Organ Donation, Global Service, And A Med School Journey

A phone call with an acceptance to medical school. A night flight to a donor hospital. A child’s rash spotted during a game and treated just before the bus pulled away. This is how Shelby’s winding path—public health, Teach for America, transplant logistics, and a formative trip to Nicaragua—built the mindset and skill set of a future physician.

We open the curtain on organ donation and transplant coordination: what an OPO does, how multiple surgical teams align in unfamiliar ORs, and why precise preservation and timing mean everything. Shelby walks us through the roles you don’t see on TV—family coordinators trained for the most difficult conversations, the shift from old terms to respectful language, and the solemn ritual of an honor walk that honors a donor’s final gift. You’ll hear how packing protocols, cold ischemic times, and meticulous communication keep hope alive for patients waiting at home.

Shelby’s gap years add depth and heart. Teaching in a Title I school during COVID forced new ways to connect and lead under pressure, skills that power better bedside care. Her research on multilingual learners shows how culture and language shape assessment and access, echoing the need for cultural humility in clinics and hospitals. And then there’s Nicaragua: hands-on exam practice with local physicians, real diagnostic reasoning as a freshman, and the realization that education can be the most durable medicine where resources are scarce.

If you’re a premed, nurse, PA, or anyone curious about healthcare’s hidden teamwork, you’ll find practical insights on shadowing, service learning, and building empathy through experience. Shelby’s advice is a compass: do it scared, lean into curiosity, and let service open doors you didn’t know existed.

Enjoy the conversation, subscribe for more human-centered healthcare stories, and share this episode with someone who needs a push to take their next brave step.

Recommended Books:

1. When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi
2. Maybe You Should Talk To Someone - Loris Gottleib

I also want to thank our listeners for joining us as it is our goal to not only share with you our guest’s introduction to international healthcare, but also to share with you how that exposure to international healthcare has shaped their future path in healthcare. As true patient advocates, we should all aspire to be as well rounded as possible in order to meet the needs of our diverse patient populations. 

As a 50+ year nurse that has worked in quite a variety of clinical roles in our healthcare system, taught healthcare courses for the past 20 years at the university level, and has traveled extensively with my students on international service-learning trips, I can easily attest to the fact that healthcare focused students need, and greatly benefit from the opportunity to have hands-on experiential healthcare experiences in an international setting! I have seen the growth of students post travel as their self-confidence in their newly acquired skillsets, both clinical and cultural, facilitates their ability to take advantage of opportunities that previously may not have been available to them. By rendering care internationally, and stepping outside one's comfort zone, many more doors of opportunity will be opened.

Feel free to check out our website at www.islonline.org, follow us on Instagram @ islmedical, and reach out to me @ DrH@islonline.org

Transcript

Dr H 0:11

Well hey there, I'm Dr. Patrick Hickey, or Dr. H, as many of my students refer to me. I want to welcome you to another episode of the International Service Learning Experiential Medical Education Podcast. During each episode, I will be interviewing healthcare-focused students and faculty from high school to university that have had an opportunity to participate in an international service learning trip. Additionally, I will be discussing the benefits and challenges to international service with healthcare professionals that have served abroad, as well as industry leaders in healthcare, education, study abroad, spirituality, and those living in the countries being served. I'm very excited to have Shelby Keith as my guest today. I've had the privilege of having Shelby as a former student, and I'm very eager for her to share with us her unique journey in healthcare. Shelby graduated in 2020 from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Science in Public Health. During her undergrad years, Shelby joined me on a service learning trip to Nicaragua. Shelby has gained quite a lot of experience during her GAP years and is presently applying to med schools. Shelby is currently employed as an organ preservation coordinator. I'm really excited to have Shelby as my guest. And just full disclosure, we've known each other for years. Shelby's a former student of mine at the University of South Carolina, and it's been a few years, but we've been able to connect over the years. But this is a first face-to-face opportunity we've had in some time. And I'm excited for Shelby to share her path in healthcare because she's had a very exciting path. I think all of us uniquely find our own path in different ways. And Shelby's has been a different path of sorts. And I've been part of that path. So I'm excited for her to share because you know my hopes are that some of the people listening to the podcast will hear something that will inspire them to do something that they hadn't considered before. And that's the beauty of being able to host so many people that I've traveled with. They all bring a lot of different expertise and talent to the table, so to speak. So we're before we get into that, Shelby, if you don't mind, just tell us a little bit about yourself, where you went to school, and what you're doing now.

