Presenter: Kaitlyn Tang, Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics, Global Public Health Scholars
Over the summer and this past fall I volunteered at Medstar Montgomery Medical Center in the nursing unit. The nursing unit houses patients who come out of the intensive care unit or the emergency department and are in recovery mode. My job is to aid the nurses in answering calls and bringing the patients anything they need if permitted by the nurses. As well as volunteering, I took a week off to shadow a handful of physicians. I wanted to get a more into depth understanding of this field and the patients I was volunteering for. Through shadowing, I was able to hear the diagnoses and see the medical challenges and diseases that my community faces. Also through volunteering and shadowing I have learned more about the ethics in the workplace as well as our healthcare system which helps tie in health inequality and health inequity. Through shadowing I was able to go into the X-ray room and observe multiple surgeries exposing me to our advantage in having modern medical technology.
An excellent presentation! You demonstrate several key takeaways such as the observation that the disparity between health facilities in urban and rural Maryland, overworked staff, and the impact of a healthcare crisis like a global pandemic. What would be a logical next step for you toward your career goal as a health professional?
Thank you for your presentation! It’s clear that you learned a lot from your time as a volunteer in the nursing unit and a participant in the shadowing program. You mentioned that staff at your hospital were often overworked and potentially putting patients at risk due to exhaustion. Aside from hiring more healthcare professionals, what do you think can be done to improve the quality of care available to patients without doing so at the cost of staff health? You mentioned cost and accessibility as obstacles to obtaining medical care. In your opinion, what are steps that hospitals in lower-income areas can take to make healthcare services more affordable while still earning enough money to remain operational?
Thanks for sharing your experience! In your presentation, you talked about the lack of resources that exist even in a wealthy, urban area like Montgomery County. What do you think are some of the causes of these shortages? If you had the power, what steps would you take to ease the strain that these medical centers are facing?
Hi Reva! In response to your question, I would recommend that hospitals and/or clinics in rural settings have enough beds and rooms for patients. Also in rural areas there is a lack of modern medical technology so I would recommend that hospitals are equipped with the proper supplies to treat their patients especially in the event of an emergency.
Great job, Kaitlyn! Your presentation is very professional and informative and your shadowing experience was clearly a great one :) What are one or two standards of medical care you would recommend for hospitals and/or clinics in rural settings?