As it turns out, the patients in my Health Literacy class actually learned a lot this summer. I'm so incredibly proud of each and every one of them. I gave quizzes at the end of almost every class to check if they had mastered the objective of the day. The patients ended up with an average of 90% on all of their quizzes! During the last class, I gave out surveys for them to take anonymously, and discovered that the patients also subjectively felt as though they had learned a lot. I asked them to rank if they disagreed or agreed with several statements on a scale of 1 to 5. They averaged a 4.75 on the statement "This group helped my ability to read and understand health information," and a 4.76 on the statement "The skills I've learned in this group will help keep me healthy." I'm so happy about that.
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| The "Health Literacy" wristbands I awarded the patients with. |
We also had a "party" during our last group together. I handed out their Health Literacy wristbands that I had ordered for them, which they loved. The chef at PSI kindly made us brownies to eat, and we chatted and had a great time. During our conversation, one of the patients asked me a very insightful question: "I know you were here to teach us, but I'm sure you must have learned something this summer too. Can you tell us what you learned?"
I felt unprepared to answer this question. This is the type of question that normally takes hours of brainstorming, writing, editing, and re-writing before I would be able to come up with a perfect answer. However, being put on the spot in front of all the patients somehow provided me with a moment of clarity, maybe because I was just speaking honestly and from the heart. "I learned a lot about AIDS," I began. "But didn't you learn about all that in medical school?" one of the patients asked. "Yes, but reading about AIDS in a textbook is a completely different experience from actually getting to know a person who has AIDS. You can read all about a disease, but you can not really comprehend it until you understand the impact of the disease on actual human beings. Seeing the way in which you all have struggled with and overcome the hardships of AIDS is incredibly inspiring. Your eagerness to get healthy and your ability to persevere through all of the obstacles you have faced in your lives has made you the strongest group of people I have ever met. So, that's what I learned; I hope that answers your question."
The patients were all looking up at me, beaming. They have reinforced my desire to spend my life working to provide high quality health care to those who might not otherwise receive it. Regardless of my specialty, hopefully my experience this summer is just the beginning of a long career of serving the underserved.
I felt unprepared to answer this question. This is the type of question that normally takes hours of brainstorming, writing, editing, and re-writing before I would be able to come up with a perfect answer. However, being put on the spot in front of all the patients somehow provided me with a moment of clarity, maybe because I was just speaking honestly and from the heart. "I learned a lot about AIDS," I began. "But didn't you learn about all that in medical school?" one of the patients asked. "Yes, but reading about AIDS in a textbook is a completely different experience from actually getting to know a person who has AIDS. You can read all about a disease, but you can not really comprehend it until you understand the impact of the disease on actual human beings. Seeing the way in which you all have struggled with and overcome the hardships of AIDS is incredibly inspiring. Your eagerness to get healthy and your ability to persevere through all of the obstacles you have faced in your lives has made you the strongest group of people I have ever met. So, that's what I learned; I hope that answers your question."
The patients were all looking up at me, beaming. They have reinforced my desire to spend my life working to provide high quality health care to those who might not otherwise receive it. Regardless of my specialty, hopefully my experience this summer is just the beginning of a long career of serving the underserved.
Touching.
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