Inside Organ Donation And OPOs

Shelby 2:31

Yeah, thanks so much for having me, Dr. Hickey. It's really nice to reconnect with you after all these years. I am Shelby. I was a student at USC from 2016, graduated in 2020, and was in the Capstone Scholars program, which is how I originally met Dr. Hickey. And then we've kind of stayed in touch throughout the years. And right now I am currently applying to medical school. I actually 15 minutes ago got a call that I got an acceptance. So that was really exciting. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it was awesome. And then right now I'm also working for MUSC transplant as a certified transplant preservationist. So that's what I'm doing in my gaffe right now.

Dr H 3:26

That's a very unique field. Tell us about transplant medicine because I've I've been involved in it, as you know, in the past, but enlighten us as to what that process is.

Coordinating Multi‑Team Procurements

Shelby 3:38

Yeah. So um I originally started out in the organ donation field. So there's these things called OPOs, which are organ procurement organizations. And in that role, I was basically the OR coordinator for every organ procurement in South Carolina. So I would travel all across the state to different hospitals and kind of guide the OR staff through what an organ procurement looks like, all of the instruments that they would need, as well as like kind of making sure that all of the incoming teams from wherever are getting what they need and collaborating. One thing that I didn't really realize until joining transplant and organ donation is that it is such a team effort. You have people coming in from literally all over the country that have never worked together before, and they're all working on the same patient to procure those organs successfully and all kind of advocating for their own patients at home. So basically, like you kind of have to juggle everybody's different interests of getting what they want for their patient while keeping logistics in mind, timing, all that stuff, because people are flying in, people are driving. So it's like a very coordinated team kind of effort. And I worked in that role for a little over a year, and then I transitioned to working for the transplant center at MUSC. So now I'm kind of more on the visiting team side of going all over the country to different hospitals as either a heart procurement coordinator or lungs or liver sometime too, and going there and kind of supporting my surgeons with whatever they need, coordinating logistics, and then just making sure that we get the organs back in a timely manner, ensure the success of the transplant. And then I also help with any preservation of the organs. So making sure that they're packaged correctly, staying at a good temperature, a cool temperature for them. And if we have organs coming into MESC, I'm also in charge of those. So helping preserve kidneys and livers and pump them, we we all that stuff. Lots of technology.

Dr H 6:17

Well, it's not I I've age myself when I say organ procurement, don't I? Because what's the proper term?

Shelby 6:22

No, no, no. Procurement's right. Procurement's right. It's uh organ harvest is kind of the older terminology that we're trying to get away from.

Preservation, Logistics, And Technology

Dr H 6:32

I was very familiar with when I worked in the operating room setting because we used to do what we consider organ harvest at the time. And for those that are listening, the whole field of transplant surgery and organ harvesting and organ procurement, it involves a lot of different things. Number one, first of all, the patient has to indicate on their driver's license as well as to families and friends that they uh intend to donate their organs when it comes to a situation or scenario when when that would be the ultimate process. For example, a car accident, a head injury, whatever the situation. Once they have indicated to family and friends and and have note noted on their driver's license that they they want to be an organ donor, then the system starts. And as Shelby said, it's it's a huge system. It's unbelievable how many people are involved when we have, for example, an 18-year-old that's indicated they want to give of their organs. Teams are mobilized from other states, teams will fly in, surgeons will fly in. The operating room has to get the room ready, get the patient prepped and ready. It's just unbelievable. And I worked in that arena myself for years. I originally worked for the Lions I Bank way, way back in the day when I worked in trauma emergency room, where I actually procured corneas and globes on the side. So I learned a lot about organ procurement at the University of South Carolina. I was actually the advisor for the uh student organization specific to organ procurement, because what we try to do is educate people on how important it is not only just to sign your driver's license, but also to let your family know or friends know. And that's critical because a lot of times, in my case, in the emergence room scenario, when I would approach a family, when I would notice that their family member had signed their license, I would then approach the family and say, I don't know if you've had the conversation, but according to the driver's license, your son, daughter, whomever has indicated that they're very interested in donating. And the family, I believe, and I don't know now, Shelby, but I believe the family still had a say in the process at that time. Is that correct?

