This semester has been particularly stressful, because it is my last semester at Canisius and as if being a full time student nearing graduation and working part timewas not enough, I took on two internships. Many people might call me an overachiever and some might call me superwoman, but I was doing what I always do, what I have to. Overall I would have to say that my experience has been good. I have learned a lot about myself and the amazing work that both organizations do. Even though I barely got any sleep and looked like a walking corpse, I do not regret anything.
I meet some amazing people at the International Institute of Buffalo (IIB). The director of IIB, The director of the resettlement program and the volunteer coordinator are amazing people. They work so hard to keep IIB thriving and to recruit people to volunteer and I learned more about what they do. It took me a while to fully understand the importance of my role at IIB. As the medical health advocate intern, I felt that I should have been doing more. There were many moments where I felt like I was just volunteering and not actually learning anything, but now that I have the opportunity to sit down and reflect on my experience there I know as cliché as it sounds, I made a difference. Many of the cases the resettlement program gets have never had medical treatment. Part of my job was to make sure that appointments were made and to ensure that IIB’s clients knew how to get their appointments. It is truly sad but I had to deal with some very rude healthcare professionals who did not want to schedule the appointment or would take the longest time to see a patient whether that was in trying to set up an appointment time or a client physically being in the waiting room while other patients were being seen. Sometimes the discrimination is so overt and it is unfortunate. There is still much work to be done to break down barriers so that all people no matter what country they come from, what language they speak, what their race/gender/age/sexual orientation is will be treated as a human being in need of medical and dental care.
In my opinion, one of the greatest qualities that a supervisor can have is that they would not give me any tasks that they would not have done themselves. Being at IIB made me hungry for more…. I want to be better and do more. Sitting behind a desk and being on a phone is bound to happen within any profession, but I do not want that to be the main responsibilities of my job.
As for the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, this institution also made me hungry for more. From the two projects I worked on to having the opportunity to sit down and have meetings with many of the staff members gave me in insight into how healthcare establishments work. At IIB I was the outside working to get in contact with healthcare clinics and offices; at Roswell I was on the inside. It was an incredible experience being a part of an organization such as Roswell.
Roswell is really pushing for the patient and family experience. This department is like the mom of the patients and the patient’s family. As a mom, you want the best for your children. In order for the patients to receive the utmost care, everyone needs to work together and treat the patient as an individual, not a breast cancer patient or a lung cancer patient but rather a Roswell patient. The patient and the patient’s family are first priority. This is something I also believe in. The patients are putting all of their trust and faith into the hands of doctors, nurses, navigators, social workers and others to receive quality care, an individualized treatment plan and an overall great experience through their healthcare journey.
I have always wanted to work in healthcare, but did not quite know how to get there or what I wanted to do. Trust me I wanted to be a doctor, but that was short lived once I stopped being in denial and embraced the fact that I hate math and although I like science, I struggled with it. Roswell set me on a path that allowed me to think about all of the many things that I can do in healthcare. My supervisor, the director of the patient and family experience mentioned to me a few times that I should really try to get more into writing because I have something special and I could do a lot with that skill. I have to say advocacy, development and policy are looking pretty good to me. Who knows, maybe I’ll get serious about my writing.
I had one goal when starting these internships and that was to learn and get firsthand experience in fields that interested me. I got so much more that and I will forever be grateful to the International Institute of Buffalo and Roswell Park Cancer Institute.
We shall see where the wind takes me. The future may be unpredictable but let’s face it, Canisius is where leaders are made. I am going to go explore my dreams! Wish me luck.
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