Volunteering in the Community - Essay Example

Community Volunteering When I first learned of the opportunity to volunteer to serve the Hamad General Hospital community in Doha, I felt somewhat overwhelmed and challenged at the same time. Being allowed this rare opportunity to assist one of the premier medical care center facilities in Doha is not something that should be taken lightly. The chance to help those in need the most in all aspects of their medical, emotional, and spiritual lives exists for those who are up to the challenge of volunteering their time at the hospital. I felt that I was at a point in my life where I could meet the challenges of this volunteer activitiy and learn a great deal about myself, my calling in the medical field, patient care, and how Hamad General has evolved to become the leading medical institution in Qatar. Stepping into the halls of Hamad General on that first day gripped me with a sense of awe and wonder at the state of the art facility. At par, if not far advanced, of its western counterparts, I knew that the challenging world I had chosen to become a part of was not just going to challenge me as a person, but help me to become a better version of myself. I knew that this was the place I had to be. I was in the right place, at the right time. Hamad General Hospital is one of the health care facilities that resulted from the Emiri decree issued in 1979. The 603 bed facility has certainly come a long way from its humble beginnings are a general hospital. These days, the facility has evolved into offering both general and complex medical assistance covering the areas of trauma, emergency medicine, pediatrics, critical care, specialized surgery, specialized medicine, laboratory medicine, and radiology services. The hospital is certainly expanding its services and access to the most modern health diagnostic tools in response to the ever growing population of the city. Most notable of its objectives at the moment is the development of a Diabetes Center in order to address the large diabetic population of Qatar. I spent my time as a volunteer at the hospital acclimatizing and familiarizing myself with the various trauma departments and patients. I have a certain specific interest in this field of medical science and my exposure to that area of the hospital was quite beneficial towards increasing my knowledge in trauma care. It was in this department where I learned that being a volunteer is not as simple as it sounds. With the main purpose of the trauma department being to help patients become productive members of society again, I found that trauma is not something that is not easily overcome by most people. However, with the help of Hamad Hospital, they did not need to try and recover alone. The main objective of the hospital was to ensure that the traumatized patients, whether it be a psychological or physical trauma, always had someone to turn to in helping them return to their normal activities. The hospital staff, knowing that the task ahead of us would not be easy to do, often turned to technology and gadgets in order to help connect with the patients and offer them a safe outlet where they could release their emotions and frustrations without adversely affecting themselves or those around them. One of the things that I sensed while working as a volunteer there was the sincerity of the people who comprise the medical staff in their desire to help better their patients lives. I was not surprised that the medical staff was truly sincere about their work and I did my best to help them during my volunteer time at the hospital. I too tried to embody their compassionate service which has always been the center of the Hamad General Hospital work ethic. Their idea is that the best medical care can only be offered to the people of Doha and Qatar through a dedication to compassionate patient care through the practice of courtesy and competence in all aspects of patient treatment. During my time as a volunteer, I came to observe the emotional connection that is created between the trauma care patient and his or her therapist. I was given room as a volunteer to participate in the rehabilitation of the patient thanks to the chances that were given to me to assist the physical and occupational therapists during their patient sessions. It is not enough to say that the patients who came to us truly wanted our help, they actually looked forward to it. The rehabilitiation programs that they underwent at the hospital helped heal, not only their physical or emotional illnesses, but also healed their wounded souls. By showing them that we were not merely going through the motions of performing our tasks, we managed to give them the kind of support that they needed in order to push harder to achieve the goals of their therapy sessions. Creating a sense of friendship and familiarity with them allowed us to get deeper into the reasons as to why they may not be doing well in their sessions and in the process, we also discover ways and means of helping them get over the reasons they are being blocked from progressing in their therapy sessions. My job as a volunteer was not something that was ignored by the medical staff. In fact, I ws never made to fell like I was a bother or a dispensable part of the patient healing process. Rather, the medical staff ensured that I always felt that I was a productive part of the