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Vital Signs
Reflections
on Service and Social Justice
   
Vital Signs,
Spring 2008 Volume 1, Issue
1
Featured articles in this issue-
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From Idealism to Action, Challenges and opportunities across the
medical school experience
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Becoming the Next Paul Farmer, Practical steps to approaching a
career in global health
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The State of Service at Loyola, An interview with Dr. Sheehan
Watch
the interview with Myles Sheehan, SJ, MD (Windows Media Player video
stream)
Vital Signs,
Winter 2008/2009 Volume 2, Issue 1
Featured
articles in this issue-
-
The New face of Research and Service at Loyola
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How Does Loyola Stack Up?
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The Example of Preventive Medicine, An interview with Dr. Richard Cooper
Watch the interview with Richard Cooper, MD
(Windows Media
Player video stream)
Vital Signs,
Spring 2009 Volume 3, Issue 1
Featured
articles in this issue-
-
Reflections in Patient Advocacy: Blurring the Lines Between
Professionalism and Partnership
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Choosing Medicine: Exploring the Innate Drive of Students
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Environmental Justice and Advocacy as Service
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The Altruism of Physicians: Am Impetus to Care?
Letter
from the Editor, Mark Stoltenberg, SSOM 2011 (Spring 2009)
At the suggestion of
Sarah’s article, I recently went back and read through my personal statement
for medical school. I am really glad I did. For even though I saw him weekly
for years, I think a part of me was beginning to forget about Lucas. He may
not have been
the
reason that I went
into medicine, but our years of watching movies and playing video games
together certainly played a very large role in how I ended up here. When I
first met Lucas, we were both kids. I had just turned thirteen and started
volunteering on the inpatient floors of Children’s-Minneapolis. Lucas was an
energetic seven-year-old who, despite his cystic fibrosis and inability to
speak, had an overabundance of personality that was infamous through out the
hospital. He may have only communicated through hand gestures and smacking
his lips, but it certainly never stopped him from getting what he wanted.
And, when the nurses brought the soda, snack or new video game he had
requested, he would never forget to smile ear-to-ear and pat them on the
back. The system was both full-proof and priceless—smack-smack...wave a
little...and a smile to top if off.
But, as much as I loved the
movies and games, I always got especially excited when the white coats
descended on the room. “They get to take care of kids like Lucas as a
career,” I would dream to myself. Of the various doctors that would check in
on him, there was one in particular that always stood out. He was well
known through out the hospital, and I swear he must have been born to be a
pediatrician. Within seconds, he would be crouched down and engaged,
eye-to-eye both physically and mentally with his patients. (Oh, and he also
wore a bow-tie, which, given our own faculty who courageously sport them,
clearly stands as the mark of a role model). Together, what both Lucas and
this doctor taught me is that every patient has a story to tell. We simply
have to take the time to hear it.
Over the past year, I was
given the opportunity to share in another remarkable story. Ms. Thompson is
a steadfast single mother of four who I have been working with through the
new C8 program (the other four families in the program are highlighted in
the feature article for this issue). Though I have been partnered with Ms.
Thompson for almost eight months now, I am still daily blown away with how
much she deals with and yet how well she balances everything. From
struggling to find a new home in a matter of weeks (due to public aid budget
cuts), finding a dentist that will accept medicaid so her oldest son can
stay in school (because the district mandates bi-annual check-ups), or
staying on top of her youngest son’s chronic asthma (her full-time work
schedule makes it difficult to find appointment times that fit into the
limited office hours of specialists). Oh, and did I mention that, in the
middle of all this chaos, she managed to quit smoking this year? Without a
doubt, Ms. Thompson has an incredible story to tell.
Having the opportunity to
share in the stories of Lucas and Ms. Thompson has given me so much. When I
was a young and impressionable dreamer, Lucas helped me find the door to my
vocation. And more recently, as an exhausted, lab and lecture-laden medical
student, Ms. Thompson has served as a constant source of motivation to keep
me going. Though part of me dreams that this is what clinical medicine will
be like (taking the time to dive into the experiences of a patient and
becoming a partner in their healing, a part of their story), part of me also
knows that the realities of non-compliance, RVU’s and 6 AM rounds will
certainly take their toll. But, despite the challenges I am sure to face, I
am immensely grateful to be able to take the memories of Lucas and Ms.
Thompson with me. And, at the brink of my clinical career, I hope that their
stories might remind me that every patient I see will also have a story to
tell…I simply have to take the time to hear it.
 Vital Signs Editorial Board and Support Staff
Senior Editors: Nathan Kittle, Daniel Wilburn
Managing Editors: Mark Stoltenberg, Stephen Lane, Jason Somogyi
Supporting Editors: Tracy Lyons, William Navarre, Masey Ross
Design Manager: Jason Rice
Photographer: Kathleen Mishler
This project would not have been possible
without the generous support of the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics &
Health Policy. To Dr. Kuczewski and the rest of the staff: Thank you
so much for giving us this opportunity to prepare for future careers in
service through reflecting on questions of justice.
Questions, comments or concerns? Is there
a certain topic of interest you would like to hear about for the next issue?
Or even better, are you interested in writing, taking pictures or joining
the Vital Signs board?
Email us at vitalsigns@lumc.edu
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