Off the Streets® — Cincinnati Union Bethel

Hillary Purcell, Summer 2018

My summer working at Off The Streets allowed me to get first-hand experience working with victims of sex trafficking and substance use disorders, and helped me better understand the challenges facing these populations and the organizations that seek to serve them. My responsibilities consisted of three main parts. First, I spent most on my time each week assisting the OTS staff with organization's daily operations. This included driving clients and staff to appointments, helping with filing and paperwork, picking up prescriptions and managing clients' medication regimens. These duties gave me a new perspective on the many bureaucratic obstacles that stand between OTS's clients and their healthcare goals. For example, many of the clients lack easy access to transportation, which means that if none of the staff is available to drive them to an appointment they must take significant time and energy to navigate the bus system. Additionally, I saw how clerical errors in prescribing medications can lead to pain and frustration for clients who aren't able to receive their correct prescriptions on time. These experiences will stay with me in my future career and will help me better understand the needs of my patients.

The second component of my internship involved leading a biweekly group class on healthy coping mechanisms. Many of OTS's clients lack the skills to effectively cope with stress without resorting to substance use, and so the staff at OTS asked me to lead three group sessions focused on healthy ways to deal with stress and negative emotions. These sessions helped me develop my leadership skills and allowed me to empathize with the many obstacles the OTS clients face as they struggle to rebuild their lives.

Finally, my internship also included a research component, in which I conducted semi-structured interviews with the OTS clients about their family relationships and the barriers keeping them from reuniting with their families. I used the data collected during these interviews to make a series of recommendations as to how OTS could better facilitate healthy family relationships among their clients. This project allowed me to gain in-depth insight into the personal lives and histories of the women at Off The Streets, and helped me better understand their complex feelings about and wishes for their family relationships.

My summer at Off The Streets gave me a unique opportunity to engage with an underserved population and better understand the challenges they face in navigating the healthcare system. The lessons I've learned from the OTS clients and staff will stay with me for a lifetime, and will allow me to become a more empathetic and effective physician.