my foray into medicine and public health- boston healthcare for the homeless

I have always wanted to improve the lives of others-- that is why I ended up deciding for myself that being a physician was my calling. However, over the past year or two, I have come to realise that it I would not be able to reach this vision of the betterment of people's lives solely as a physician. As a physician, I can only help save the world one person at a time. The bigger flaw in my argument, I came to see, was that someone would only come to me for help if they had a problem. I would only be fixing problems once they arise, I would be doing nothing to stop them in the first place.

Dr. Wayne Lamorte enlightened me to this in his Intro to Public Health course. I had registered for the course because I had heard that it was an easy A and I did not have to show up for class; it ended up being the most influential course I have taken thus far in college. It has piqued my interest in public health greatly and I have resolved that I want my career to be a successful marriage of both medicine and public health. I want to heal as well as promote healthful conditions; I want to serve the individual as well as the population.

As a student, I still have much to learn about both fields. That is why I am taking MC802: Community Health Initiatives this semester. My team's project is on SMOKING- we have been tasked with coming up with a product that will reduce the prevalence of smoking amongst the patients at Boston Healthcare for the Homeless. This is not a standard cookie-cutter situation because the traditional smoking cessation and counseling models do not apply to the homeless. The best solution to the problem would be to offer them a roof above their heads, but is not likely to happen. The city of Boston is constrained severely by a tight budget and a lack of resources. The burden of illness that homeless people face makes smoking a far greater health hazard- we have to come up with a way to improve the quit rate and decrease the relapse rate.

This will be an excellent leadership experience for me personally. The course will give me a chance to understand why and how medicine and public health should be integreated; it will offer me great insight into this synergistic relationship. Not only that, it will offer me an excellent preview of my own chosen career path.