I found out after I wrote this that this blog post is actually not meant for our class, but I still think the content can be related back to what our class discusses. The topic of the blog post was the fact that people who tend to read more are able to be more empathetic and sympathetic than those who don’t due to their ability to put themselves in the shoes of the characters in the stories that they read. I thought this was especially interesting in the context of us reading Zone One. Continue reading “Are We Really The Victims?”
Thoughts On Solutions For Medical Voluntourism
I just posted about medical voluntourism, but it is a topic that I feel strongly about so I thought I would share some of my thoughts from the class discussion on finding a solution to the problem. Two major problems that I am going to focus on are: people are attending this trips for the wrong reasons, and people going in with hopes in accomplishing much more than they are capable or trained to do. I came up with a few ways to ensure that a higher number of people are going into these third world countries with a better mindset and for the right reasons.
Like I mentioned in the previous paragraph, there are many people that attend these trips with the wrong intentions. One possible solution would be to create a more strict process that candidates would have to complete before being chosen to attend a medical voluntourism trip. For example, implementing a research paper on the culture of the country of the trip would create a way for students to become more culturally aware before stepping into communities. I remember talking in group discussion in class about how in some countries eating with your right hand is considered unsanitary. That is just one example of how a research paper would both narrow down the number of candidates who may attend for the wrong reasons since there is a work load in the application, and educate those attending on how to act and diversify in their culture.
The other topic I mentioned was how groups will often go into these communities in third world countries with the “savior” mindset, or hopes to accomplish more than possible or allowing unqualified students give medical treatment. For example, we talked in this course about how students, college-aged, are delivering babies on these voluntourism trips. This is clearly a huge problem that should not be allowed, and possible solution for this would be to put a policy in place for all organizations that run medical voluntourism trips. To elaborate, if there were a policy in place that provided strict guidelines for what these groups were and weren’t allowed to do, that must be followed by all medical voluntourism groups, that could help prevent things like unqualified students delivering babies from occurring. Whether it be something put in place by the United States government or whomever it may be, a policy with punishment such as termination in that group or organization from holding future trips, seems like a viable solution.
Response To: The Power of Social Media
In one of our first group discussions, Sunita brought up an article which talked about taking precaution in taking pictures and watching what you post from a volunteerism trip, which relates to our class discussion on them. After reading her post on this, I did some research and found another article by Pacific Standard Magazine called #InstagrammingAfrica. This article is similar to the one Sunita used, but it has some new information in it and I want to voice some additional things as well.
The main thing that I would like to point out is how social-media is often a place where people put up a fake curtain or wall of what they want people to see and how they want to be viewed by others. This is clearly a problem with medical voluntourism. The article jokingly states “a six-day visit to a rural African village can completely change a woman’s Facebook profile picture” and “I don’t think my profile photo will ever be the same, not after the experience of taking such incredible pictures with my arms around those small African children’s shoulders”. While these quotes are clearly jokes, they are actually exposing why many people go on these trips. I believe that there are too many people that go on these trips for the wrong reasons.
I am a freelance photographer, and often have a camera in hand during my free time. One thing I believe whole heartedly in is capturing moments as they happen, not making them. While this may seem somewhat unrelated, let me explain. I always focus on what is happening around me, the people I’m with and what I am experiencing, and never try and let the camera get in the way of enjoying that moment. If you apply this to people on voluntourism trips, some people are on these trips to make those moments. Instead of just being present with the communities they are visiting and trying to make an impact in their lives, they are also making sure they snap a selfie with a few children in the village to post on instagram. In the article, author Lauren Kascak says this of an experience taking a photo while on a trip, “I’m beaming in the photograph, half towering and half hovering over these children. I do not know their names, they do not know my name, but I directed a friend to capture this moment with my own camera. Why?”. This question really stuck out to me, and I think more people need to stop and ask themselves, “why?”. In Laurens case, there was no need to take a picture with two strangers. Now, if they had been sick while she was there and she was taking care of them throughout the trip while they returned to health, that would be a moment worth capturing. I’m not trying to say not to take any sort of pictures at all, but what I am trying to say is to not let the camera get in the way of why you are really there.
