Teens Watch Doctors --and Glimpse Future
Jorge Balladares wanted to learn about being a doctor, but he hadn’t counted on viewing the profession’s saddest moments quite so fast.
Jorge is one of 20 Santa Ana High School students taking part in the UCI Summer Outreach Program, designed to take low-income teenagers interested in science and immerse them in a hospital.
The 17-year-old was in the emergency room at UCI Medical Center in Orange when two car accident victims were brought in on stretchers.
“It was a grandma and her grandson,” he said. “They had chest compressions on her. . . . Five minutes later, they said, ‘We can’t do anything for her’ and covered her up with a paper sheet.”
The grandson died the next day, Jorge said.
Witnessing a death has changed the way he looks at his life, although he said it hasn’t changed his desire to be a doctor.
“When I go in a car, I used to not worry about my seat belt. Now, I put it on right away,” he said. My life can change any minute.”
Peggy Harvey-Lee, program administrator and admissions officer for the medical school, said that not sheltering the students is imperative to the program.
“They’re developing a healthy fear and understanding of the real world of medicine,” she said.
But not all the students have had such a gritty experience.
Cesar Reyes, who wanted to be away from the frantic activity of the emergency room, liked his more sedate family practice slot in the program, translating Spanish for doctors and doing light administrative tasks.
“Seeing blood all over the place, it looks easier on TV,” Cesar said. “Here, you get the smell, the odor and everything.”
With paternal zeal, Dr. Jose Sandoval snapped shut the teal smock hanging open on Cesar.
“You’ve got to look sharp on the job,” Sandoval told him.
Nancy Sanchez, 18, stationed at UCI’s clinic in Santa Ana with Cesar and Sandoval, said she now understands how a clinic is run. “They need more doctors who speak Spanish, for sure,” she said.
Cesar said that while he translated for a doctor, a patient confessed that she didn’t really hit her head on a table--her husband had beaten her. “I think she felt more comfortable with me because I spoke Spanish,” Cesar said.
Nancy said her motivation to be a doctor stems from her paternal grandmother, who lives in Mexico.
“She had her own medicine bag and would go around helping to deliver babies,” Nancy said. “Maybe it’s in the blood.”
Stuffing doctors’ mailboxes and fetching equipment, Nancy and Cesar bustled about the clinic. Their smocks were adorned with an official UCI name tag and a gold College of Medicine pin, a uniform that distinguishes program participants from hospital staff.
In preparation for what they would see, the first lecture the students heard five weeks ago was by Jon Wetterholm, chaplain of the UCI Medical Center, who spoke about grief. “You don’t know what the kids are going to be exposed to,” he said.
Students are encouraged to talk about their experiences in a weekly group session, run by UCI staff. The students’ pay is $6.50 an hour. They are required to keep a journal, attend a weekly lecture and shadow one of five UCI physicians, including Sandoval, who volunteered to serve as tutors.
Bill Roberts, a teacher at Santa Ana High who selected the students for the UCI experience, is pleased with the program. “These kids are getting real-life experiences,” he said. “I think it will motivate them to be better students and decide what to do in life.”
Dr. Ralph Purdy, associate dean of the medical school, said his goal is to expand the program to other high schools, particularly those with a high Latino and African American population, if the funding materializes. UCI gave Purdy a $30,000 grant to pay for this summer’s program, but funding is uncertain for next year.
Dr. Alberto Manetta, a senior associate dean at the medical school who came up with the project, said universities must target high school students with programs like this one if they want to increase the number of minorities who become doctors.
Sandoval said that in a little over a month, he has noticed changes in the students.
“The kids were so shy when we first got them. I think they’ve already matured,” he said. Sandoval doesn’t have children of his own and views his work with students as his legacy.
“I have my flock here at the hospital,” he said.
As the son of migrant farm workers from Mexico, he fought poverty and low expectations to become a physician and professor at UCI. “The barriers that I’ve had to overcome are very similar to these kids’,” he said.
Manetta said Sandoval’s role-modeling is the program’s real purpose: “These students sometimes can’t visualize themselves succeeding in an academic environment. In this program, we give them the example of people who have succeeded.”
“He’s good guidance for us,” Cesar said. “He knows how to get us to stick with the work. . . . And it’s rare that you get to see a Mexican doctor.”
Despite some “gross” moments, Cesar said, working at the clinic has reinforced his desire to become a doctor. “I think it would be better to have more Mexican doctors so they could help their own community,” he said.
The program ends this week.
Nancy said her confidence and motivation have surged. “I think medical school will be difficult,” she said, flipping back a shock of dark hair. “But I can do it.”
