Jin Kyung Kim
Virginia Commonwealth School of Medicine
As a third year medical student waiting for the transition from pre-clinical didactic learning to hands-on clinical learning, I was faced with an unexpected halt in my long awaited clinical training with the onset of COVID-19. I wondered what best I could do as a student without any licensure in medicine as I read about the brave front-line healthcare workers I aspire to be. One of the ways I chose to utilize this uncertain time in-between online electives is to enlist myself as a volunteer for the Virginia Medical Reserve Corps. My application was marked as a “non-medical volunteer” as a student without a medical license and I expected to help with administrative items. When I showed up for my first assignment as a language interpreter for Korean at a local county COVID-19 drive-thru screening site, I was fitted in extensive personal protective equipment and the reality of this pandemic suddenly hit me. The following poem in iambic pentameter with rhyme scheme is a reflection of my experience as a medical student yearning to be of help during this pandemic from the sidelines at a COVID-19 screening site.
Some wore medical grade clean in all white
Some wore fashion studded with polka dots
Some wore a bandana wrapped around tight
Some wore a piece of an old shirt in knots
Some born in the sixties like my own mom
Some leaned as thin as their own walking cane
Some young students who should have been at prom
Some in strollers with their blue toy airplane
Some did not need me to translate the form
Some asked me for my language assistance
Some approached me close I could feel their warmth
Some made my voice grow hoarse from a distance
Some told me they have never been sick, ever
Some said they lost their sense of taste and smell
Some revealed shortness of breath and fever
Some scrolled through the news and felt more unwell
We all stood under the Virginia sun:
A line of over a thousand patients,
Tables of nurses faced them one-on-one,
Volunteers united under patience
I stood drenched in sweat writing intake forms,
In N95, gown, gloves, and face shield,
Hoping I made no mistakes on the forms,
My own fears of infection well concealed
I stood wondering and dripping with sweat
When will I finally start my third year?
As a student without a license yet,
Am I at all making a difference here?