School: Villanova

This hospice program has provided the perfect pre-medical experience to learn more about end-of-life care and has confirmed my aspirations of working in medicine. Through the video module training, group reflections, and biweekly prompts, I have been able to learn so much about hospice care and what it means to be nearing the end of … Continue reading “How Hospice Care Has Changed My Outlook on Medicine”

I started volunteering with hospice in the fall of 2019 because I wanted to give back after my grandmother was cared for by amazon hospice nurses before passing away in December 2018. I thought that this would be an experience to express gratitude and hopefully make a difference in my patients’ lives. I did not, … Continue reading “What I Learned While Volunteering with Hospice”

Hospice volunteering will, without a doubt, help shape me into the physician I wish to become one day. I have now experienced both sides of healthcare: the medical aspect which aims to treat a patient for their disease, and the comfort aspect which aims to provide happiness towards the end of one’s life. I will … Continue reading “New Perspectives”

In the beginning of my hospice volunteer experience, my sole aim was to develop connections with patients. As my time as a volunteer concludes, I realized that I never want to stop doing just that—giving all of myself to the patients I care for. My very first patient was an older woman diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. … Continue reading “One Year Older”

When I attended the information session on becoming a hospice volunteer, I was unsure if this type of work would be right for me. I wasn’t even confident I knew what hospice meant. However, after consideration, I took a leap of faith and went through the onboarding process. A few months later, I finally saw … Continue reading “Kim”

My relationship with my hospice patient is meaningful because I know that sometimes I am the only one that tries to engage with her. I usually find her in a chair with the television on, even though she cannot see and can barely hear. Her caregivers do the tasks necessary to keep her alive, but … Continue reading “Understanding Death”

My hospice volunteer experience was completely different from my expectations, but still beautiful in some ways I expected and some ways that surprised me. With a partner, I began visiting a patient, Laura, in October. When we first me her, we were blown away by how healthy she appeared. Laura was walking around, dancing with … Continue reading “Six Months I’ll Always Remember”

Death and fear are two words that quite often occupy the same sentence, but where does this fear of death come from? From the day we are born, the world we live in teaches us to fear death. We avoid talking about death. We refrain from actions that may cause death. We do everything we … Continue reading “Rethinking How We Deal With Death”

One of my most meaningful relationships that I developed during this hospice volunteer program has been with the husband of my patient. Over the past few months, we would play cards and keep my patient involved and talking as much as possible. However, even on the days when my patient wasn’t able to make it … Continue reading “My Hospice Experience”

Prior to volunteering with hospice, I had a limited view of what it meant to be “on hospice.” I believed that hospice was for patients who were restricted to the bed, limited in energy, and nearing their final hours. From my first visits with my patient, Wilma, I realized that hospice care is more than … Continue reading “A Valentine’s Day Lesson of Perspective”