Consent, Family Roles, And Honor Walks

Shelby 8:55

Yeah, so the kind of whole process is like somebody gets into some type of life-threatening accident. And whether they're an organ donor or not, the hospital is not really taking that into consideration when they enter for treatment, because the hospital's main priority is obviously saving a person's life, right? So if they're coming in from some type of trauma, that hospital is going to treat them exactly like how they would treat every other patient, take all measures that they could to save their life. And then if unfortunately the patient is pronounced brain dead, or if they're stabilized and taken up to ICU and the provider just doesn't see them really coming back from this kind of catastrophic injury, then the provider would kind of indicate that to the OPO and say, hey, this patient is brain dead, or hey, this family is thinking about withdrawing life support from this patient. If you're interested in approaching, now would be the time. And so then we have lots of different roles in this process. So there's family coordinators that are specifically trained to make those approaches to families because it's just such a devastating time and can be really sensitive. So we just want to make sure that people are getting all of the information that they can and kind of recognizing the patient's final wishes to be an Oregon donor, because sometimes it can be difficult for the family in that time to recognize that this is what the patient wanted. So the OPO is kind of advocating for the patient as much as they can. And then it's just kind of a collaborative process between the OPO and the family as far as like getting to the procurement. Sometimes families have different requests on different days, or they want to be able to have what we call an honor walk, which is like the patient's final walk through the hospital. And it's really beautiful. Lots of they make an announcement over the hospital, and lots of nurses and different staff gather in the hallways as the donors getting rolled to the OR and just kind of recognizing that they are making a difference in so many people's lives and just like a really beautiful send-off for them.

Dr H 11:54

So if if if you're hearing that for the first time, just look it up on YouTube. I'm sure there are videos that can help you with the honor walk, and I've seen and participated in many. And you know, the joy that a family has at such a devastating time, in my experience, to be able to donate their relatives' organs, knowing that it's going to help other people is just so profound. I mean, to be there and to share that moment with family. And and and when I was involved, I even made promises and followed through to go to the operating room with the patient, to be there with them, to honor the family's wishes. So yes, it's it's such a such a a vital role uh that you that you have in an area that very few people know about. So I'm very excited that that you're that you're in the position you're in now. And as a as a future MD, you're gonna be so much further ahead than all of your peers as far as your knowledge about this whole process, because you know, you've learned how to scrub gown a glove, you've learned about the surgical instruments, you've learned about the roles of the various people on teams, you've developed your time management organization communication skills because you're collaborating with so many people. So that's huge. Now you're you're taking a little bit more than a gap here.

Shelby 13:13

Yeah. A couple.

Dr H 13:16

I shared that your path was a little different than most. And and I have your resume. So I I know that you did a little teaching when you graduated from school. We'll we'll get all this out of the way, then we'll jump into Nicaragua. So tell us about Teach uh Teach for America, because there may be some people that have heard about it but don't know about it and uh might be intrigued by it.

