Winter 2021
FCE Volunteer Family update Medical student gains valuable perspective from FCE family volunteer by Emily Grimes, MD Class of 2024 As a first-year medical student who has spent most of my time focused on trying to learn the science of medicine, it has sometimes been easy to forget why I strived to become a physician in the first place. However, the FamilyCentered Experience has been an invaluable resource in preserving the humanity within my medical education. While others in my class may have known they wanted to be a doctor since they were young, when I was a child, I had an experience that caused me to vehemently not want to be a doctor. A family friend suffered complications related to diabetes, went into a coma and was hospitalized. When I went to visit her, I had a panic attack. There were so many tubes and wires connected to her, she did not seem human to my child’s mind.
As I grew older, I looked back on that experience and realized the source of my panic was an intrinsic desire to help combined with the realization that I was helpless. I decided then that I wanted to pursue medicine so that in those situations, I wouldn’t be helpless again — I would have the ability to help people like my friend, as well as their loved ones. The intrinsic desire to help, to do no harm, is a hallmark of medical professions. To do no harm, we must learn the science of medicine. In fact, most of the first two years of medical school are dedicated to learning about anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and other scientific disciplines related to the human body. Between endless study sessions trying to remember anatomy and memorizing various scientific facts, we become so focused on understanding how the body works that we often fail to stop and consider how these medical facts impact the everyday lives of our patients.
The Family-Centered Experience (FCE) in the Patient and PhysicianCentered Care course at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine allows us to speak with volunteer families who have a chronic condition and hear their perspectives from the other side of medicine. My experience has been invaluable, as speaking to my FCE volunteer family not only allows me to learn from a patient how to be a better doctor, but it also breathes life and meaning into the science courses in the curriculum. Understanding the mechanics of a condition such as cancer is different from understanding how cancer changes a person’s life. And understanding both of these aspects of medicine is necessary to be a capable, empathetic physician. During the first two years of medical school, patient contact is limited (if not non-existent), so the opportunity to learn from patients outside the clinical setting adds a depth to our education not afforded at other institutions. The Family-Centered Experience at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine is an invaluable resource to future physicians like myself, and I thank every volunteer in the program for allowing us to learn how to be better doctors through sharing your experiences.