medical team. The sense of volunteerism is quite alive and active at Hamad Hospital. The medical staff made sure that they took care of the medical treatment of the patient. All of the professional aspects of their treatment were answered for and proved to be quite beneficial to the patient. The volunteers on the other hand, were tasked with helping the patients get rehabiliated for eventual social integration. I am quite pleased to say that I was an active part of this aspect of patient care. By allowing the volunters to participate in the social rehabilitation of the patient, we were given a chance to prove that volunteering activities can have a highly positive impact upon the community at large. While most people would think that volunteering has no place in a the medical setting because of the highly specialized nature of the job, the truth is that this highly precise medical treatment needs volunteers the most because there are some aspects of medical care that cannot be treated with medicines and therapies alone. There are also times when a volunteer can touch upon aspects of patient care that are taken for granted. Elements such as simply being a friendly face, a listening ear, or a shoulder to cry on during trying times are aspects of patient care that are integral to the treatment, but cannot be provided fully by the medical team due to the brisk pace of their jobs and its requirements. As a volunteer, I found that I was able to help my local and central community grow because of the life experiences that I gained from volunteering my time at the hospital. I became a better person who knew how to treat others, regardless of how different they are from me. It was a learning experience for me in the sense that I learned to look at a person far beyond his physical aspects, looking at who the person truly is beyond the superficial coverings. Taking this mindset back to the community with me has helped improve overall relations for me with other members of my community. It is because of the time that I spent as a volunteer at Hamad that I can safely attest to the ability of the hospital to acheve all of its aims and objectives. Having seen and participated in various activities at the hospital, I know that Hamad has not only achieved its current aims and objectives through the continued development of their medical facilities, equipment, and medical staff training, but they will surpass it and continue to aim even higher in terms of delivering world-class, compassionate, and cutting edge medical treatment. Looking back on my volunteer experience, I have come to realize that I came to the program as a child and emerged from it as an adult. I learned how to interact with the youngest and oldest of patients, without ever taking their age into consideration. I gained valuable employment skills thanks to the trust of the medical staff. Allowing me to work with the patients who were learning to use technology and gadgets to help ease them into social transition opened the door for me to understand that technology is not something that has to be feared, but embraced by the most traumatized people if they are to get over their traumatic life episodes. I now know that understand the difficulties that trauma patients face as they try to return to their normal lives. At a certain point, they dont really know what is normal for them anymore and by simply being there to help them figure out their place in an ever changing society, I offered them to best kind of help of all, being a friend who is patient enough to help them traverse the fearful waters of social return. While it may be difficult to connect with a patient at first, it should be taken as a challenge instead of a hinderance to my job. Finding ways of connecting with them is the biggest challenge that I faced and I know that I will continue to face similar challenges in the future. Thanks to my exposure at Hamad, I believe that I have a better foundation now should similar instances arise during my future employment elsewhere. In conclusion, I believe that the sense of volunteerism that is being promoted at Hamad General Hospital is something that should be emulated across all medical facilities. Their compassionate care, when combined with a sense of community through volunteerism actually helps to facilitate the healing process of their patients. By allowing volunteers to participate in the non-medical care of the patient, they have created a new niche in patient treatment that has yet to be fully utilized or understood by the rest of the world. Volunteering is an activity that does not appeal to most people because of the difficulty that it often entails. Hamad General Hospital has removed the intricacies of volunteering by making it a more enjoyable and learning activity for all those concerned. I can only imagine how much further the hospital will be able ot take their excellent volunteer program in the future as their continue to enhance and update their patient care facilities and rehabilitation programs. With volunteer programs such as theirs, the sense of volunteerism will be further promoted in communities as the hospital volunteers go back to their own social circles with a new perspective on life and social interactions. I for one will say that if given another chance to volunteer at the hospital, I will freely and gladly volunteer my time once again. Read More