Westminster’s teen interns provide free healthcare
Every other Wednesday, high schoolers across Ventura County intern at the Thousand Oaks location of Westminster Free Clinic, a nonprofit medical care facility that provides free healthcare to uninsured and working families. Not only does the clinic support local communities, but it also exposes students to the medical environment and careers in the healthcare field.
Natalia Patterson, senior, appreciates how the clinic allows its volunteers to receive hands-on experience while working directly with doctors and patients. “Westminster is different from other volunteer programs because essentially you get to be the doctor up to a certain extent. I’ve never heard of any other programs that allow their students to get so involved, because preceptors and preceptees get to collect patient medical history and practice presenting that information in front of licensed professionals,” Patterson said.
Patterson is starting her third year volunteering at the clinic and currently holds the position of one of the five student managers on her shift after being chosen by the other interns. “As a student manager, I rotate between working [at] the front desk and the back desk. At the front desk, I work on checking patients in and assigning patients to students. And then at the back desk, I work on assigning patients to doctors and ensuring that they get there in a timely fashion. I also help oversee the setup and tear-down process and make sure students stay on task so we can efficiently extend our care to our patients,” Patterson said.
Westminster has played a big role in Patterson’s high school journey as it introduced her to many of her closest companions. “[One of the things I enjoy most about volunteering there] is the friendships that I’ve made; they are probably some of the best friendships I’ve ever had. Since this program is long-term, and I’ve been there for two years, I’ve become such close friends with the people I work with, and I’m definitely gonna keep up those friendships for a long time,” Patterson said.
Like Patterson, Sahara Bajwa, senior, is also a student manager and often meets and communicates with people of different backgrounds and cultures since the clinic takes anyone in for medical care, insured or not. “Knowing Spanish is so helpful. These people that come to us don’t have insurance, and unfortunately, most of the population that’s underserved is [the] Spanish speaking population, so, while we do have translators, it’s easier to actually talk to a patient without having to go through the busy clinic, find a translator, bring them back, [and] tell them what the patient is saying,” Bajwa said.
One of the most valuable things that Bajwa has learned from her time at Westminster is sympathy, even on her hardest shifts. “In clinic, we normally see numbers on a page for a person or a patient based on their blood results or lab results, so it’s nice to just remember [to] have some compassion [and that] there’s a person behind these results,” Bajwa said.
One element that sets the Westminster program apart from other hospitals is its rigorous application process. Roughly 150 students apply every year; however, only around 50 get accepted each session. “I thought of it as a job interview. Everyone gets their application in, you have [a] mandatory tour [of] one of the clinic sites, and then you are sat down for a panel interview. So normally, that’s with the current managers at the clinic, which are other students, [who] are seniors, and then a few supervisors as well,” Bajwa said.
Joshua Kim, senior, learns to plan ahead in order to manage his time on Wednesdays. “Clinic is every other week, unless you end up subbing for someone. And normally, you arrive at around [3:30 p.m.] and you leave around 10 p.m., so it is kind of a long schedule. Going to the clinic often leads to a lot of late nights where you’re staying up studying, but it’s really worth it. You have to kind of like get through that one day, and then after that it’s normal, like playing a game of catch-up for the rest of the week,” Kim said.
Kim aspires to major in biology or public health and become a doctor in medicine after he graduates from high school. “I want to work in the healthcare field, and I would credit that to Westminster because their way of putting you directly with the patient, face to face, and having you guide them through the clinic really sparks a passion that I would want to pursue in future education and also in my career,” Kim said.
Westminster Free Clinic offers high school interns a one-of-a-kind experience as they are able to volunteer their time to support communities in need and experience the joy of having an impact on patients’ days. “I love helping the people there and seeing them get better because every couple of weeks, I see them come back and they just look happier and they look like they’re doing better physically, and I think it’s pretty cool to have such a big role in making someone feel better and making their lives easier,” Patterson said.
