Students' Testimonials

    “After participating in this service learning class, I am more than ever ready to give my full attention to the medical world. As I stated earlier, I always wanted to be a doctor since I was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes. Now, I am ready to do this and get more involved in my community with any volunteering I can do. I have a better understanding of my career path/choice and am excited to embark on my journey!!! ...it’s my calling.
    I have had a wonderful time this semester. Volunteering is one thing I do to relax and enjoy life. Over the past few weeks I have had some wonderful experiences and have met some amazing people that have changed the way I look at things. I feel this class has helped me look outside of "my world" and take a deeper look. Allowing myself to spend a few hours a week helping others gives me a clearer more leveled head and makes me feel like a complete individual. I feel it is our duty as preprofessional students and individuals to keep this call to others open and in doing so help the call toward ourselves to grow even stronger and to make a difference in our own lives and the lives of others!!!!” -- Melissa K

    “As a pre-medical student, and after all the job shadowing experiences I’ve had and the health care professionals I’ve talked to, I still had never even thought about the medically underserved. It simply had never crossed my mind, and I knew absolutely nothing about serving in a rural or inner city area until I took this class.
    I have learned a lot more about what kind of dedication a physician must have to his/her patients and what a powerful position they hold. Patients trust doctors with their very lives, and that trust is not something to be taken lightly. If I am going to be a physician, I have to remember to put my patients and their feelings first, no matter what. This class gave me the chance to see such dedication in action, and has given me a more realistic picture of what being a doctor is really like.” -- Leah M

    "I was assigned to Forest Manor Clinic which is located on the east side of Indianapolis on 38th street. The typical patient is depended on some type of assistance whether it be Wishard Advantage, Hoosier Healthwise, or Medicaid. Forest Manor has the highest number of asthma patients in the Wishard System. In order to try and improve the quality of care that these patients receive a Reach Out Program was established but due to the lack of help the program had yet to be implemented. Therefore, for my project I worked with the clinic director to get this program started and pave the way for future work. We made a list of goals we wanted to achieve through this program. My first task was to tag each of the asthma patient’s charts with a bright label so that when this patient came in it was obvious right away that he or she suffered from asthma. I also made note of the last time the patient had been in for any sort of medical problems or had a simple check-up. Once this was completed I began the next step of calling the patients that had not been into the clinic in the past year and inquiring as to when a good time to schedule an appointment would be. Several of the other goals we set out were to send out questionnaires to patients, make sure patients were on some sort of controller, and to maintain a relationship with the patients in order to perform follow-ups. We are both very happy about what has been accomplished and anticipate good things to happen with the project in the future.
    This class turned out to be an opportunity I am glad I had. Working at the clinic has definitely increased the compassion I have towards others and also made me realize that I can help to improve the life of these people. Before I always thought that there was nothing I could do because I was not trained in a certain area or I just did not have enough time to put in where it would actually be helpful. However, from being at the clinic I was able to see that there is always something that can be done and that tasks as simple as filing charts and paper are helpful. Everyone was so appreciative of every little bit of help I offered. This experience also made me look at myself and reevaluate many aspects of my life.
    For anyone trying to decide on whether or not to take this class I would strongly urge them to. It left me with a greater reassurance that the medical field is where I want to be and opened my eyes to the different environments that are available for me to practice in. Many people probably would never choose a clinic such as Forest Manor to volunteer at, in part because they do not know it exist, but also because for many it is not as appealing as a privately owned clinic with flowing funds. This class helped me understand that the underserved are in just as great of need if not more of quality healthcare and increased my desire to do my part in helping. Also since it is a part of ones class schedule the excuse that one does not have enough time should not be a factor. I truly enjoyed all of the time I spent at Forest Manor Clinic and all of the wonderful people I encountered." -- Hayley G

    "This semester I had the opportunity and privilege of volunteering at the Westside Community Health Center. The clinic has three different areas for treatment, which include pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, and adult medicine. This particular health center is closer than most others to the hospital, which is why so many patients are referred there. Predominately, the center sees low-income individuals and families. Large groups of minorities also seek treatment here, especially Hispanics. Westside wanted to find out why English-speaking women were not attending the prenatal classes offered. The community out-reach coordinator for Westside and I worked on compiling a prenatal survey for women to complete. This survey was for English-speaking women only because they were not attending the classes, but the Spanish-speaking classes were well attended. The nurses and medical assistants administered the survey to the women during OB registration.
    Looking back on all my experiences from this service learning class this semester, I realize how much I’ve learned. It is one thing to gain knowledge by reading a textbook, but it is completely different to learn by experiencing and observing first hand. The service learning definitely helped me grow as a person. This experience also solidified my drive to go into medicine. I may not end up in this particular setting, but I would still like to stay involved within the community. I’ve also seen just how important each and every person working in this type of environment is. I think after being exposed to all these different aspects, I will be able to relate better not just to other doctors but to all those working in the medical field. Working closely with the staff made me realize just how stressful it can be for a number of reasons. For example, the social worker at my site was also the site director on Thursdays and Fridays. This obviously meant she had many tasks to perform. Social work was also different for her at Westside than it was at other places she had worked at. At Westside, she had to work along with the rest of the staff to simply help equip these people with necessities like food for their families. Most of the time she would never get to counsel anyone on his or her actual psychological problems. It truly made me more understanding, have more humility, and remind me not to take anything for granted.
    I would recommend this class to anyone interested in taking it no matter what field he or she may be leaning towards. Everyone can benefit from this class in some way. Even someone who is not going to be directly working in the medical field could benefit from this class because if anything, it helps you grow as a person in so many ways. Having a student mentor was a great experience as well. Because of her, I had so many questions answered and was even able to attend some classes with her. That was a very enriching experience as well. I was exposed to such a wide range of experiences that I know I will carry with me for the rest of my life." -- Heather G

    "During my semester as a pre-medical service-learning student, I was fortunate to volunteer at Wishard’s PCC clinic on IUPUI’s campus. In addition, I interned at the American Cancer Society. I began my time at Wishard’s PCC clinic. It is a pediatric clinic that accepts all sick children walking through the doors. They also perform regular scheduled check-ups, which I was surprised most never show.
    This course has not only furthered my commitment to the community, but also allowed me to experience different aspect of the medical field. I will not be attending medical school next year, but my desire to serve and work in medicine has only strengthened. I appreciated the opportunity to serve outside of a classroom setting. The clinic challenged my patience and dedication to the class. The clinic supervisor that I was assigned was nearly impossible to come across, which demanded my persistence and independence. It was nothing short of frustrating and at times disappointing that our interest was not welcomed with greater aid. It took understanding to realize I was an inconvenience to some professionals. However, the experience as a whole was extremely helpful in understanding every professionals place in the system. There are a lot more people involved in health care, than the doctors and nurses.
    The project allowed us to work on something that sparked our interest. It was extremely exciting for me to work with the American Cancer Society. I spent more than enough time working on approving the organization and plan to continue the launch of the program through next semester. I also gained an appreciation for non-profit organizations. It is amazing what an organization like the American Cancer Society can accomplish with the support of the community. There are more working programs than I could have imagined. Before taking on this project, I was considering graduate programs next year performing cancer research. This experience only strengthens my desire to support cancer research and my interest in the subject." -- Rachel S