We started the day at Church Health, which had a similar mission to Christ Community Health Services in that they serve uninsured populations. Church Health was in a beautiful building that was abandoned for years after Sears left but has now been restored and is filled with restaurants and other offices. Church Health really focus on the model for healthy living, including friends and family, faith life, medical, movement, work, emotional, and nutrition. I thought this was really interesting because in my public health class we talk a lot about how a healthy life needs so much more than just health care. We saw a cooking class going on that was teaching people about healthy cooking, a fitness center partnered with the YMCA, and the medical facilities. Overall, Church Health made me think about how typical hospitals should try to include more aspects of overall wellness.
Next, we headed to the main event of the week, St. Jude’s. We were first greeted by our host with the most genuine Southern hospitality that I have ever witnessed. We were given gift bags and then were off to a tour of the facility. The hospital is breathtaking and often decorated with art by patients. One exhibit, the ABC’s of cancer, I found especially powerful because it clearly told the story of how kids interact with their disease. I was also shocked with the size of the research areas because it showed that doing groundbreaking research is one of the main goals of the hospital. After the tour, we had the life-changing experience of having a panel with 3 University of Michigan graduates: the CEO, VP Clinical Operations, and a Radiation/Oncology chair of the proton-beam therapy. They told us about their path to St. Jude’s and what they would tell their undergraduate self. We were able to ask a few questions, but clearly these were busy people so we couldn’t talk for long. However the 45 minute panel was still incredibly valuable in thinking about my future, and the alumni were so excited to talk to us and open to more questions through e-mail. Lastly, we heard from the two people starting the St. Jude graduate school. The school was unlike anything I have heard about before. It sounds like a really valuable program that is well funded and has a personalized research approach, so I think many members of our group were very interested in applying.
We ended the day with a Serve 901 event, where we heard from a teacher and a photographer in Memphis and their work with social justice causes.
