Reflecting on another year gone by...

So, this is what procrastination looks like... It's about midnight and I'm on duty and am sick of writing papers for actual classes.

This year has been an especially challenging one at St. Catherine Laboure Medical Clinic. With the economic recession has come many new patients calling the clinic. Everyone's story is unique, but almost everyone includes something along the lines of "I got laid off and can't pay my COBRA."

It has been incredibly encouraging to take on so much more responsibility at the clinic this year. I feel comfortable filling prescriptions by myself, calling other Philadelphia service providers to arrange appointments for our patients, taking detailed descriptions of medical problems from patients on the phone, and basically doing whatever comes up. I understand Medicaid, Medicare, Charity Care, the power that insurance and pharmaceutical companies have, and a lot of other important information that my classes could never adequately teach me.

At the same time, it is very discouraging to hear heart-wrenching stories every time I go to the clinic. For example, last week as I was about to leave, a guy knocked on the door and told me that he had four blood clots about 6 weeks ago and was on Coumadin but ran out of meds. He had been to the Philadelphia city clinics a few times, but the lines were always too long and he couldn't wait there all day without bringing his oxygen machine. This is something that wouldn't get him admitted from an emergency room, so he felt completely at a loss. St. Catherine's doesn't see walk-in patients...with only one doctor it's nearly impossible to see all our regular patients. The nurse who was with me that afternoon took notes and was going to squeeze this man into the book, but I can't help but think about all the other people like him who didn't run into St. Catherine's by accident and who will probably die of the health care system's neglect.

The other thing I've learned a lot more about this year is the way social problems don't stand alone. I've always been aware of the way food stamps (I'll be p.c. and call the program SNAP, I guess) have impacted the health of the patients at St. Catherine's. Our patients that are diabetic have an especially difficult time buying healthy food on limited incomes, and the individuals who receive SNAP benefits often find that they cannot afford nutritious food.

However, I had never really thought about the level of violence in Philadelphia and how it relates to St. Catherine's until the other day. I was at the clinic very late with just Dr. Davis trying to catch up on paperwork. I answered the phone and it was a patient who had been mugged in her house a few weeks ago. She had been repeatedly hit in the face and then her purse was stolen. She suffered very severe head injuries, not to mention the fact that she refused to go home until the man who hurt her was arrested. Evidently, he assaulted and robbed more than 10 women before the police caught up with him. After Dr. Davis finished telling me this story, she casually said, "I feel like every time I see a report of violence from Philadelphia, it affects one of my patients." I asked her to elaborate, and she went on to say how almost every patient visit includes a story about how a patient's family member/friend/neighbor was shot/beaten up/etc. She went on to say, "I don't think it's a coincidence that people who don't have money for health insurance are also the people victimized in acts of violence." I'm embarrassed to say that I had never thought of the Philadelphia violence in the context of St. Catherine's, but this conversation has made me think a lot more everytime I open a newspaper.

Despite all the terrible things going on in the world, I am very pleased to say that St. Catherine's has hired a marketing director who has started sending out bimonthly updates on what's going on there. They also won a pretty big grant recently, which will definitely help keep them afloat for another year.

It's hard to believe that this Tuesday marks the end of my 5th semester at St. Catherine's. I really feel at home there, and think of the staff as just another group of friends. Being there inspires me in my goal to become a physician, and I always joke about the fact that I want to work there after I get my degree. Of course, I'd rather that the US has socialized health care by that point and therefore the clinic could close, but if not then working there would be my second choice :)

I'll leave you with a quote from Ita Ford:
"I hope you come to find that which gives life a deep meaning for you...something that energizes you, enthuses you, enables you to keep moving ahead. I can't tell you what it might be- that's for you to find, to choose, to love. I can just encourage you to start looking, and support you in the search."

Happy end of the semester!

Peace,
Carla

New Semester What What??

Hey all you party people in the place to be,

So we got a whole new semester of weekly service and with a new semester comes new sites! YES!! These are our wonderful new sites with the site coordinators:

Olivet Baptist- Kieran Mccourt
Back on My Feet- Maria Selde
Students Run Philly Style- Beth Ford
Caring Person's Alliance- Carly Maurer
Build-A-Book- Cathy Chezik
Prison Ministry- Sean Duffy

All of these sites provide exciting new options for volunteers that are looking for maybe something a little different then service that they've done in the past. So, if you're looking to mix it up a little bit or are driven to one of these new sites, please contact the site coordinators.

Last semester we reached numbers of volunteers for weekly service that have never been seen by SJU before. We should really be proud of these numbers, but use them to take the initiative to invite others to participate in service. We all have our stories from service experiences, and if we tell them to someone new, the sky is the limit. There are opportunities for everyone no matter what your interests may be. It is definitely an exciting time to volunteer in the surrounding St. Joe's community!