I’m a primary care paediatrician in a clinic in south-east Washington, D.C., that provides health care to a largely poor, urban, and under-served community. On Monday mornings, I look forward to going to work. I’m excited to see my patients – the babies, children, teens, and families I’ve watched grow up – and face the challenge of figuring out how best to help. I started working in this community during my residency training almost twelve years ago.
As much as I love my work, however, my days are stressful and hectic and there is never, ever enough time. I start the day by looking at my schedule, which is typically booked full with patients scheduled every fifteen minutes, and the anxiety begins. My 8:30 a.m. appointment shows up at 8:44.
By the time this family checks in and is in a room, it is well after 9:00, and my later appointments have started to arrive. I feel the pressure of people waiting, but when I go into that first room, I can’t bring myself to rush this parent who’s worried about her child.
Meanwhile, I’m trying to find out what the results of the emergency room tests were. What were the results of the tests we ordered last time? What did the specialist do?
If all of my scheduled patients show up, I spend the morning rushing from room to room and my lunch break becomes fifteen minutes.
The couple of seconds I save probably don’t make a real difference to a waiting family, but it’s all I can do. I apologize frequently to families for running late. Some families are forgiving; some aren’t. I feel bad that my patients have to wait.
By the end of the day, I’m physically and emotionally exhausted. Some observers might make the obvious suggestion – stop scheduling appointments every fifteen minutes. But in the U.S. health care system, the only way to make more is to do more. In my clinic, those extra visits pay for important patient services.
They also pay the salaries of the staff members who are needed to keep the clinic open five days a week.,
,(A)According to reports, our patients are quite satisfied with our services.,
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,(B)I sit down, quiet my anxiety, and listen to what the parent has to say.,
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,(C)These include a care manager, social work, and mental health and dental care.,
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,(D)I feel even worse when they’re upset with me.,
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,(E)On the contrary, I’ve never thought of quitting my job.,
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,(F)If no one else is in the hallway after I leave a room, I run.,
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,(G)I’ve stayed here ever since.,
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,(H)It is just within our fifteen-minute late policy.,
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,(I)I ask these questions, knowing that time is ticking.,
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,(J)There is a special room for such young patients.,
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Part 2: From the Life of Mae Jemison (6 points)
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,,(a)Mae Carol Jemison was born on October 17, 1956, in Decatur, Alabama, the youngest child of Charlie Jemison, a roofer and carpenter, and Dorothy (Green) Jemison, an elementary school teacher. Her parents were supportive and encouraged all of their children’s talents and abilities. The family moved to Chicago, Illinois, when Jemison was three, to take advantage of better educational opportunities there.,
,,(b)Throughout her early school years, Jemison spent many hours in her school library reading about all the subjects related to science, especially astronomy. From a young age she was interested in space travel. During her time at Morgan Park High School, however, she became interested in pursuing a career in engineering. When she graduated in 1973 as an honor student, she entered Stanford University on a National Achievement Scholarship.,
,,(c)Jemison pursued a double major in chemical engineering and Afro-American Studies at Stanford, and in 1977 she received a bachelor’s degree for these. Just as she had been in high school, Jemison was very involved in outside activities, including dance and theater productions, and she served as head of the Black Student Union. Upon graduation she entered Cornell University Medical College to work toward a medical degree.,
,,(d)During her years at Cornell, Jemison found time to expand her horizons by visiting and studying in Cuba and Kenya and working at a Cambodian refugee camp in Thailand. In 1981, she received her on-the-job training at Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center and later established a general practice. For the next two and a half years, she was the area Peace Corps medical officer for Sierra Leone and Liberia, where she also taught and did medical research.,
,,(e)After her return to the United States in 1985, Jemison made a career change and decided to follow a dream she had had for a long time. In October of that year she applied for admission to NASA’s astronaut training program. The selection process was delayed after the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in January 1986, but when she reapplied a year later, Jemison was one of fifteen candidates chosen from a field of about two thousand. She became the first African American woman ever admitted into the astronaut training program.,
Part 3: My Crazy Family Gap Year (7 points)
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,We lived in Cornwall in a beautiful barn conversion with stunning valley views and only a short drive to the glorious Atlantic Coast: my wife Nicki, with a beautician’s business in Wadebridge, 15-year-old Michael, addicted to Xbox games, Emmaline, 13, and me, John, full-time artist.
Wanting to see the world had been tempting me for years. In the end we decided to just do it. The kids could be schooled as we travelled and the experiences they’d get would be possibly life-changing.
Having sold everything to fund the trip we had just three weeks to prepare, decide where to go and buy our round-the-world tickets: we opted for Japan, south-east Asia, Australia, New Zealand, a stop in the Cook Islands and finally the United States. The furthest we’d ever been prior to this was Bulgaria.
We flew to Tokyo the day after Boxing Day, and stayed with a family in rural Japan, eating sushi with them each day and trying to communicate with gesticulations and props. Dressed in a traditional kimono and samurai clothing, we visited Buddhist and Shinto temples on New Year’s Day.
We went on to learn to dive in Thailand, helped out at a charitable school in Cambodia, camped in the Australian outback and skied in August in New Zealand. But constantly moving on every few days can be exhausting, especially for kids, so sometimes we’d just relax and watch DVDs in a rented apartment. The experiences have been so many and varied, and have been highly rewarding for the whole family. We’ll have plenty of stories to “entertain” our friends and relatives at Christmas when we return in December.,