Working with my patient, let’s call her “Sally,” over the past semester has been an absolute treat. Sally has lived in Philadelphia her entire life. She enjoys playing board games and going outside on the porch. Sally always smiles at the nurses and attendant that come to and from, and likes to sit by the window and watch the world outside dance before her. Sally and I often talk about the weather and she asks me a lot about my life at college. She is very interested in my desire to pursue medical school. Sally says that when we talk, she feels like she can walk back through the steps of her life once more. She stated that our conversations have helped her to remember and appreciate various episodes of her life, whether it was the community that she grew up in filled with relatives, or her grandpa’s dog that would sit obediently on the porch while the children played, or the way she and her brothers would play jacks in the street. She has taught me to appreciate the little joys in my life.
Looking back on my training as a hospice volunteer, I think one of the most important aspects that prepared me for this opportunity was hearing that most patients want to tell you their story. As a usually precocious person, being able to sit still and listen has been a constant effort for me, but has allowed me to very greatly connect with the patients and offer them a better quality of care. This experience has increased my desire to go to medical school, as working with individuals like Sally has helped me be closer to death and has helped me to acknowledge that it is a natural process, but that there still remains a lot we can do in terms of helping the patient every step of the way. Athena has allowed me to engage with my experiences with patients after visiting through the prompts, and has provided me with a support network of other students and a chaplain as I started to get my feet wet in hospice care. When I describe the benefit of hospice volunteering on my medical school applications, I will be sure to mention my relationships with those like Sally and how it has allowed me the rare opportunity to calmly sit down with patients and others and talk about life, to connect and to share, to invite another into the story of your life. As a medical professional, I want to take what I have learned from my hospice volunteering experience, looking to make meaningful relationships with my patients and to champion their desires and their voice. In this way, people can continue to be the author of their own stories,