Calm chaos

The medical field has always captivated me, but nothing opened my eyes and showed me just how passionate I am about it like the Hospital Intern Program — a partnership between Rider and Capital Health that exposes students to real-life medical situations.

The program allowed me to witness every aspect of the medical field: life and death, surgery and recovery, preventative and reactive care.

One day, I saw the miracle of life not just once but three times. I was stationed in obstetrics and maternity beginning at 7 a.m. When I got there, a nurse came in and said, “There’s a woman about to give birth, you wanna come see?”

My answer was a resounding “yes,” so the first thing I saw bright and early to wake me up was a natural birth. This was the mom’s fourth child. She was an absolute pro. Through the whole birth, the nurses were incredible in their support of the mom and the doctor in a calm chaos. Seeing the baby come into the light and the mom holding him right away with relief flooding her face was such an emotional moment that I welled up with tears.

While there is life, death is also present in the medical field. I learned that the hard way during my round with the Mobile Intensive Care Unit. I shadowed two paramedics who were also registered nurses. They showed me the ropes and were unwaveringly supportive, especially when I caught my first glimpse of death.

We received a call about a deceased man. He was an old man found in his house by a friend of a friend, someone with no emotional attachment whatsoever to the deceased man. It appeared he had been getting undressed when he fell backward and died. We found him lying on his bedroom floor, half dressed and all alone. He had been dead for a day or two, and I was surprised that much time could pass with no one wondering where he was. It was heartbreaking, but paramedics see things like that every day.

Throughout the semester, students in the program heard from health care professionals and learned more about the ins and outs of how the medical field functions. It made me realize how many career options there are in this field and the possibilities and experiences that come with them.

The dilemma I have now is that I have more interests than I thought I would. I went in with a passion for psychiatry and came out with a passion for that and many other specialties. I loved almost all of my rotations and was constantly blown away by how amazing everything was and that I was actually there, witnessing it first hand. From the death and dying to the saving of lives, it felt like I was in a dream — one I never wanted to wake up from. The Hospital Intern Program has solidified the path I want to take for the rest of my life and I will be forever grateful.

This experience instilled in me a passion and a drive for medicine that I may never have discovered otherwise. It was the most amazing experience of my life. I can’t wait to participate in those things every single day and make a real difference in people’s lives.