Growing.
I see that many of us have been reflecting on the collective course statement as well as the class as a whole, so I thought I might jot my thoughts down as well.
This semester, I have been involved in more group assignments and projects than I ever have. Just prior to the first days of this class, the word “group work” could bring me to tears. I’m practically the poster child for introverts. I don’t know why I am. My mind is constantly bustling with ideas and thoughts that I feel could make a difference, but I am too afraid to speak on them.
Do Not Resuscitate: a Follow-Up to Implied Consent
In one of my last couple of blog posts, I discussed the topic of implied consent in the context of DUIs. Essentially, if you deny a breathalyzer test, you may not be charged with a DUI, but your driver’s license can be suspended for 6-months and you may be fined $500. However, implied consent refers to more than just potential cases of DUIs. In many cases, especially when emergency health services are called upon, this type of consent is relevant. If the patient is unconscious or unresponsive, medical professionals will typically take all measures to ensure the patient survives with or without his or her consent.
Continue reading “Do Not Resuscitate: a Follow-Up to Implied Consent”
Cultivating Community
In Genna’s Recent blog post, which can be found here, she gave several good thoughts on the collaborative project. She started her article by referring to the article we looked at in the beginning of the semester, and within the article is said “all college student should have education experiences that teach them how to solve problems with people whose views are different from their own”. Going off of this quote from the article in Genna’s post, I agree with her when she said that this final collaborative project provides a great example of the quote, and I wanted to share a little bit from a Cultivating Community Event I went to a few weeks ago that relates to our project as well.
Cultivating Community is an event in which group discussion was held on “bubbles”, which essentially are known as identity markers, and how to merge those bubbles or identities to accomplish a task. In the group discussion, one thing that way brought up was that people have the language skills to communicate good and thoughtful information, but they don’t have the power to communicate what they are feeling. This relates to our collaborative final project in the aspect of giving people the power to say what they are feeling. In the first group session in this class, the discussion was solid, but they have improved greatly since then. There are many more people contributing in groups, bouncing off of each others ideas. Another reason why people are communicating more is because we all feel for the subjects and have opinions on them. In the cultivating community group discussion, we also talked about how a person has to experience or feel something to produce language. If you look at this course, we all felt something when reading the horrific encounters described in “Fourtune’s Bones” and “Medical Apartheid”, which gives us a voice to exclaim in group discussion. Lastly, we talked about how awareness of these differences in identities and beliefs leads to change. I know personally this project has shown me how to respect and value what other people have to say. I have heard insightful things in every group discussion that has helped be learn to do it. As you can see, there are several ways in which Cultivating Community can be related to both our journey in this course as well as our final collaborative project.
SOCL 240 + ENGL 101
While I was working on the blog posts in the library I was sitting with one of my good friends, Jordan Raccah a sociology, psychology double major. I was telling her about this class and she told me that she was enrolled in a very similar class. The name of her class is Gender and Science and it’s a 200 level sociology class. The focus of the course is about the patriarchal science community and how white males perpetuate the knowledge that benefits them. They focus on the problem of breaking into the science community if you are a women or a minority. I think it speaks volumes that SUNY Geneseo, a relatively small school, would offer two courses in different disciplines that talk about injustices in the science world. Continue reading “SOCL 240 + ENGL 101”
Slavery in Libya
Although many of us believe that slavery is in the past, slavery is still very prominent in other parts of the world. This is evident through current events. Recently a video was posted of enslaved people being auctioned off in Libya. Many people were shocked and disturbed by the video, as the news swiftly spread on many social media websites.
