In addition to language barriers discussed in Part One of this post, refugees typically have low health literacy. The combination of low health literacy and English not being their first language can make for an incredibly hard scenario to navigate in the patient encounter. We use visual aids frequently, and repetition when we are talking about the treatment plan through our translators. Continue reading The Challenges of Cross Cultural Medicine: Part Two
If you are a student studying to be in the healthcare field or a current healthcare provider with the goal to work in a cross-cultural setting, this post is for you. Continue reading The Challenges of Cross Cultural Medicine: Part One
I am a Primary Care Physician Assistant to the Refugee Community. I am both proud and humbled that this is the path I am on. I used to think primary care might be boring or monotonous but my experience has shown me that it is quite the opposite. Partly, this is because our unique population comes with very interesting challenges. Another reason is that primary care clinicians see anything and everything! While, some days (especially cold & flu season) it feels monotonous with dozens of colds, other days we see challenging, crazy, interesting, or rare cases. Most days, we are managing chronic conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, & chronic lung diseases — sometimes with visible success but much of the time very slow progress or none at all. The fact that Primary care sees all ages and all diseases makes it especially challenging. The biggest challenges by far in our particular practice, are the language and cultural barriers we face on a daily basis.
Why did I choose to become a Physician Assistant? This is a question I was asked often in PA school. The PA career is on the rise, becoming increasingly popular with young women like myself. However, there are still many people who do not know about it and with this post (and blog) one of my goals is to give a glimpse into the PA career and encourage those interested in medicine to consider this awesome option. So back to the question… Why a PA?
Continue reading 7 Reasons I Chose to become a Physician Assistant