Shelby 13:38

Yeah, definitely. So I was getting kind of close to graduation and wasn't really sure if I wanted to go straight into medical school. So I was kind of looking at different gap year opportunities and came across Teach for America. They were at one of our like job fairs or student work fairs or something. They do a lot of outreach on college campuses. And if they don't, if you haven't seen them at your college campus, you can always just go to their website, teachforamerica.org. And there's so much information. Recruiters are happy to talk to anybody who's interested. But Teach for America is an organization that was founded to basically address the shortage of teachers, especially in high-meed schools. So one way that they go about doing that is this alternate teacher training pathway of Teach for America. So they get college students that are interested in putting becoming teachers or that are just very passionate about education, and they kind of take them through this training process over the summer before you start teaching, and you get placed into a Title I school, which is typically a lower-income school that has more teacher shortages. You get placed in there, and then they give you all of this year-round support of how to create lesson plans, how to address student behaviors, things like that. And you kind of just learn how to be a teacher while you're teaching, which can be kind of difficult, honestly. It's not for the faint of heart, but it is a really, really life-changing thing. I think teaching probably had like the biggest impact on me out of all the gapier experiences that I've done, especially because I started teaching during COVID, actually. So I started all online teaching Zoom students, which was kind of overwhelming because it's just me teaching to a black screen of Zoom, of Zoom screens. But I had to get really creative with connecting with students and kind of building the rapport over the computer. And I did get to know a lot of my students that way. And as the year progressed, we got more familiar with each other. Cameras would come on. We eventually started coming in person, and then just getting to like see them and see their curiosity and excitement for school was honestly just the best, especially considering where we started out in COVID. So, like getting to do Teach for America and give back in that way was just a really great experience. You learn so much about yourself, about what you are able to do and kind of face things that are in your control and things that are not in your control. I feel like as an undergrad student, you kind of have this idea that, oh, I can I can do anything, I can fix things, I can make everything better. And once you get out in the real world, you have to kind of come to terms with, well, I can maybe not fix everything, but I can fix this one little thing, and that'll make things better, you know.

Dr H 17:22

Well, that's a good lesson learned. And and and know that one of the future hats you're gonna wear as a physician is a teacher. So it's great that you already got that experience under your belt. And one last thing, Shelby, if you don't mind, share what your research was at the University of South Carolina. You did some research, I believe, something along the line of Spanish speaking.

Teach For America Gap Years

Shelby 17:43

Yeah, so when I was in USC, I early on started volunteering at the Good Samaritan Clinic, which is a Spanish-speaking clinic in Colombia. And then I got involved my senior year with Dr. Finton in her language development of Diverse Learners Lab, which was kind of building on my experience with Spanish and looking at the language development of multilingual learners, pretty much. It was mostly Spanish students in the Lexington schools, but there were a couple of other students that spoke different languages and assessing if their language development was going on par with expectations or if they were kind of lagging behind a little bit. A lot of the tests and exams that are given for language development are not specifically to multilingual learners. So they can kind of skew the results one way or another and accurately diagnose students with development disorders or without language development disorders. So it was kind of seeing how the tests are accurately evaluating language development and then collaborating with those teachers to create better supports for multilingual learners, which also just kind of support all of the students in the classroom. And that's kind of what introduced me to teaching and kind of what opened the door of like, oh, I might like Teach for America and getting to work in the classroom.

Dr H 19:23

I like your door opening concept. It's something I don't know if you've heard me say it before, but I've always felt that I was a glorified door opener. I love opening doors of opportunity, you know, and I always encourage my students, step through the door. If you like it, keep going. If you don't like it, at least you stepped through the door and you saw it. So that I like that concept. Let's talk about uh Nicaragua. So I I believe you went on a trip to Nicaragua with me. Is that correct?

Shelby 19:48

Yes, we went spring 2017 as my freshman year.

Dr H 19:54

What can you recall? I mean, uh, it's been a few years ago and you've done a lot of things since then. What I mean, I I as I recall, I believe you had pretty good Spanish proficiency. Is that correct?

Shelby 20:06

Yes. I actually am a bit of a hoarder and I found my notebook that I kept from the Kiraqua. So I was reading it.

Dr H 20:16

This is an audio podcast, but I'm doing it by Zoom initially, so I I get to see who I'm speaking to. And and Shelby just made my day by sharing her diary of sorts. One thing I one thing I did in my course was I encouraged my students to have a diary and just to write things down, the experience, and and then we did reflections in the evening, and and here now, years, years later, you still can go back to where you were many, many years ago and and see the the younger you and and compare to where you're at right now. But but that's great. I'm glad you shared the uh diary. I appreciate that. So tell us about your your journey in uh journey.

