Do Good Now
My grandfather is a bit of a role model of mine, and he recently pulled off one of his greatest feats yet. He pulled me aside and handed me an envelope…packed to the brim with cash. You don’t know the guy, but this was VERY unlike him. Confused, I asked him what it was for. He told me he had recently read an article about excuses to do good needs and how we as a society needed more of them circling about. We all needed to actively practice searching for more ways to do good, and then over time, it will become more commonplace. He asked me to take the envelope and go out looking for ways to make little improvements in random people’s lives. I had never seen him act this way before, and I promised I would do my best to make him proud. The first time I used it was a week later when I was getting groceries and decided to pay for the woman’s groceries behind me. She thought it was a joke, and when I assured her it wasn’t, she thanked me profusely. The second time, I bought dinner for a random family of four when I was out at a restaurant. The third time, I went up to a random person filling up their tank and offered to pay for their gas. They broke down crying, saying they had been having one of the worst months of their life and how badly they needed this. I’m not gonna lie, I cried too.
What amazed me the most about this little experiment is from the moment he handed me that envelope until the moment it ran dry weeks later, every day was a bit more exciting for me, a bit happier to go about my business. Knowing at any moment I could change someone’s day when a chance presented itself made every day more worthwhile. After the envelope was empty, I kept the experiment going, albeit in a less financially draining manner. I challenged myself to do a random act of kindness for someone every day, and since then, I’ve been trying to keep it going. Just the act of constantly looking to make small differences has made life more enjoyable. That’s why we do what do, isn’t it? Especially in medicine? We walk the halls of the hospital looking for incremental ways to improve the lives of those around us. I think it’s easy for us to forget this during medical school. We often think about that magical hazy future date when we can finally help others as we trudge away through our studies in the now. But we don’t have to wait. We can start actively changing lives now, and there are plenty of ways to do so.
Hospital Volunteering
Remember the days of pre-med when you were trying to bolster your application any way you could? And it’s not to say you didn’t want to do all the things you did, but also free time is nice…maybe I’m projecting a bit. Regardless, I actually loved my time volunteering in a nursing unit throughout college. It was a nice change of pace from school, plus it was great to actually feel like I was making a tangible impact in healthcare (even if I wasn’t). Well, that option still exists in med school. Go take a break from the books and dive back into the wards. There’s always a need for another hand, even if it’s just grabbing blankets and making food runs for patients. You don’t need a white coat to go in and make a difference.
Student-Run Clinics
One of my favorite extracurriculars in medical school has been working with our student-run clinics. I’ve talked with students around other schools and most programs seem to have a version of this in some shape or manner. Ours pretty much function with students serving as coordinators to run the logistic and administrative sides of the clinic while gathering both student and resident volunteers to serve the at-hand needs of the patients. I served as a coordinator for our Free Mental Health Clinic, which was really incredible to experience more pre-clerkship psychiatry. There were others for additional facets and patient populations, including but not limited to Clínica Latina for our Hispanic population, 8th street Clinic for our homeless population, and Equality Clinic for our LGBTQ population. I highly encourage you to seek these out at your institutions, and if they don’t already exist, maybe start one! They are incredible opportunities to give back as well as wear that white coat proud, getting a taste of medicine in practice (albeit with much oversight).
@freementalhealthclinic
Combine Passion and Medicine
This one is near and dear to my heart because it really shows my split personality. I’m a creative at heart, but darn if I don’t love medicine. I think people find these are disjointed entities, but if that’s true, I never got the memo. I say dive into your passions whatever they are because they will drive you forward. My school had an organization called “Music and Medicine” where we not only encouraged mental health breaks for students in exploring their musical sides, but we put on performances for our town and local children’s hospital. We even hold a fundraiser concert/talent show every year which students and the community really get wrapped up in. It’s a fantastic time. It’s funny how the most music I’ve done in my life has been during medical school rather than outside of it, but I think that just goes to show how being around motivated people motivates you to be your fullest self. I never in a million years would have imagined I could use my musical hobbies to help others and brighten peoples’ days, but once that door opened I never stopped seeking opportunities to keep that train moving. What’s your passion? Athletic? Start a fundraiser basketball tournament. Into movies? Host community film nights to bring people closer to one another. Heck, even me writing these posts is a great example of melding passion and medicine to hopefully provide a service.
Non-Medical Volunteering
This one I wanted to open up to the floor. Not everything we do has to be healthcare-related. In fact, it’s probably healthy that some aspects of our lives aren’t. Pretend like applications don’t exist for a second. There’s no board trying to give away spots for medical school, residency, or whatever your next step may be. You’ve got a free Saturday morning: what would you do? I think most of us would probably say something along the lines of sleep, eat, or sleep and eat…am I projecting again? The point I’m trying to make is that maybe it would serve us all some good to refocus a bit and reset our priorities. I truly have felt better about my life since that envelope experiment, and a large portion of it is how open it’s made me to looking for opportunities to aid. I believe we not only all inherently possess the capability to do good, but the desire to do it as well. So next weekend, why not volunteer for no other reason besides it would help someone? It doesn’t have to be with an organization like Habitat or Humane Society, although those are pretty great. Go gather supplies for GoodWill, set up food drive and donate to your local food bank. You being out and a part of the community doing good goes far greater than anyone can ever predict. Think about this, whether you are pre-med or currently in medicine, you are looked at as a future leader of your community. Go out and be present in your community now, start building it up now, go out and make your community stronger today.
Look to Your Class
Lastly, this is one that I’ve talked about before, but your community includes those directly closest to you. Acts of service don’t have to be on Saturday mornings with a great gathering of people present. They can be as small as a few kind words in a hallway. I surely wouldn’t be surviving medical school without the support and love of the friends I’ve made here. Call it misery loves company, call it pure friendship, but suffering, failing, and succeeding together bonds you in a pretty special manner. It’s easy to keep quiet about our struggles when we think everyone else is struggling too, but isn’t that the best time to be open? Wouldn’t you want someone else to tell you they’re struggling regardless of what you yourself are going through? So be that opportunity for someone to speak to in your class. Keep your eyes open for those who may be going through a tough week or month. On the other hand, some people hide their struggles well. So remind yourself no matter how put together someone may seem, they might be going through a difficult time themselves. The best way to combat the trials and tribulations of med school is together, so lean on one another in all that you do.
I’ve definitely got to stress my gramps is the most frugal person I’ve ever met in my life. If we didn’t buy him new shirts for his birthday, he’d be wearing the same clothes from 1982. So when he handed me that envelope, there may have been a brief moment when I worried he was about to travel back to his home planet. But no, the guy still is teaching me lessons even when I’m all grown up. Life is too short to wait to start doing good. Sure, we in the medical field are in a service-designed industry, but why wait for those days to come? Let’s start serving others today. I ask you all to look into your schedules and hearts for time and ways to lift up those around you. Actively seek out ways to make a change today, and you’ll be amazed at how much better life is tomorrow.
