MedEx Day 31 - June 28, 2022

Today began with a lot of discussion about opportunities that were available to students during a gap year. Many of these opportunities directly involve MedEx and others are tied to Prisma Health, as well as to Academic Universities throughout the state. I enjoyed hearing about these opportunities, and I will certainly consider these options should I not gain admittance to medical school this cycle.

Later in the day, Reverend Jenkins, a chaplain, came and spoke to Tier IV about spiritual care and medicine. He discussed the importance of considering a patient's religion, especially when considering treating a patient holistically. He also talked about the need for a provider to bring their own faith into their practice, as that can help them to make ethical decisions/ be the best provider that they can be. I thoroughly enjoyed Reverend Jenkins' talk, and I hope to be able to incorporate my faith into my practice, as well as incorporating the faith of other patients, to ensure the best empowerment of my patients.

The penultimate presentation of the day was from Haley, one of our interns, and she discussed the issue of "fat-shaming" within healthcare. I enjoyed this topic, as I have seen providers talk about larger patients with disdain in several of my shadowing experiences. The crux of Haley's presentation was that many patients' weights are controlled by a metabolic set point which is determined by genetics. Many patients have a sincere desire to lose weight but simply cannot do it/ for some losing weight can increase health issues. I had never really heard of a lot of this research and enjoyed learning new things. I will not judge my patients based on their presentation.

Finally, Dr. Cedrek McFadden spoke to Tier IV about finding meaning/ calling within life (ikigai). He believes that as future healthcare providers this is crucial, due to the high burnout rate within the discipline.