My time at Gennesaret Free Clinic this summer was both fulfilling and eye-opening. Gennesaret is a nonprofit organization that provides free health care through its stationary and mobile clinics. The mix of working in the clinics, office, and community allowed me to get a better understanding of the importance of Gennesaret’s services and how they were fueled and run.
While in the clinics, I worked as a clerk, coordinating with doctors, providers, and nurses. The clerk checked patients into the system and acquired necessary information from them. While working in the clinics I observed the harsh truths of many people’s lives in Indy. However, these experiences allowed me to have a beyond surface level appreciation of Gennesaret’s services and ones like it. This summer Gennesaret opened its second stationary clinic in Gleaners Food Bank, a process I was involved in helping set up.
My days in the office consisted of many projects and meetings. Digitizing patient medical records so Gennesaret could comply with HIPAA regulations was a main task BawiBawi and I were responsible for. Several other projects consisted of organizing OfficeEMR so patient information could more efficiently be inputted.
Community events, whether they were free sports physicals or community outreach, had a lasting impact on me as I was able to meet many people and speak to them outside of a clinical setting.
I saw that this internship aligned well with my number one strength as an Achiever, according to the Clifton strength test. Because the internship was fairly independent, it was up to me to determine how much impact I could have on my surroundings and how much impact they could have on me. However, as an achiever I feel that I did a good job of
doing much more than the bare minimum and getting the most out of the experiences. There were many places where my motivation came from, but my aspirations for school as a biology major and my career as a physical therapist had a large impact on my work ethic.
Tessa Park, Gennesaret’s volunteer coordinator, got us interns on our feet at the beginning of summer and was there the rest of the way, answering our questions and offering guidance. She described employees and volunteers of Gennesaret as those who
“believe that healthcare is a human right.” She continued, “We provide compassionate patient-centered healthcare at no cost. We are dedicated to treating all persons with dignity and respect. At Gennesaret locations, we treat thousands of persons per year who need it the most.”
I would like to end by thanking Gennesaret and its wonderful staff for welcoming me into the organization as well as Dr. Jill Rogers and Dr. Wetzel who made this internship possible. I am glad that I was able to spend my summer working in an area with such purpose and look forward to seeing Gennesaret continue and grow its impact.
