This past summer I volunteered in the Maimonides Medical Center Emergency Department. As a New York high school student, finding opportunities for hands-on clinical exposure is exceedingly difficult. 

Through the Maimonides Health Scholars Program, I was able to assist in an emergency room in the heart of Brooklyn, taking vitals, delivering blood cultures, and providing food, water, blankets, and pillows to patients in need. 

While tripping over stretchers and blood pressure cuffs, I learned the ins and outs of what it means to work in emergency medicine. 

Prior to my time volunteering, I was under the impression that the ER would feel like a factory: an efficient system of treating patients, providing them with what they need as quickly as possible, and hurrying them out of the ER. I was mistaken. On my first day, I immediately noticed the true care and empathy that the staff showed the patients. I especially learned from the Patient Care Technicians (PCTs), who, while the physicians were running between patients, were able to focus on the less pressing yet equally crucial needs of the patients.​​ They are true heroes.

The PCTs not only provided continuous assistance to those in the ER but also served as mentors for the Health Scholars. As they taught us to accurately measure oxygen saturation and smoothly maneuver the hospital beds, they embodied the values that should be at the forefront of healthcare. We were then able to apply these lessons to our own volunteering. 

While transporting a 99-year-old man who was suffering from respiratory issues to the CT Scan, I noticed that his kippah had fallen off his head. I saw the troubled expression on his wrinkled face and understood that it was my duty to bring him to ease. Although it was a tiny act compared to those of the medical professionals who surrounded me, as soon as I returned the kippah to his head, the man’s tube-covered face lit up with joy, and he cracked the most thankful and genuine smile. With minimal medical training, actions like this were my unique way to contribute to the lives of others. 

The ER provided me with several meaningful moments, and the incredible experience that I gained allowed me to learn first-hand about the field while enjoying the process.