Tender Mercies Impacts More Than Just Our Residents

I know that I work at an awesome place. What’s not to love about helping homeless adults with histories of mental illness regain dignity, security, and a home after life on the streets? It’s difficult work, but the gains that we see people make are incredible.

I’ve always known the impact that Tender Mercies has on its residents — the people who call TM home. I’ve also known that we tend to attract staff who feel a “calling” to do this type of work. Plus I knew that many of our volunteers come here because of something in their gut that tells them this is where they need to be.

But what I didn’t know was the impact we have on our interns and co-op students. We are much more than a residency with learning objectives and a place to get a grade.

Tender Mercies has participated in the Urban Health Project of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine for 25+ years. This Project educates, inspires, and challenges medical students through their service to marginalized populations in Greater Cincinnati to produce more socially responsible physicians who have a greater understanding of factors that impact health. It strives to improve healthcare by molding future physicians who will have a personal understanding of the factors that impact health and use this knowledge to provide better care to all populations, especially the underserved.

I was touched to read about the impact of TM on our most recent Urban Health Project intern (and the previous interns). I think you will be too. I wish all docs could have this kind of exposure before going into practice. What a compassionate system of care we would have!

Read more at: med.uc.edu/uhp/sites/tender…/tender_mercies_2012.html

Russell

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