Shelby 20:57

Oh, well, it was honestly one of like the cementing experiences that I had in pursuing medicine when I was a freshman. I was kind of interested in medicine, but you know, just like still trying things out. And after going on that trip, I came back and I was just like, yes, medicine is for me. So it was just a really great experience of getting to go and see a different culture. Like I mentioned, I worked at the Good Samaritan Clinic before going there. So I actually did have a little bit of exposure of using Spanish and like the medical realm and kind of seeing common chronic diseases and things like that, at least in the United States. So it was exciting to go to Nicaragua and kind of get to use my skills in this clinic and get to learn even more about different tropical medicine and get to connect with just lots of great people. I wrote about Dr. Gutierrez and I remember him really well. One thing I did not remember was that he was actually a doctor on naked and afraid. And I wrote that in my journal.

Dr H 22:14

Yeah, we all we all we all become very attached to the doctors in our clinics because the ISL model, which I really appreciate, they they take their time, the doctors they do. They they're they're from a local country, they speak English, but they take their time to do a head-to-toe physical exam and and they work with the students to try to come up with a medical diagnosis. And for most students, when you're a freshman or sophomore, you haven't even taken an anatomy course yet. But here are the doctors saying, Well, Shelby, tell me what the patient, tell me what their diagnosis is. And and of course, you're of course you're very awkward in the beginning, but by the end of the week, your self-confidence is through the roof because you know the doctor, he or she have taken their time to work with you and to help you to do the physical exam. And by doing that, they become a great mentor. And by doing that also, you really become connected to them. So Dr. Gutierrez, you know, who we've had on our Nicaragua trips, is stands out as one of those great role models. And and I I typically, when I work with my pre-med students, I encourage them to adopt a lot of things that Dr. Gutierrez does. And he's a wonderful role model. You know, when whenever I and Shelby, I don't know if you know or remember, but I've done many trips with Dr. Gutierrez, he always reaches out and touches a patient's shoulder. How are you doing today? He makes human contact, then he makes eye contact, and then he always asks about the family. Tell me how your family's doing. How's your daughter doing? So he always makes a personal connection way before he even gets into why they're there. And it's so unique and so nice to see that, so refreshing also that he makes that personal connection which each and every patient that he has. And I always try to encourage my students to, you know, when you do shadow docs, you know, look at the good things to have and try to incorporate them into who the future you is going to be. And I'm hoping that a lot of students have seen a lot of great things that this particular doctor, Dr. Gutierrez, has done, and and hopefully have adopted some of those things for their for themselves.

Shelby 24:17

Yeah, I definitely wrote down a lot that I was just so grateful for all of the teaching that the doctors did, that they were very patient and just kind of the letting us do the physical exams and kind of deduce what we were thinking as far as diagnosis was something that I just feel like you don't get a whole lot of experience with when you're shadowing and stuff because you're just kind of observing, but it's very hands-on. The classes that they give before the clinic are super informative on how to take blood pressure and possible diagnoses that you might have. So it's just a really well-designed experience.

Dr H 25:00

Anything in particular, I know you have to dig back and maybe look through your diary. Was there anything particular, a patient or scenario that that that resonates still today that you can recall?

Research On Multilingual Learners

Shelby 25:11

Yeah, I actually had one that I wrote on my primary application for Amcast because Nicaragua was actually one of my most important experiences in my application. But I remember that there were a couple of kids that would just play outside of the clinic every day. And we kind of just started playing with them, started building a relationship with them. And one of them was a little girl, and she always wore long sleeves, which was interesting because it was very hot. I remember it being very hot there. So she was wearing long sleeves every day that I saw her. And then on the final day of clinic, when we were kind of having our little celebration and giving prizes and playing games with all of the kids, she wore a dress that didn't have sleeves. And I sat down next to her when we were playing Duck Duck Goose, and I saw her arms kind of had a little bit of a rash on them. And so I talked to Dr. Gutierrez and I was like, I think she might have a fungal infection on her skin. And he came over and looked at her and said, Yep, that's correct, and gave her an ointment, like literally as we were leaving to get on the bus. So that was like very impactful for me because I was like, wow, like she probably could have not gotten treatment for that for months and months since we were in just such a remote little town. So it was really cool to kind of get to do that and make that difference in her life and feel kind of like a doctor. It was cool.

