Medicine Beyond the Clinic: Lessons in Humanity
In the past few days, I have had more opportunities to observe the physicians here at H’Image Clinic in Shenyang. They taught me that medicine is more than just diagnosing and treating patients. It is about caring for them as a person, not just for the disease that ails them. It is about meeting them where they are and ensuring they are comfortable as they receive the care they deserve. This was particularly illustrated by the home visits I had the chance to attend.
I was invited to join a physical therapy session for 3 brothers, all with cerebral palsy. These individuals were adopted while they were younger by two of the strongest and most wonderful people I have ever met. My experience interacting with them opened my eyes to a side of medicine I did not see much of during my time in medical school. In the classroom, we were taught how to identify the clinical signs of a disease and how to manage them. While some emphasis was placed on the soft side of medicine, it was difficult to apply it during the last few years of medical school due to the grueling stress of passing exams. This is why I find this service-learning experience so valuable. It showed me that medicine is also about recognizing my patients’ dignity and truly treating them as the human beings they are. Because of this, I learned the importance of humanity and compassion in caring for patients who are often forgotten and overlooked by society.