The Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Physician Assistant (PA) Program's mission statement resonates deeply with my aspirations as a future PA. The program places an emphasis on providing holistic, patient-centered care as a collaborative team of healthcare workers, which aligns with my core beliefs. These values have been shaped by my academic journey as well as in my practical experience. The Northwestern PA program’s mission statement is centered around a commitment to providing patient centered care and collaboration with various healthcare professionals. My dedication to this statement has been reinforced both through my academic courses and my practical experiences in healthcare. In my final year of my undergraduate education, I took an anthropology course titled “Living Medicine”. This course exposed me to diverse healthcare systems globally, highlighting the pivotal role of cultural attitudes and practices on patient outcomes. In this study, we viewed a TedTalk given by Dr. Atul Gawande, a surgeon and a writer. Gawande describes how the healthcare system in the United States was shaped based on a culture that values independence, self-sufficiency, and …show more content…
This hands on approach fosters dynamic and an interactive education, which aligns with my learning style. In my undergraduate studies, I had the opportunity to participate in a seminar style course focused on small group discussions and analysis of current research papers. During this, we were able to analyze the research, discuss potential obstacles, and propose future directions for the research to move in. I valued this interactive environment with the emphasis on active participation and discussion based learning. This focus on real world situations and problem solving will prepare me to tackle challenges throughout my career with poise and
Using Anne Fadiman’s book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down I have created a cultural assessment of the Hmong people and their experiences with the American healthcare system. This small Southeast Asian minority known as the Hmong began moving to the United States towards the end of the Vietnam War. This brought a whole new set of challenges for the healthcare providers of the United States due to their cultural beliefs and native practices which made it difficult to perform certain forms of medicine. Doctors and nurses had to find different ways to treat these patients without violating their cultural beliefs or upsetting them.
In her brilliant and award-winning book, The Spirit Catches You & You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman skillfully demonstrates the cultural clash between a small county hospital in California, and a refugee family from Laos over the care of Lia Lee, a Hmong child diagnosed with sever epilepsy. Both Lia’s parents, as well as the doctors present, wanted what was best for her. However, the lack of understanding between them led to a tragedy. Fadiman did an outstanding job at demonstrating that cultural understanding is essential but lacking in the modern biomedical system. She successfully illustrated the way hospital bureaucracy often detracts from the desired end results of helping patients get well according to their definitions as well.
Today, many medical students are learning how to face cross- cultural issues. For example, the University of Wisconsin developed an “integrated multi-cultural curriculum,” in order to practice cross-culture. This includes the following: “panel and group discussions, case conferences, student interviews, role-playing exercises, and home visits (271.)” Furthermore, Stanford is trying to convey the “whole doctor-whole patient” model to be used again. What this model does is it allows doctors to, “bring his or her full humanity (275.)”
The medical field in relation to varied cultural beliefs and traditions is something that is important to many, yet rarely talked about by almost all individuals. In other words, the cultural clashes created in medicalization is under looked by a multitude individuals. This is because many do not experience the hardships first hand. For that reason, the thought of difficulties within treatments of health issues or illnesses does not cross some individual’s minds. Nonetheless, each group of people is unique, in addition to, how they perceive the medical world.
In 1968, American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) formerly known as the American Association of Physician Assistants was established in North Carolina by the first graduate students of Duke University Physician Assistant program. Since then PA profession has grown to tremendous heights. The mission statement of the AAPA is, “To ensure the professional growth, personal excellence, and recognition of the physician assistants, and to support their efforts to enable then to improve the quality, accessibility, and cost-effectiveness of patient-centered health care.” The physician assistant profession has shown remarkable growth since its first PAs started practice in 1967.
Eric Dishman’s Ted talk, “Healthcare Should be a Team Sport”, shares how today’s health care needs to conform and revolutionized to fit in today’s technological, and widespread society. A patient told him to take control of his health, and not let the doctors take control of him. Dishman goes into detail how the healthcare system is a “flawed expensive system that is set up in the wrong way” (2:07). The American health system is dependent on clinics and the occupants residing within, how specialists are necessary in the healthcare system to look at specific parts of us, and having passive patients that would follow the orders of a doctor, that might satisfy the appropriate issue at hand, and satisfying the individual patients’ needs.
