Frank is a 24 year old first year medical student at New York University. He took a year off after graduating to work in a chemistry lab studying the reactions of certain pharmaceutical drugs. He’s from Long Island and grew up in an upper middle class family. His parents are both well-educated and encouraged Frank to go into medicine from an early age. Because his parents are both lawyers, Frank doesn’t need to make an income in medical school or take out any loans. He is interested in learning and spends a lot of time at the library studying for school. He also spends his free time riding his bicycle around the city to stay fit and healthy. He is a natural learner and is great at taking tests, but finds difficulty with person to person interaction, especially in uncomfortable situations. He doesn’t want to be ignorant to others, but sometimes he doesn’t know how to react to situations that he has no context and understanding of personally. He thinks that his natural ability and intellect in the classroom makes up for his difficulty with interaction, so he’s not too worried that it will affect him as a doctor.
Takeaway: Frank would appreciate my thesis because it would give him more of an understanding about why patient interaction is important and why putting effort in to understand a patient’s situation and context is so crucial for diagnosis and treatment. This may be an uncomfortable experience for Frank, but it will be eye opening and hopefully get him to reconsider his approach to understanding medicine. Through this exercise, he will hopefully understand that listening to a story, communicating it to a team of medical professionals, and trying to understand contextual clues is equally important as the high test grades he strives for.
Sophia is a 23 year old first year medical student at New York University. She is an overachiever and in the top of her cohort. She has significant scholarships, but still had to take out a few loans. Her family is helping her as much as possible. She’s from a working class immigrant family from Mexico and is very aware of the socioeconomic and cultural divide in her classes at school and often feels frustrated at the lack of representation of minority groups. She’s interested in participating in Doctor’s Without Borders or equivalent programs after she graduates from medical school. Sophia is a skilled conversationalist and can connect well with other people. Medical tests are difficult for her, but because she studies so much, she often does well.
Takeaway: Sophia knows all about context and perspective, so this experience will be nothing new for her. The narratives told are similar to those of her siblings and peers she grew up with. What Sophia will appreciate about this thesis project is that it will facilitate more of a conversation between her and her peers who did not come from a similar background.
Tyler is a 25 year old first year medical student at New York University. Tyler thinks of his home base as California, but has spent much of his life traveling the world and living in other cultures. His father is an international businessman with a very strong influence, so Tyler often tagged along on trips while he was growing up. Tyler graduated with a B.A. in Political Science from New York University, where his father went as well. After graduation, he took two years off to travel the world and meditate before applying to a medical school that his father donated substantial amounts of money to. While Tyler is considered smart, he isn’t the caliber of student that his peers are and often relies on his father’s influence to get by. He is a skilled networker.
Takeaway: Tyler has no clue about perspective and context, so he might find this exercise somewhat frustrating. Hopefully, Tyler will be able to understand that the patients he is going to come into contact with have rich and complex stories. After participating in this class exercise, Tyler is going to reflect about his practice and contribution as a future medical provider.
Cat Schmitz 