Area Health Education Center (AHEC)
Student Profiles
Zoobia Mariza, class of 2006
Participated in AHEC exploration activities. This is an excerpt from her application letter to OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine.
"I
have always been goal oriented. After I graduated from high school,
my family moved to the United States. I had only studied basic English
in school and found myself overwhelmed by the demands of not only
speaking but writing and studying in English. Because I wanted to
pursue a bachelor’s degree and then medical school, I knew
that I would need a better command of the language. I set a short-term
goal of learning enough English to succeed in a community college
and prepare for university work.
I finished the medical assistant certification program at Platt College in Tulsa in 1995 and started to work for Dr. Price Kraft in his family practice. I worked part-time (full-time on breaks and summers) for Dr. Kraft while I was in school at Tulsa Community College and later when I came to Oklahoma State University where I majored in microbiology (BS, fall 2000). In addition to my work in Dr. Kraft’s office, where I routinely perform tasks like taking medical histories, helping patients understand their medications and other treatments, and assist Dr. Kraft with patient care, I volunteer in the emergency room at St. Francis Hospital. On weekends, I am the primary caregiver for an elderly paraplegic woman.
All of these experiences have reinforced my commitment to my long-term goal: I want to be a family physician in a small town or rural area where I can provide quality hands-on medical care to the entire spectrum of the community. I am particularly interested in regularly providing health care on a free or sliding-scale basis to people who “fall between the cracks” in the U.S. health care delivery system—those who do not qualify for federal or state assistance or who do not have sufficient resources to directly pay for the care they need. I am deeply concerned about infant and maternal health care issues because I most enjoy working with and helping people who are vulnerable and may not have a strong health-care advocate. As a foreign-born citizen, I understand how difficult it can be to survive in a system where complex information must be conveyed and received."
Stacey Thao Phan, Class of 2005
Participated in an early clinical experience at the OSU Community Health and Education Center with Denise Senger, Nurse Coordinator for the clinic. This is her reflection on becoming a physician after her experiences with the public housing residents.
"Growing up, my parents always taught me that one’s perspective is built when we develop compassion and understanding for other people. Keeping this in mind most of the time, I always thought that I understood human life and what it means to live with little or nothing at all. But my perspective has changed since working with the Oklahoma Area Health Education Center (AHEC) and the OSU Community Health and Education Center, currently a mobile health clinic. At AHEC, I was able to immerse myself into underserved people’s lives, a stark contrast from my community service in high school and college.
After my first year of medical school at OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine, I thought it would be a great opportunity to become involved in a local community project in which the underserved of Tulsa are offered health services by OSU Community Clinic and Health Education Center, a program of the Oklahoma AHEC Program Office at the OSU Center for Health Sciences in Tulsa. One of my favorite quotes from my advisor, mentor, and friend in the program, Denise Senger, RN, MPH, is “these people make our lives seem so simple and easy.” The “people” that she refers to are the community residents that live in public housing sites in Tulsa such as LaFortune Towers that face daily difficulties in securing things that we often take for granted such as food, clothing, housing, and access to healthcare.
Because of my participation in numerous house visits and community clinics, I began to imagine myself in these people’s predicament while simultaneously feeling a sense of love for all the people that I met because of what they have taught me. I was amazed to see the independence of a practically wheel chair bound 89 year-old woman. My afternoons in Ms. Jones’ spotless house talking about her health and life proved to me that quality of life was often important in maintaining an individual’s health. Contrarily, I also saw the vulnerability of our elderly. For instance, Ms. Suzie Q spent time in a nursing home after hip surgery at which time checks were taken from her personal belongings. This stress in her life affected her health. My opportunity to listen and learn from stories such as these brought me new understanding that health care often extends beyond the walls of a hospital or a doctor’s office.
This experience will carry over in the coming years when I am to practice medicine. Suitable to the osteopathic principles that I have been taught in medical school, I will remember to look at the whole patient, and not just at the disease. Additionally, every person will be different in how his or her health care will be provided. Some patients will be compliant with the medications that they receive, while others may manipulate their medications as they see fit. Furthermore, it would be extremely difficult for the men and women I have met to be able to afford the medication that some physicians prescribe without being cognizant of their socioeconomic status. To provide effective care, I would have to be aware that Mr. X only has four dollars a week to live on or Mr. Doe’s hallucinations and distrust of physicians may signify a need for an alternative route of questioning. A classmate once told me, “We will be with a patient for at most one hour, what about the
other twenty-three hours?” Working in the community clinics this summer has proven to me that as a physician, I will have to be mindful of what happens when patients leave my office. I must try to provide them with the tools that they will find useful in their lives."
*All names mentioned in this article are fictitious.
Trey Auschwitz, Class of 2005
Participated in a Summer Rural Externship in Cleveland, Oklahoma. These are some of his observations upon completion of a rural rotation.
The Differences Between Rural and Urban Medicine
The physician-patient relationship in rural medicine is something I feel you do not get as an urban physician. The doctor lives in the community and knows his patients not only as patients but also as neighbors and friends. This was evident to me as the summer went on by the way the patients would interact with the physician. He would not only see them in his office but also at lunch and around town. The urban physician does not have as much contact out of the office with his patients as the rural physician. The rural physician is more of a community figurehead and not just a physician. This only helps as the people come into the office for medical attention.
Marketing Rural Rotations to Medical Students
The best and often overlooked advantage of a rural rotation is the fact that in the rural rotation there is usually one doctor per student. This allows the student the ability to perform more procedures and work on his or her skills as a physician. In other rotations students are at the bottom of the list to do procedures. There are residents and interns who will have the opportunity to do everything while the student is only allowed to observe. This is definitely not the case in a rural rotation."
Ron Gann, Class of 2005
Participated in a Summer Rural Externship in Kansas, Oklahoma. This is an excerpt from his observations upon completion of a rural rotation.
"My greatest experience at the clinic was getting to know all the different people that you see in a rural setting. Some patients I only saw once the whole time I was there. Others I saw each week at the same time on the same day. One patient in particular was really a joy to talk to and be around. She had liver disease and was not in very good shape, but she never had a bad thing to say. Even when she was in so much pain, she was so nice and sweet to all that came into contact with her. She always said to me, “Honey, your going to make a great doctor,” and I would reply, “Since you said it, then I guess it’s going to come true.” Sadly she passed on during the summer. You never know who will come through your life and affect it. She affirmed my reasons for going into the medical field. I will never forget her.
My summer at the clinic has showed me one very important thing that we as present and future doctors must always remember: Patients deserve 110% of our attention, understanding, and care. This is what I believe I was put on this earth to do, no questions asked."