Dr H 26:52

It is nice too that that that girl felt that level of trust to be able to come and sit by you and be with you, and that you would recognize earlier if it wasn't for you recognizing there's something wrong here. She's wearing long sleeves, and then when she comes with the dress, you see the arms exposed, you see the rash, you're bringing the attention of the doctor. I mean, that that changes her life. And I mean, it it's it's those simple things, and it isn't amazing how when for me it's always humbling every every time I've done it. I'm sure for yourself too, when you see the level of poverty. But but how a simple little thing like that, a gesture on your behalf to go and get the doc on the final day to make a difference in her life. I mean, that's huge. It would be nice if you'd had a follow-up with her to see how she was doing.

Shelby 27:38

Yeah, yeah. Unfortunately, we were leaving right then. But I'm glad that we at least got to give her a little something before we're gonna do that.

Nicaragua Service Learning Begins

Dr H 27:45

We know a common theme that I've seen, Shelby, through through most of the podcast interviews has been that of education. A lot of students, as you know, you know, get involved with filling the prescriptions and and and helping the patients with discharge instructions, whether there's dressings needed or medications prescribed. But when they get back a week or two later, they they would usually file through my office and feel really upset that at this point in time the medicine has run out, the treatments, whatever it was we gave are done. But I always tried to reassure them that the best gift that we gave was that of education, that we helped to educate the patients on how to best take care of the problems that they had. Because if we simply went down and just put a band-aid on the problem, then we'd we we'd be doing a great disservice. And I don't know if you can recall uh doing any education. I mean, we all rotated through pharmacy, but just by being in your pod and being there with the doctor, there was a lot of education going on for each and every patient.

Shelby 28:50

Mm-hmm. And I think that it even if you just educate them on what they have. I mean, I wrote about a couple of things where we unfortunately weren't really able to do anything for the patients as far as treatment goes. There was a woman who had an underdeveloped uterus. She was 26 years old, and she was just not getting the correct hormones from her uterus and ovaries, and she was kind of experiencing menopause at 26 years old, and she was looking for possible hormone therapies or something. And then that was a little outside of our scope at our clinic, but she did, I think, get a little bit of relief just learning more about her symptoms and learning about like what she was going through and possible next steps if she ever was able to get to the hospital down in Managua or something. Just kind of hearing patients and listening to them, I think, can really get back to the thing.

Dr H 29:57

Correct. I mean, we had the advantage of Of of internet and and access to find out a lot of what our symptoms are. And maybe she wasn't in that position that she didn't have that opportunity. So as you said, just by sharing what her symptoms were, that gave her great relief or understanding. Hey, I want to go back to what you shared earlier about that you shared the Nicaragua trip on your med school application. I've heard from almost every one of my pre-med students that when they go for their med school interview, the fact that they've been on a service learning trip has come up in the interview. And because for most people like yourself, it has been very pivotal. It is, you know, I like to call it the hook. You know, everyone has a hook somewhere when you reflect back on why I am going down this trail. It was either a passionate faculty member, a situation in this case, in your case, you know, going in country to Nicaragua, collaborating with a healthcare team, where you said, I see myself doing that. So it I'm I'm glad you shared that, that you put it on the med school application, because that's going to really make you stand out.

