons on Life from Hospice Care
I signed up to volunteer with Hospice at a time when I still didn’t understand what it meant to have a terminal illness, to be beyond treatment options, and to want to live out your days in peace. As someone who is science-minded, it is easy to fall into the trap of always wanting to … Continue reading “Lessons on Life from Hospice Care”
The Women of Rosemont
The year I have spent as a Hospice volunteer unfolded in two phases. The first was centered around Mona. Twice a week starting in October, I signed in to the weathered Hospice facility binder and knocked on her door. I quickly learned not to expect a response. Mona is a woman of few words, limited … Continue reading “The Women of Rosemont”
Lessons from being a Hospice volunteer
Becoming a hospice volunteer was one of the most impactful and important decisions I have ever made. The experience I had and the relationships I have been building in the past months have changed me and are continuing to influence my development as a student on the biomedical path and more importantly, as a person. … Continue reading “Lessons from being a Hospice volunteer”