Bethany House Services

Megan Midkiff, Summer 2013

Upon entering in medical school, I was completely unsure of what specialty of medicine I wanted to go into (and still am, to some extent). I simply knew one thing: I wanted a lot of patient interaction. My summer internship through Urban Health Project at Bethany House offered just that. Bethany House is part of the larger organization Bethany House Services which includes several different programs as well as the Bethany House emergency shelter. Bethany House is able to house up to thirty homeless women and children, providing basic necessities such as prepared dinners and additional food in a self-service kitchen, laundry services, transportation assistance, and life skills classes. In addition, the guests of the shelter meet with case managers to develop plans for gaining employment if needed as well as housing.

My daily work varied from day to day depending on what was going on at the shelter. Generally, I assisted the social service workers doing everything from answering the phone to gathering linens and toiletries for the new guests. I was lucky enough to get to chaperone field trips to Kings Island, the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, and Winton Woods. My hours were very flexible; on some days I would work a later shift in order to stay for dinner at the shelter and play with the kids while their moms were in life skills classes afterwards. I also helped with the administrative side of Bethany House Services, organizing material safety data sheets and logging volunteer hours in Excel.

I had never worked so extensively in an environment like Bethany, and it truly impacted me for the better. I was able to interact and form relationships with not only the women and children staying in the shelter but also with the staff. I will admit I was slightly out of my comfort zone the first week or so, but by the end of the summer, the shelter feels like a second home to me. Although my work was not as medically relevant as some of the other UHP sites, I feel it was extremely applicable to my future career as a physician. It is important for a physician in any field to be able to empathize with their patients and make them feel as comfortable as possible. It is in this way that a physician will form a trusting relationship with his or her patient and therefore be able to offer the highest quality of healthcare possible.