Personal Perspective: Favorite MEMOry by Ben (UCI)

As a part of our blog, we open up entries to 7G goers so that they can offer their insight of their view on the M.E.M.O. 7G mission trip. We call these entries, "Personal Perspective," and list the name of the 7G goer. These are their stories on this journey. 

Pictures may speak a thousand words, but experience is a story of a lifetime. I had the opportunity to perform different roles for clinic days: from triage and intake to crowd control and EKG, with pharmacy and ultrasound sprinkled in between. Over the course of the four days, I got to interact with hundreds of patients. Each one had a smile on their face and words of gratitude for the treatment they received.

The typical scene of the hallway on a clinic day.

As part of crowd control for day 2 of the clinics, Ben (UCI) helps guide the patient to her next station.

Many of these people had never seen a doctor before and were in dire need of various medical treatment. To them, we were a beacon of hope. Just being in scrubs was enough for them to create a perception of us not as college students or simple volunteers but as medical professionals. As I worked in triage and EKG, the 7G team would be addressed by the patients as though we were doctors, describing their ailments and requesting medicine. To me, it was flattering and really cemented by drive to become a physician.

The EKG machine. Ben was part of the EKG/Ultrasound team for day 3 and 4 of medical clinics.

Working along side Ultrasound, Ben (UCI) prepares the electrodes to put on the patient for EKG, working with Phoebe and Tristan.

Ben (UCI) works with Phoebe and Tristan to make sure that EKG runs smoothly and efficiently.

These clinic days were one of the best experiences to have as I prepare for medical school. It is these MEMOries and experiences that will help drive me forward so that one day, I will return on a future medical mission trip, not as a student but as a medical professional.

Written by Ben Nguyen (UCI). Edited by Johnson. Photos taken by David.