No hablo espanol :(

I have really enjoyed volunteering at Gulfgate. Everyone is so nice. The place is very organized. People come and go satisfied. Most of this is observed by my eyes, but not by my ears because most of the conversations between patient and staff is in a language foreign to me! I am just so curious to know what they are talking about, but two semesters of Spanish is just not quite enough yet....
Yesterday, we filled out the survey about our experience during this service learning project. A few of the questions asked whether service projects like these should be part of other classes. WHAT AN EXCELLENT IDEA! Taking time to help out in places like these strips away the financial gains aspect of being in a health profession and helps one focus on what should be the most important factor in being in the health profession, which is compassion. Do I have the compassion to see these patients and fix their many problems? Am I willing to stay back hours after until the last patient leaves? Am I focused on doing WHATEVER it takes to treat the patient, find a translator to understand the patient, make the patient's life better? I would say yes. Helping the underserved helped me understand myself more. I have realized what I have to offer and what more I still need to learn about life, in a way nothing else I have done has.

Keeping busy

Yesterday, I did nothing else but stuff those biohazard bags with hemoccult kits and alcohol swabs! I came in with hopes that they may need me to translate or something, but when I was not needed, I was very grateful that one of the nurses found something for me to do! While I was stuffing the bags, one Vietnamese patient came to the window and told me to help out this other Vietnamese lady who had been waiting to see the doctor since 7:30 in the morning; it was 12:30pm. Luckily, it was only about 5 minutes after this happened that a nurse finally called the lady in. She looked so tired, and who can blame her! It's unfortunate that the patients have to wait so long to see the doctor in places like these.
I asked the nurse how long the wait usually is, and she said it is usually 30 minutes, but children always come first, no matter when they get there. I thought that was reasonable, but I do wish cases like the lady I mentioned do not happen often...