The coordinator of the volunteer committee, Nathan Green (2017) spearheaded a doughnut drive to help spread happiness at Rambam hospital during the Chanukah holiday. Recently, my daughter has exposed me to (and possibly caused me some hearing damage because of) a popular One Direction song called “Story of my Life.” The song is a tale of reflections and self-awareness. It's basically a narrative account of an individual's personal journey, and gives insight to the unique perspective each individual has. For future doctors, it is imperative to understand that patients are people, each with their own background and concerns. Medical students are taught the importance of the doctor-patient relationship and the impact rapport has on healthcare. How can a student build rapport? How do you start listening to all the various aspects of a patient? Narrative medicine is a structured approach that combines medicine and literature. It is a holistic method that treats the person by using the building blocks of literature as a foundation to construct the story of a patient. These building blocks are translated into listening skills that can be used to construct the physical, emotional and social factors affecting a patient. Narrative medicine is an important aspect to effective communication. Patients want to be able to tell their entire story and by understanding its narrative you can appropriately diagnosis and treat. For more information on narrative medicine, click here http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=714105. Here, in the Middle East, students have an extremely eclectic group of patients, from many different backgrounds and cultures. The Technion American Medical Program's course, Communication Skills and Medical Professionalism, is successfully teaching students how to listen to their patient’s stories, regardless of background. The skills learned in this course allow students to understand the common thread weaving the stories of patients and will enable them to provide a complete plan for recovery. Robert Lubin Director, Student Services 1.5 years out of medical school I cannot believe how long it's been. Already a second year in pediatric residency, it feels like just yesterday that I was sitting in the third floor classroom discussing anatomy. I recently contacted Technion to send off some important information as I apply for fellowship in hematology-oncology, and everyday still remember how much Technion prepared me for the challenges of residency and beyond. One of the reasons I decided to apply for hematology-oncology was due to my experiences in Israel. In my pediatric clerkship as a third year, I was exposed to several patients with disorders uncommon in the United States; G6PD, thalessemias, you name it, these are diseases that are quite serious, yet are very rare to see in Brooklyn, NY, where I currently am. Yet, because I was exposed to these disorders I am able to adapt to intense situations where I have to think on my feet. That is not only noticed in my hematology rotations but in all aspects of my pediatric residency. As a second year, I am required to be independent; to run the pediatric floor and make decisions on my own. Moreover, I get to teach the first year resident and medical students at my hospital how to run a pediatric unit. I find something new and exciting with this everyday. I always tell my fellow residents and students about one of my residents at the Afula Pediatric ER. The resident there encouraged me to calculate all fluids necessary for the patietns in the ER before he would input them into the computer. He supported me but pushed me to learn the right way. By learning to calculate them the right way, I was able to watch my patients get better in real time. As a result, I became a stronger student and resident for it. More importantly I became more independent in managing patients. Now, I try and do the same for my interns and medical students and see them learn so much. Next week, I apply to a fellowship where I will have another 3 years of intense training and learning. I am halfway down with residency, but that does not stop me from recollecting my enjoyable days in Israel. The program gave me a background of knowledge and inspired me to have my own creativity with treating patients. That I could never forget as I continue to rise up the ranks of pediatrics and become a full-fledged doctor. I am excited to continue on the journey but know that it would not have been possible without TeAMS and the faculty and staff that worked so hard to inspire me. -- David Steffin, M.D. (2012) Pediatric Resident, PGY-2 Maimonides Infants and Children's Hospital of Brooklyn Save a Child's Heart is an organization based in the Tel Aviv area that seeks to provide life saving cardiac care and operations to children from a large number of underdeveloped areas. As a 4th year medical student, I decided to do a 2 week elective rotation at the Wolfson Medical Center pediatric cardiology unit which is the base for the SACH organization. I was introduced to this amazing organization while fundraising and volunteering with Technion's AMSA chapter. Volunteering at the SACH house was one of the most amazing experiences of medical school, where I was able to meet and spend quality time with children from Ethiopia, Nigeria, China, Romania, the West Bank and Gaza. As a student in my elective rotation I was given the chance to participate from the medical side in some of the most interesting cases from my medical career so far. For example, I followed a patient with Rheumatic Heart disease. I learned in detail the screening, treatment options and follow up care for a disease that I may never see again in Western Medicine but that shines light onto the marvels of medicine in so many ways. On Tuesdays the Palestinian clinic takes over the department and patients from the West Bank and Gaza are offered care for their various cardiac conditions. Communicating and interacting with these patients was truly a valuable experience in cultural awareness in medicine. Team work between both patients and doctors were valuable in treatment progress. I was also introduced to the Cardiac Cath Lab where I was able to closely monitor and observe several procedures. Overall, this experience was not only memorable in my medical school career but also as a life-time experience. I truly hope that one day I can some how be involved with this unbelievable organization and the doctors, nurses, staff and patients that make this good work all possible. Zelda Ghersin (2014) |
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