Healthcare is a Human Right

Fresh out of my senior year of college, I had spent much of my academic career studying population health and knowing I wanted to go into medicine. While I knew I wanted to pursue medical school, I was hit with the realization that I had an academic understanding of population health, making my knowledge very limited. I have always been passionate about improving health inequities and I chose to do a service term to put that passion into action. 

At 11^th Street Family Health Services, I learned more than I could have ever hoped. As the Senior Patient Advocate, I assist patients 50 and older to access various social work resources including insurance, food assistance, food pantry resources, in-home nursing care, transportation to medical appointments, utility assistance and other resources. While I had learned about some of the barriers to care people are facing, it was an entirely different experience to face these roadblocks every day attempting to advocate for my patients. I learned how vulnerable it can be to ask someone to advocate for you and to trust them to fight for your right to healthcare. In my career as a physician, I will continue to carry this lesson with me as I work to improve systemic inequities in healthcare and create a positive experience for everyone. Serving at 11^th Street has given me an incredible opportunity to connect with the Philadelphia community and improve access to resources for my patients. 

The community and culture at 11^th Street trained and supported me in taking a trauma informed and anti-racist approach when working with my patients. I have learned the value of acknowledging the way that trauma continues to impact people and influence their experiences especially within the medical field. As a part of National Health Corps, I have also had the flexibility to create new projects to respond to some of the needs facing the Philadelphia community. My experience with NHC has had a dramatic impact on my perspective of the systemic inequities within our healthcare system and has continued to motivate me to spend my career serving under-resourced populations.