GHHS Celebrates Solidarity for Compassionate Care Week
The Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) celebrated Solidarity for Compassionate Care Week in February.
Better known as Solidarity Week, the annual event observed by GHHS chapters nationwide, celebrates dedication to patient-centered compassionate care by GHHS members, medical schools and patient care institutions. While each chapter chooses to carry the week out in its own way, the NYMC GHHS celebrated with a three-pronged approach this year.
Tell Me More
In the past, the “Tell Me More” campaign encouraged students to take an extra five minutes speaking with each patient to learn more about them personally. This year the GHHS put a new spin on the program with GHHS members themselves composing a series of touching compassionate care stories, which were released to the student body each day of the week.
Give Thanks
Medical students across clinical affiliated sites worked together to write thank you cards, organize visual displays and distribute sweets and other goodies to show their appreciation for those who teach and exemplify compassionate care on a daily basis. “We are impacted by not only the power of patient stories, but also those of attending physicians and residents who lead treatment with kindness and grace,” said GHHS co-president, Jessica Row, School of Medicine Class of 2020.
#IAmAMedStudent Photo Project
In this brand new initiative, medical students reminded themselves that they are more than just students—they are a conglomerate of passionate individuals with hobbies from wine to wood-working to photography. They posed for photos, some with props, to highlight their individuality and celebrate humanism.
“The GHHS Solidarity Week was a huge success. Humanism shows its colors in so many different ways. Humanism is taking the time to hear your elderly patient gush about his new grandchild. It is the physician who teaches the student to sit at the bedside rather than hover at the foot of the bed. It is the medical student who not only reads Netters, but also reads literary novels,” said Ms. Row. “The goal of this year’s Solidarity Week was to embody a truly holistic and comprehensive understanding of humanism in medicine as we know it. We appreciate all of the patients, students, faculty, nurses, health care workers, residents and attendings who participated and brought the human touch to Solidarity Week.”
