How Service Has Shaped Me

Rewind to a little over a year ago. I was a senior at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County approaching graduation and looking for a new opportunity for the next chapter of my life. During my search, I came across the National Health Corps website. Because I wasn’t quite sure what direction in healthcare I wanted to go, I thought that serving with the Philadelphia Health Corps would be a great opportunity to discover more about myself.

Fast forward to the present. I have now successfully served with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health at Health Center 10 for about 10 months. As I reflect on my service, I have come to realize that I have truly grown in a variety of ways throughout my term.Not only do I feel more comfortable working in a healthcare setting, but I am more confident in my ability to communicate with patients as well.

Throughout the year, my fellow AmeriCorps members and I have been trained in trauma-informed care, language access, motivational interviewing and many more valuable skills. The impact  these trainings have had on the way that I approach service each day is much greater than I could have expected. Being trained in language access, I developed my skills in working with interpreters and patients simultaneously. My trauma-informed care perspective allows me to take a step back when working with a patient and remember that my office was not necessarily the first part of his day. Having this perspective allows me to consider my approach with a patient that may come into my office already stressed from the day. With my newfound background in these skills, I feel that I am better prepared to serve patients and clients in a healthcare setting.

Similar to starting any professional experience, the beginning of my service term seemed a bit overwhelming at times. Being new to the office, my fellow AmeriCorps member and I needed to quickly develop methods to keep the office organized, such as: reorganizing our filing system and prioritizing our workload based on time-sensitive material. In order to complete the Patient Assistance Program applications, I often needed to ask patients potentially sensitive information regarding their income level and insurance status. Establishing a way to approach this conversation with the patients  that made them comfortable to speak with me was something that I developed as I continued to serve in the clinic. As the year has progressed, I feel much more comfortable in all aspects of my position. I believe that my professional skills,such as managing multiple priorities and deadlines, communicating with patients, and my organizational skills, have significantly improved.

While I have certainly developed professionally, I have also grown personally. At the beginning of my service term, I was still undecided on what I wanted to do in the future. After serving with the Philadelphia Health Corps and participating in the various service projects, professional development trainings, and my host site service, I have now decided to pursue my graduate degree in public health and health care administration. Serving in Health Center 10 has confirmed for me that I wish to continue my work in a healthcare setting. As a member of Philadelphia Health Corps, I have had countless opportunities to attend lectures and trainings in various public health topics. These experiences have contributed to my interest in furthering my education in public health. My service term gave me the chance to really explore my personal interests and develop myself professionally, while providing a much needed service to the city of Philadelphia. I’m very appreciative to have been given the opportunity to serve with the Philadelphia Health Corps.

This post was written by PHC member Caitlynn Quinn.
Caitlynn serves at the Philadelphia Department of Public Health - Health Center #10 as an Patient Assistance Program Advocate.