Edwin Carpio ’21

Mentoring in Medicine, Bronx, NY

I have always looked up to doctors. While they might not be able to fly or shoot webs out of their hands, the ability and knowledge to treat patients is a super power in itself. This summer I had the opportunity to join the Mentoring in Medicine program, a non-profit organization focused on education, exposure, and mentorship within the medical field. The journey to becoming a physician requires full commitment and for a person to be one hundred percent invested in spending many years going through rigorous classes and training. Mentoring in Medicine allowed me to confirm my ambition and increase my motivation towards applying to medical school and ultimately accomplishing my goal. A big portion of my contribution to the Mentoring in Medicine was my involvement in the Emergency Department Clinical Exposure, Research and Mentoring Program. I worked alongside doctors, physician assistants, and charge nurses in the emergency room. I had the ability to observe all type of patients from all walks of life. I saw everything from a case of the common cold to a full-on heart attack. Dog bites, eye infections, and broken bones were sprinkled here and there. It was like a dream come true.

In the emergency room, “time is tissue” which refers to the severity of a heart attack. There was never a dull moment in one of the busiest places in all of New York City. According to their website, “The Emergency Department at Montefiore Medical Center is one of the top five busiest in the United States and the most-visited in the state of New York.” The constant flow of patients and ambulances meant that I had to clean, make, and move stretchers at a rapid pace. The stretchers were heavy and sometimes even dangerous to work with, so I had to be hyper-aware of what I was doing at all times. I also had to get used to working for long hours on my feet with only small breaks for water at times. (Most emergency medicine doctors and surgeons alike have long shifts and have to make sacrifices in their personal lives.) Along with managing all of the stretchers in the emergency room, I had to make sure the Triage Nurses and patients always had pillows, fully stocked linen cabinets, and food. A couple of instances that really stood out to me are the times when patients were in desperate pain and I was able to put a smile on their face just by giving them a pillow or a sandwich. The happiness of patients is really what medicine is all about. Patients don’t choose to spend a whole day getting CT scans, MRI’s, X-Rays, etc., rather they come to the emergency room out of pure necessity. There is an incredible amount of trust that patients place in the hands of medical professionals. Most strangers take a decent amount of time to get acclimated to a new person but in an emergency room there is no time for that. It is an acquired skill to gain trust immediately.

I never really noticed all of the little moving parts of a hospital until I started working in a 24/7 emergency room. Even the temperature of the emergency room can have a big impact on patient satisfaction which is just as important as patient care. A doctor can cure the most terrible disease but with a bad attitude the patient will not want to form a relationship with the doctor and never come back.

I very much enjoyed the patient interaction and physically helping the paramedics and patients, however, it was my conversations with the Montefiore medical professionals that had the most impact on me. My point person during my time with Mentoring in Medicine was Emergency Medicine Physician, Dr. Holden. Serving as the founder and director of the MIM program she also manages several nationwide programs involving the health professions. Dr. Holden has put many of my ambitions in perspective. Minority groups are underrepresented in the medical field so for many hopeful students, like myself, becoming a doctor can be nearly impossible if not guided properly or given access to the necessary preparations such as MCAT courses, recommendation letters, and strategic planning. To that end, being a part of the Mentoring in Medicine family has given me insight on how I can keep moving forward despite common obstacles.

All that I have learned and experienced can be incredibly beneficial for a student that is still in high school or on a pre-med track Williams. Dr. Holden gave me the opportunity to teach incoming high school students about basic biology and biological systems. The classroom was a fantastic experience because I was able to give advice on how to navigate high school and college. They had so many questions and the level of engagement was incredible. Their enthusiasm to learn and high ambitions to start high school reignited a fire inside me to give these two last years at Williams everything I have and more.

Not everyone has the opportunity to learn first-hand from a doctor on how to perform an eye flush, an abscess drain, or how to dress a wound. Hence, I am incredibly thankful to the Class of 1974 for supporting me through the early mornings and late nights at Montefiore Medical Center. This opportunity to grow as a student, as an employee, and as a person would not have been possible at all without their help. I am also grateful for the guidance that the ’68 Center for Career Exploration has given me; and to the folks at Mentoring in Medicine for making me a part of the team of driven students interested in health professions.