Mentorship And Bedside Connection

Shelby 31:04

Yeah, yeah, definitely. And I think just like for anybody applying to medical school, getting as much exposure as you can to different cultures and different people. If you can't go outside of the country, that's fine. Work with people that are maybe in inner city clinics or the homeless population, just people that you might not normally interact with on just a daily basis, just to kind of learn more about what they're going through. And luckily, I am very privileged in kind of being able to have just like basic healthcare insurance and places to live and stuff. But when you when you work with people that are unhoused, you learn so many things that you might not even have ever considered in their barriers to getting care. So just anything that can kind of open your mind up, open your perspective up to working with lots of different people background.

Dr H 32:13

That's really that's a great recommendation. As you know, when I come back from my trips, I always share with my students. So we had this wonderful opportunity, which few do have, to travel to another country to work with an underserved population. Yet in our own backyard, we have just as much need. So I appreciate you validating that. That you know, that pre-med students, healthcare students, take advantage of the opportunities around your school, around your community, because there are many working with the homeless, as you shared, working with underserved populations. They're they're all out there and they all have great need. And and and you know, do it from the heart, because you know, we uh we want well-rounded doctors, well-rounded nurses, PT, OT, pharmacy, et cetera. The more experiences you have, the better advocate you're gonna be for your future patients. So I know that your future patients are gonna benefit greatly from all of your experiences. Shelby, what would you tell somebody that's uh a student, you know, freshman student starting at a university that has kind of sort of heard of service learning trips? Maybe there's not a course at their university like what you had. Maybe there's a student organization like FIDE E or AED or something at their university that they can uh travel with and go to another country. What would you say to someone that's kind of on the fence? They're a little afraid of the language, maybe they've never traveled before, maybe they're concerned about the quality of the food that they're gonna receive, and just being in an environment with a faculty member if they're on a faculty-led trip, or if not with a cohort of students that they don't know that well, what would you say to that person that's trying to make that decision? Is this going to be valuable to me? Am I going to benefit from it? Will I learn?

Shelby 34:00

I think that you should do it scared.

Dr H 34:06

You should do it what source is.

Shelby 34:08

When I was rock climbing, you should you should do it scared. Even if you're scared, just do it. That's kind of what my motto was when I was rock climbing. You can do it scared. There's so many things that you're never really gonna know until you try it. If you're not sure about the language, if you're not sure about the food, that's it. You're not sure. You got to try it out to see how you're gonna do. And a lot of the times you're really gonna surprise yourself in kind of how well you adapt, how much you like things. It might be the opportunity that you get to discover something that you're incredibly passionate about. And it might set you down on a path that's gonna take you through your whole life of loving Spanish and trying out all these different things, but just you'll never know until you try. And I think that if you're hesitant about it, you just kind of got to lean into that, lean into that curiosity, anxiety is not always a bad thing. It can also just be excitement in a disguise. So I think doing anything that gives you an opportunity to grow is a good, good thing to do. And like you said, with the doors. If you find that it opens a door that you like, keep walking down it. And if you don't like it, at least now you know.

A Small Diagnosis With Big Impact

Dr H 35:30

I like your your comments. Do it when you're scared and and lean into curiosity. Those are great. I mean, that it's gonna be my life, as you know. I mean, do it when I'm scared, as you know. I'm a high-altitude mountain climber, yet I'm afraid of heights. I'm right, I like a skydiver, even though I'm afraid of heights. And leaning into curiosity, I I like that. And and you know, I I think you learn from from pursuing challenges in life. And I know that you were a rock climber, and I'm sure there was a fear factor every time you were you were climbing, but there was preparation and there was training, but yet there's always that fear factor there. And and you learn from the fear factor, you learn where where your limitations are, and that you don't know that until you try it. And you know, as I've shared before, I can teach all about culture, I can teach a whole lot of things in a classroom setting, but until you have that experiential education opportunity where you actually go and experience it, that's when you're really going to learn. And I appreciate that that you shared that with us. Hey, one thing I didn't prepare you for that I'm that uh I've been asking those that I've been interviewing is to share books that they've read that that may be specific to the area you're working in now, or or something you read that that's powerful, or I mean, if it's healthcare related, that that would be great, or something inspirational. And and again, I I apologize I didn't prepare you for that, but does does anything oh no, that's okay. Does anything come to mind?

