School: Bucknell

Having a meaningful Hospice patient relationship has similarities to being a good physician, because of the kindness and compassion needed to provide the best care for their patients and to provide them and their family comfort regardless of the situation. It’s important to have a good balance of compassion as you always want to care … Continue reading “Final Reflection and Thoughts”

Due to various scheduling issues, I have only been able to meet my patient once, however I still gained a lot from it and believe it has granted me an incredible life lesson regarding the patience, care, and kindness that goes into caring for end-of-life patients. My patient is a cancer patient at Geisinger. She … Continue reading “My Athena Experience- Understanding Grief and End-of-Life Care”

I went into this program knowing that it would be hard. While I have elderly relatives, I had very little experience working in a hospice environment. I was scared of the challenge of building a relationship with someone who was near the end of their life and knowing that there would be a time when … Continue reading “Learning to Connect”

Over the past 8 months, I have not only grown as a student in the medical field but as a citizen of the world. The Athena Institute Pre-Med Hospice program opened my eyes in terms of viewing patients and caregivers in the real-world, not just what you hear on the news and from others. Medicine … Continue reading “The Story of Our Lives”

The Athena Institute Hospice program has been a transformative experience for a better understanding of patient care and becoming a pillar of support. Before the Hospice program, my idea of patient care was simply to just provide the patient with basic physical needs, but that could not have been further from the truth. The beginning … Continue reading “Listen”

I have had the privilege of staying with one patient the entire program, and I’ll refer to him as HR from here onwards. HR has terminal kidney cancer and had a stroke a few years ago that led to cognitive deficits. As a result, he has memory issues and barely speaks. He currently resides at … Continue reading “Reflections on Conversations with HR”

Our hospice patient is a 68 year old woman who is diagnosed with non-hodgkin’s lymphoma and brain cancer. Currently she is living at home with her loving husband who is her main caretaker. She and her husband met in Korea when he was stationed there in the military. Eventually they fell in love and moved … Continue reading “My Hospice Experience”

I was initially unsure about joining this program due to my preconceived opinions on death and avoidance in topics surrounding death. I thought all doctors were to avoid death at all cost, and if this rule wasn’t abided, a doctor would be considered a failure. As it turned out, I was not the only person … Continue reading “Thoughts from a Hospice Volunteer”

Working in hospice has transformed the way I view patient care. When I first started, I assumed my primary responsibility would be to help the patient directly, but I quickly learned that my role extended beyond that. One patient, Mr. “Bennett” (name changed for privacy), deeply impacted me and shifted my understanding of what it … Continue reading “A Lesson in Patient Care: More Than Just the Patient”

The Athena Institute Hospice Program provided me with an invaluable opportunity for me to develop a wonderful relationship with a non-verbal patient. When our program director first introduced me to the gentlemen, all of the scenarios I had played in my head of what the interaction would look like went out the window. I had … Continue reading “An important lesson learned”