An emphasis on community service

In the words of Hippocrates, Wherever the art of Medicine is loved, there is also a love of Humanity. Medicine and humanity are inseparable; one simply cannot exist without the other. As a medical student at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (HWCOM) at Florida International University (FIU), I was given a unique opportunity to be a part of a clinical program that aims to train culturally competent physicians, as well as provide a clinical service to some of the most underserved communities in Miami-Dade County. This mission of serving the underserved, while receiving clinical training, made the HWCOM my first choice medical school. Being a part of such a program has been an amazing experience and allowed me to accomplish my personal goals of community service.

The Green Family Foundation Neighborhood HELP (Health Education Learning Program) is a core component of my medical school’s curriculum. It is a longitudinal program where medical students are paired with a single household in an underserved neighborhood for the duration of their medical school education. These neighborhoods are mainly considered to be underserved based on their financial, global health rating, environmental rating, and educational rating amongst other demographics. The underpinning idea is to create social change in quality of health in the lives of many of these South Florida residents by having teams of students manage their social and health needs. The teams usually consist of a medical student, a social work student, a nursing student and an FIU COM Faculty member.

As a medical student, I was the main point of contact for my household over the course of my entire medical school education, and served as the leader for the interdisciplinary team when it came to providing household summaries, updates and recommendations during rounds. My interactions with the household developed into quite a good relationship after the years of phone calls, household visits, and health assessments. When I was first partnered with my household, I questioned what impact I could make on this person’s life. I remember my first health visit as a first year medical student, still unsure of whether I was taking his blood pressure correctly. However, as I grew in my medical education, my household member grew as well. I educated him about the adverse impacts of smoking tobacco and marijuana, long-term effects of drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, the importance of preventative medicine and maintaining a healthy lifestyle through exercising and dieting. Many of these ideas are idealistic in nature and are always easier said than done, because of limiting social determinants of health such as education, access to a health care provider, and access to healthy food options amongst others, which are grossly lacking in these neighborhoods. Not only is it physically not present, the cultural belief of the residents’ understanding the importance of these practices also is not present. Introducing these fundamental lifestyle changes is always challenging, but being the primary factor for someone’s health and quality of life to improve is infinitely gratifying.

One of the greatest needs of my household was that he was in need of a new prosthetic leg. As a child, my household member had a limb amputated due to a history of bone cancer. When I met him, his prosthetic was poor fitting, and definitely had adventurous tales to tell as evidenced by its rugged appearance. He had not received a new prosthetic because he simply could not afford it. Prosthetic limbs can range from $5 thousand to $50 thousand dollars for higher end devices. Additionally, my household did not qualify for Medicaid because he fell within the gap coverage, since Medicaid did not expand universally across all states in United States when the affordable healthcare act was approved in 2010.

Having completed a master’s and doctoral degree in biomedical engineering prior to medical school, this challenging situation was the perfect problem for me to solve. Initially, I reached out to more than 30 prosthetic companies in the South Florida area asking for donated services to a resident in need. Many never bothered responding to my inquiries, so I started making phone calls to all of them. Again, many did not respond, but I kept calling, and telling myself that it only takes one to be willing to do this. I eventually found that one, and they worked with my household member and fitted him with a brand new prosthetic in value of a few thousand dollars free of charge. At the onset, I had no idea if this was going to work, but I knew that a new prosthetic would change my household member’s life to at least be pain free from a poorly fitted, old prosthetic he was currently wearing.

Globally, there are millions of people like my household member who suffer life debilitating injuries because of limb amputation. Many of these injuries don’t necessarily need to be debilitating, but they are because of the lack of medical care and prosthetics. In the future, I hope to fully integrate my biomedical engineering skills with medicine to create cost effective solutions to healthcare problems that challenge millions of people around the world on a daily basis. I think that the future of engineering solutions to these problems will obviate financial barriers to prosthetic limbs as technologies like 3D printing limbs (hands, arms, legs, and feet) cost around $50 dollars rather than thousands for professional services.

Being a student in the NHELP program at the HWCOM was definitely demanding while juggling the seemingly infinite other responsibilities of medical school, but the experience is not one that I would trade. Already as a student, I’ve obtained firsthand experience of what it is like to manage a household, their health and other needs for years. I have had the opportunity to advocate for the basic needs of my household, which is a quality that all good physicians must possess. I have also fully utilized the skills I have learned prior to medical school to find solutions to problems where many people have been unsuccessful. I have been rewarded by seeing the quality of life of my household member change entirely, almost to become a new person. To date, he is nearing the completion of a GED degree, abstaining from alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, currently living a healthier lifestyle after losing over 20 pounds, and maintaining employment. This has truly been a joy of not only my education, but also in the larger context of my life.