Baby steps

It's official, I will be teaching a Health Literacy class this summer. I met with the brilliant education team at Project Samaritan this afternoon, and after a THREE HOUR long meeting, we established that my class will likely exist on some level. Not a huge amount of progress, but still, hooray!

I am truly looking forward to working with the patients this summer. When I stepped into the elevator on my way to the meeting, I was greeted with a big smile from one of the residents who wanted to know all about who I was and why I was there. The residents aren't used to seeing unfamiliar faces around the building, since there are only 66 of them and about 20 or so staff members. When I explained my class to her, she said she would love to sign up - my first future student! I also happened to run into one of the residents whom I had met in the fall, when I was shadowing. I met him on the day he was admitted to Project Samaritan, when he was dying from AIDS, addicted to heroin, and sentenced by a judge to enroll in the program (or else go to prison). He looked so much healthier than I remember him, and he told me proudly that he was entering his last phase of treatment and would be graduating from the program soon. As you can see, Project Samaritan is amazingly successful at getting patients who have hit rock-bottom to be healthy and prepared to re-enter society.

Next step: start planning my curriculum. I'm going in on Tuesday to introduce myself to the residents and try and recruit students for my class. Any thoughts on how to make Health Literacy sound downright fascinating?