Camden Area Health Education Center (AHEC)

“I did not expect to relate to the SUD/homeless population so strongly, but I saw pieces of myself, particularly my own experiences with trauma and mental health, reflected in so many of their stories. The main difference between us was that I had a vast support system within my family and friends throughout my upbringing that helped me survive with my own mental health differences, which was beyond humbling. Although it is harsh to admit so, I used to turn away from homeless individuals on the street out of discomfort or judgement, but now, I see them as people surviving against the staggering odds of a system that has failed them, and I want to be part of changing that system and making these people feel human and valued despite circumstances that leave them so detached from reality, to others, and to society as a whole. I got to see firsthand how little acts that reinforce your humanity can be very grounding and healing.

 This shift in perspective marks the most important growth I’ve experienced through BTG. I started the summer focused simply on creating a new project to extend upon the services offered by AHEC, but I’m leaving with a deeper sense of responsibility to fight inequity from within the medical system and advocate for the people who suffer the injustices that lead them to substance use disorder. I now understand that “helping” people isn’t about fixing them or pulling them out of where they are, it’s about showing up, consistently and compassionately, in the spaces they already inhabit, and meeting them where they are, not forcing our expectations of their recovery onto them. It’s about respecting their autonomy and listening to what they say they need.

Looking forward, I want to bring this mindset into my career as a physician. I want to continue creating educational resources and to keep working with vulnerable populations with my newfound commitment to learning from them and advocating alongside them. I know I will carry this summer; the stories I heard, the wounds I treated, and the moments of connection with me for the rest of my life, and I will ensure that those who are affected by the systemic injustices and environmental disadvantages suffered by people like the clients I served this summer will always have a place in my practice. I will continue to serve and advocate for them in my medical career.

Bridging the Gaps provided me with invaluable lessons I will carry forward into my future career as a physician. The Wednesday sessions highlighted topics such as gun violence, harm reduction, using art for mental health and community building, and providing trauma-informed care for individuals with behavioral limitations– all of which taught me something new I can use as a doctor. I learned that many narratives surrounding gun violence are false, how the COVID 19 pandemic influenced gun violence, and that education and providing job opportunities significantly reduce gun violence incident rates. I learned that communities in the South of the United States are still unjustly affected by poverty that links back to the Civil Rights movement, and how there is major limited access to healthcare in these areas. I will use the lessons I learned to provide inclusive, informed care to marginalized communities and individuals within those communities as a doctor. The final Wednesday session gave us the opportunity to create art in the form of mural painting and button making, and I hope to encourage my future patients to use art as a form of mental health management and for community building.

My summer with Bridging the Gaps was more than an educational experience that will strengthen my capabilities as a future physician. It also enabled me to befriend people I would not have befriended otherwise from my school, at AHEC, from other medical schools, and members of my community, expanding my circle and creating new lifelong bonds through fun, meaningful experiences I will never forget. For example, I befriended three artists after we did our mural walk in Camden, exchanged contact information, and made plans to collaborate individually and with my school’s art organization. Bridging the Gaps was so much more than a summer internship; it has provided me with a new community of people I will have with me throughout my journey to becoming a physician and onward. It is such an uplifting, positive group of people and an energy that I will carry with me for the rest of my life!”

Alexandria Holroyd