In the video, men were being treated like animals and were being sold for $400. While researching this current event I began to think about consent and how this current event relates to this course. I immediately linked this event to Fortune’s Bones. Continue reading “Slavery in Libya”
Final Collaborative Project
At the very beginning of the semester Professor McCoy gave us an article about what employer’s look for when they are hiring. One of the most agreed upon learning outcome from employers was “all college student should have education experiences that teach them how to solve problems with people whose views are different from their own” (3 Hart Research Associates). Our final collaborative project is exactly the type of experience that meets this learning outcome. If I am being honest when I first read the syllabus the idea of a paper written by the entire class seemed absurd to me. I had no idea how we were all going to write a paper, let alone agree on what was going to be said. Well I can now attest to the fact that since our paper is almost complete that it is very possible to write a paper as a class and it was also a rewarding experience. I am confident that in a job interview I could bring up this exact project and how it strengthened my ability to work through problems with people of all different backgrounds as well as ideas. This problem also met another learning outcome identified by the Hart Research Associates which is that 70% of employers want students that can analyze and solve complex problems. The problem of medical voluntourism is no doubt very complex, it deals with the white savior complex, consent and inequalities. The fact that Professor McCoy trusted my class to unpack potential solutions to this problem really shows her trust in me and my fellow classmates abilities. The collaborative project has no doubt pushed my limits as a student and I have seen a lot of self-growth. During the first group session I found that it mostly consisted of people spitting out their ideas and the other group members agreeing. While that was great I knew our class could do better. I saw this at our next group session. Instead of people just spitting out their ideas and others agreeing, people began to build off each other’s ideas. Somebody would say their idea and another person would respond with something to add to that idea. A great analogy I have for this is almost like a snowball rolling down a hill picking up more snow as it rolls down. This type of collaboration was so rewarding and it really allowed me to expand my thinking. I was able to look at my own ideas in a new light and it helped teach me how to work in a group more effectively.
What I Learned From ENGL 101
If I am being honest I am the epitome of procrastination right now. I am frantically typing my blog posts but I can’t help but to reflect on how this course honestly changed my outlook on medicine. From a very young age I have always wanted to be a doctor. I absolutely idolized doctors, especially my childhood pediatrician. In all honestly I had no idea of any of the atrocities we learned about in Medical Apartheid had taken place. I remember in one of the first classes Max brought up the Tuskegee Syphilis experiment and a lot of my classmates nodded to acknowledge that they were also familiar with it. I had absolutely no idea what that was. It wasn’t until I started reading Medical Apartheid that I learned about the long list of wrongdoings that medical professionals had committed against minority groups, especially the African American community.
I would like to now discuss a few of the largest things that I have taken away from this course. First, the importance of the both/and. Almost every class Professor McCoy brings up “the both/and” and it’s relevance to whatever we are taking about in class that day. Harriet Washington was one of the best examples and using the both/and. If you want your argument to be legitimate you must acknowledge the other side of the argument and the facts surrounding it. If you spend an entire argument ignoring the counterargument you are invalidating yourself.
The second take away I have gotten from this class is the importance of educating about injustices. I am a prime example of someone who did not know about any of the injustices discussed in Medical Apartheid. When we started discussing potential solutions to medical voluntourism every group had stated in their collaborative paragraph that educating was the best way to do it. The only way to prevent something from happening is by educating on why it’s wrong. This also connects to both/and as I discussed earlier. In order to successfully educate someone you need to keep in mind the both/and. Another important thing to remember when you are trying to educate someone is to avoid talking down to them.
The third takeaway from this class is the ability to effectively collaborate. I have worked on many group projects before but they mostly consisted of one person doing most of the work and the other group members just mindlessly following. In most of these cases I was the member who took control of the group. Looking back, no-one was benefiting from that type of collaboration. I can confidently say that this class has taught me how to effectively collaborate. The key to a strong group is all about balance. You have to be able to contribute your ideas but also have to listen to your other group members so you can build off their ideas. Collaboration is key to being able to solve complex issues and will be useful in any career field.