Have a heart

So I know I said I would be recapping events previous to Orientation, but I have decided that I wanted to write about this while it is still fresh in my mind.

I have been looking at other medical student blogs, and upon further inspection I believe it should be fine for me to say what school I am attending. I will still refrain from ever saying my name or the names of anyone I mention to ensure that proper privacy is maintained.

So on that note, The school I am attending is Virginia Commonwealth University school of medicine, or VCU for short. The medical school itself though is reffered to as the Medical College of Virginia or MCV.

Today during orientation we were talking about Project H.E.A.R.T (which stands for Healing with Empathy, Acceptance, Respect and inTegrity) that we will be taking part in. It is a small group support system (I think), and the first sessions for all of us were supposed to be today, though some were postponed including  mine so don't know exactly what its about yet.

It is set up to ensure that we always have guidance as we progress through med school. That we always have support should we need it, and to remind us why it is we want to be doctors (hence the acronym).

As they told us about setting up this project, they explained that as a symbol of this support, they had begun years ago, to get this service group of wonderful women in the community to handstitch each of us our very own little plush hearts. They are all soft red fabric on one side, and then have a unique piece of quilt fabric stitched onto the other side, and are stuffed with a bit of cotton batting or something like that.

They passed around baskets of these hearts that had been made just for us, and each of us got to choose the one we wanted. Now some of you may think this is a bit touchy feely or cheesy, but I would disagree.

They told us that many 3rd and 4th year students as well as alumni kept their hearts in one of the breast pockets of their white doctors coats so that it was always with them. Serving as a reminder to always have a heart, to never stop caring, and to always know that there are those out there who love and care about us, just as we are caring for our patients.

*Censor Warning* - the following, while not descriptively graphic, may be emotionally difficult for some

After this, we began to watch a video about professionalism which flashed family pictures of a father and mother and their three children taking part in various family activites, full of love and happiness. The song that played in the background though eluded that this would not have a happy ending.

It then showed their car, totaled and off the road. and flashed to their one and a half year son in the hospital in critical condition swollen and full scrapes and stitches. This was followed with the father holding his son in the hopsital, and showed pictures of his son looking better, and it faded to black.

Then words flashed across the screen that due to the boy being given a lethal dose of a medication, he had passed away, and was now buried beside his mother who died in the crash.

It went on to show the father addressing the healthcare workers of the hopsital where this happened, basically thanking them for what it is that they do, but urging them to never forget how much what they are doing matters, and to make sure that they explain things honestly and simply, and to double and triple check everything because it is time well spent, it is time that can prevent things like this error from happening.

After the video, we were asked to voice those qualities we believed reflected the idea of professionilism in medicine, and were told these qualities would form our own private oath in addition to the Hippocratic oath which we would swear at the white coat ceremony later in the week.

Then right before we left we were asked that every time we hold or squeeze our hearts, we should remember that video, and remember the responsibility and power we will be given as doctors.

I intend to cherish this heart and carry it with me in the hopes that I will do just that. In the hopes that no matter how stressed and tired I may become, I will never forget, even for a second, that I am treating people. People with lives and families and hopes and dreams and fears. People who deserve my full attention. People who trust me to look after them.