Shelby 36:58

I love talking about books. So I mean, kind of the number one pre-med book that I feel like everybody should read is When Breath Becomes Air.

Dr H 37:09

Totally my favorite. Yeah.

Shelby 37:11

So When Breath Becomes Air, it's a beautiful book, kind of about medicine and life and what you value, especially when it comes to facing the end of your life, which I think is just really applicable in organ donation and transplant, working with people that are dying and also getting a second chance at life. I'm getting to see both sides, and it really just puts things into perspective. And then there's another book that I really like. It's not totally medicine related, but it's just kind of talking about people's lives. It's called I think you should talk to someone. And it's written by a psychiatrist or a psychologist that's kind of commenting on her journey. She was, she, I think she's a psychologist, sorry, because she was going to medical school. And then she kind of realized that she preferred being able to spend a lot of time talking and connecting with patients. So she kind of moved to the psychologist route and counseling route and talks about just all of these different life experiences that her patients are having, which is I just love kind of getting to see the different experiences that people are having and how they're dealing with it and stuff. And just I love a good psychology book. So I think it's a great one.

Dr H 38:40

I don't know the second one, but when Breath Becomes Air, that was on my syllabus for class. And again, I never know if students read my syllabus or not, but but uh, but I I think I've read that one a couple of times. And it it's uh, you know, have a box of cleans with you when you when you're reading it because it's very profound. And and I I think uh and I appreciate you sharing those books. Uh uh, you know, I believe I'm a firm believer, and you should know what you're getting yourself into. So especially with healthcare, I think a lot of our students that aspire to be in healthcare are enamored by different TV shows that really don't represent what we do in healthcare. And and so I encourage shadowing, shadowing, shadowing, but a lot of times you have problems shadowing. You know, there's a lot of you know barriers in place. Uh, that's why it's so beautiful when you do get to go to Latin America or go on an international service trip. There the barriers aren't there. You're able to shadow them, and it's such a joyful experience. So I do encourage students to try to shadow as much as they as possible. I do encourage them to get involved in the community, as Shelby has said, working with the homeless, working in a in a clinic, anywhere and everywhere that you can go where you can experience something that's going to help you in the future and and more importantly, help you to understand where these people are coming from. And that's critical. One beautiful thing about the International Service Learning Trip is we go into the homes of the patients that we're treating. As you recall on day number one, we walk, walk through a community with a local interpreter and a CUNY member, and we knock on doors, and people invite us into their homes, and we get to see where they live and what you know. Sometimes it helps us to understand why they have the symptoms they have because we're in their homes. So yeah, beautiful experiences.

Shelby 40:33

Yep, sorry. They were a little vocal today. Lots of excitement on our street.

Dr H 40:39

Any any uh anything you'd like to share before we sign off? Uh, I know you share a lot of great stuff, but anything you want to share before we head up?

Shelby 40:47

No, I think just to anybody that's considering doing international service learning, I think it's a great opportunity. I met some of my closest friends on it. You just get to have so many different experiences that kind of open you up to many more experiences down the road. So I would suggest doing it. And like you said, if if you can't, then keep your eyes open, keep looking for places in your community where you can give back because there is so much need everywhere around us.

Dr H 41:20

What a great way to to end our our podcast by sharing the opportunities that that that are in our own backyard for people to uh take advantage of. Well, Shelby, it's been a true blessing to know you and and I'm so excited for your future path in healthcare. Can't wait to be calling you Dr. Dr. S or or whatever you're gonna go by down the road. Again, thank you for your time today. I appreciate it, and let's keep in touch. I want to sincerely thank our guest Shelby for her willingness to join us today on the International Service Learning Experiential Medical Education podcast. But most importantly, I want to thank Shelby for the passion that she has shared with us, specific to her own unique journey in healthcare. As an organ preservation coordinator, Shelby has touched the lives of both patients and their families and continues to pay it forward through her collaborative work with healthcare teams that are focused on making a difference in the lives of others.