Week 4 at Community Clinic

Sara Johnston

3 March 2007

MIDS 201

Journal Entry #4

I went to the Clinic on Thursday, which is when the Adult Clinic is held. It is supposedly the busiest day of the week, but I have yet to see that. This is the second Adult Clinic I have been to, and the second time I have been told that it was unusually slow. The Volunteer Coordinator was gone this week on vacation, so there was no one designated to find something for me to do. When I arrived at 3, Austin Ahles was already there helping triage patients- weighing them and taking them to nurses to take blood pressure and vitals. When a doctor arrived, I helped call patients back and put them in exam rooms. Other than that, I mostly just stood around for three hours. I did not get to go around with Dr. A to see any patients: there were so few patients left by the time he arrived, that he only saw one or two and was gone before I even knew he was there. I did put a new garbage bag in a trash can that was full; I cleaned off the counter after a glass of tea was spilled; and I showed Sara Burton how the filing system works, because it was her first time coming to volunteer.

Any time anyone at the clinic asks me why I am there, I tell them I am with the MSSU Honors Program and that I am fulfilling my service-learning requirements. The next question is then always “Are you a nursing student?” When I reply no and tell them that I am pre-med, they always seem disappointed. I wonder if this is because nursing students have already had hands-on clinical training and know more about procedures, such as taking vitals. That is not my fault- that is what I’m at the Clinic for: to get my feet wet in the medical community and learn about what goes on there. There are also students there from the Franklin Tech medical office programs doing internships. One student in particular is always there when I am, and she stands around just about as much as I do.

I also met a celebrity on Thursday. I had seen him at the Clinic before and thought he looked familiar, but it was not until he introduced himself that I knew who he was. He told me his name was Howie, and I immediately knew he was Howie Baby from the local radio stations. He left radio a few years ago, and is now a full-time preacher. He is the chaplain for the Community Clinic. I asked him if he missed being on the radio, and he told me no, that he had a greater calling now. At 3:30, Howie made an announcement that prayer would start in one minute. He then said a prayer over the intercom system. This was the first display of religion I had seen at the Clinic. I had seen a few signs mentioning that the Clinic incorporated faith-based values and a couple of angel statues on top of the dusty shelves that contained the patient charts, but the clinic-wide prayer was the first active demonstration of religiosity. Because I am not a religious person, I felt slightly uncomfortable when the whole clinic paused to hold hands and pray. It made me wonder if any of the patients felt uncomfortable, and if any did, if they were kept away by the Christian values that the Clinic holds. I would hope not, but it definitely gave me something to think about.