Book Review: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Tim Merlino Drexel University November 2017 The patient-doctor relationship recognizes transference affects as a bi-directional relationship which affects the way a health care provider treats a patient and the way the patient responds to treatment (Zinn, 1990). Fadiman’s book examines different problems in the culture of American medicine by highlighting a tragedy centered around a Hmong immigrant family and their sick child, Lia, in California (Fadiman, 2012). The story also highlights some important lessons to be learned by the American health care system to avoid future incidents like described by Fadiman and to ultimately apply cultural competency in public health (Fadiman, 2012).
I admire the mission statement of the PAS program, as I am a firm believer in providing excellent care to all populations. A Physician Assistant, as well as any other medical professional, should provide compassionate care to those needing it, despite their financial status, race, disabilities, and more. As a future PA, I want to advocate for all populations and let their voices be heard, inside and outside of the walls of medicine. One reason I am compassionate about advocating for my patients is because I understand what it is like to be in their shoes.
Thank you for taking the time to review my personal statement on why I have chosen to embark on the journey to become a Physician Assistant. My story started several years ago, more than I care to count, when I stumbled into the health care world as a paramedic in rural Pennsylvanian. While in high school, I became friends with several other students who were actively volunteering with a local fire department. After hearing their stories about the things they were learning and doing I also joined a volunteer fire department, mostly out of curiosity. Over the course of a couple of years I discovered that the challenges that I encountered during training and responding to emergencies had unlocked some unrealized, more like unknown, drive inside
In third grade, I was assigned to create a project illustrating what I wanted to be when I grew up. At this time, due to my positive experiences with doctors and my desire to help others, especially children, I decided to describe the role of a pediatrician as my future career. Throughout my childhood, whenever asked about my future aspirations, I confidently declared that I would attend medical school and become a pediatrician. However, as I developed, the answer to this question slowly began to evolve as I gained a deeper understanding of my values and the people I desired to serve through medicine.
While the training was demanding, I loved every minute of it. After receiving my license, I began work in a nursing home. While my job is far from easy, it gives me more reward that I could have in any other field. Working as a CNA only solidified my decision to become a primary care provider. After considering multiple health care career paths, I came across the physician assistant position.
Anne Fadiman, author of the book, ‘The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” reveals the negative effects of no cross-cultural communication in the medical profession. Lia Lee and her family had no previous experiences in an American hospital, America no less. This proved to be difficult, leading both sides (Hmong family and doctors) to misinterpret what both are doing and saying. This book summary summarized the book, the qualifications of the sources used, and critiques the book as a whole.
Healthcare practice is complex in many perspectives from professional to cultural, from physical to mental. All cultures have systems of health beliefs to explain what causes illness, how it can be cured or treated, and who should be involved in the process. The extent to which patients perceive patient education as having cultural relevance for them can have a profound effect on their reception to information provided and their willingness to use it (Euromed info, 2017). Social and cultural differences between patients and providers can potentially post big challenges throughout the course of healthcare service. If not handled properly, it will adversely affect the clinical interaction between healthcare providers, patients and their families.
The first part of my courses are teacher-centered and include a lecture session where students are expected to absorb information and memorize key facts. Since the lecture is a one way presentation and there is little interaction with the teacher, I follow up the lecture with a series of demonstrations allowing students to view several approaches of reaching the same conclusion and also provide them with multiple examples. My courses end with group activities to promote self-learning and critical thinking by finding solutions through exploration and guided discovery. Students are encouraged to identify personal challenges with the material, collaborate with their group members to resolve these difficulties, and work toward a common goal. I find the lecture component allows important information to reach a large group of higher education students, while the group activity component address individual needs.
The team whose mission is centered on caring for the patient. I believe these two core values are deeply ingrained in me and will be used when I become a licensed PA. In addition to my determination and ability to work in a team, I will contribute my compassion, and patient-first attitude to the community