Juliet Young '25

My name is Juliet Young, and I am a rising senior. I am a Religious Studies major and a Spanish minor. This summer I was fortunate enough to receive funding from Dr. Steven Jaharis’s Pre-Medical Primary Care Internship Fund to volunteer in the Emergency Department (ED) at Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH). I have volunteered the past two summers in other YNHH medical units, which helped cement my interest in medicine. However, this summer was uniquely valuable because I became much more comfortable helping patients and working in a fast-paced hospital setting.

As a volunteer, I help maintain the flow and functionality of the ED. While nurses and techs are swamped with patients, I do all I can to change gurneys and restock supplies, allowing staff to focus on patient care. Whether stocking gloves, heated blankets, socks, or disinfectant wipes, ensuring the accessibility of these products saves significant time and stress for employees and patients. 

Beyond supporting department functionality, I also help patients and caregivers by running errands and communicating patients’ concerns to their nurses. The ED is usually crowded with long wait times, frequently distressing patients and families. Thus, much of my job involves offering to help patients and caregivers, acknowledging their physical discomfort and their frustrations with the ED, while making them feel heard and valued. This summer I was particularly challenged when trying to speak Spanish - my second language - with Spanish-speaking caregivers and patients. Every shift, I interacted with at least one Spanish-speaking individual who did not understand English. At YNHH there is a lack of virtual interpreters and few hospital staff know Spanish. Hence, while my Spanish is limited and differing dialects between Spanish-speakers is difficult for me to understand, I felt especially motivated to check on Spanish-speaking patients and offer them support. Challenging myself to speak in Spanish was gratifying because I knew I was doing everything I could to help, even if patients and I struggled to understand each other. 

Overall, volunteering in the ED has increased my confidence in talking to patients - in both English and Spanish - and ignited my excitement for my future career in medicine. I am so grateful for the opportunity to volunteer in the ED because I know it will forever impact how I communicate with patients and understand how fast-paced health care settings function.