Intern Feature: Dr. Stephanie Lee

Intern Feature: Stephanie Lee, MD

What is your current involvement with DOCS? What initially made you interested in becoming involved?

For the past year, I have been one of the resident volunteers at the Final Doctor Evaluation (FDE) Station at the DOCS Health Fairs. At this station, I work with medical students trained as patient navigators to review with patients the results of their health assessments from the various stations. We also answer questions about the impact of these results on patients’ future health, and we work together to get patients connected to primary care providers and crucial sub-specialty follow ups that they would have otherwise struggled to obtain or never seen at all.

I actually fi rst heard about DOCS when I was a medical student in Oklahoma. I was one of the delegates for my medical school to the American Association of Medical Colleges’ Organization of Student Representatives and every year I remember the University of Miami submitted several research projects highlighting many of their community outreach eff orts at the medical student level through DOCS. Prior to applying for residency, I also presented a poster at DOCS’ 2019 annual conference and was able to see fi rsthand this student body’s dedication towards serving those with barriers to healthcare access. Seeing how pervasive the spirit of service was even in the medical school curriculum helped infl uence my decision to rank University of Miami/Jackson Health System’s Med-Peds program as my #1 choice. So it was only natural that I jumped at the chance to volunteer with DOCS this year as a resident!

Is there a similar program where you went to medical school?

Yes, there is a student organization called the University of Oklahoma Community Health Alliance (OUCHA). I was the president of the organization during my 3rd and 4th year of medical school. It’s organized very diff erently from DOCS in that instead of several health fairs spread throughout the local area, our volunteerism and community outreach eff orts were focused on collaborating with 14 diff erent local, free to low cost healthcare clinics. In addition, OUCHA hosted health fairs for the Oklahoma City Public School System (where children were taught about healthy lifestyle habits), Stop the Bleed courses for the community, a statewide conference about bridging the access gap in healthcare, and several other fundraisers and workshops throughout the year. The main goal of both organizations though is the same: to teach medical students how to extend care to underserved populations and promote the passion of giving back to the communities that we serve.

What impact do you see that DOCS has on the communities we serve?

I think taking care of our own health is something that is very diffi cult for the average person to do, even when they are healthy. I love volunteering with DOCS because the eff orts made through the health fairs give our patients ownership and awareness of their own health status, sometimes for the fi rst time! We can go a long time in our life without seeing a doctor because life gets in the way (working long hours, busy home life, prioritizing our family or friends over ourselves) but DOCS being accessible to so many communities helps remind people that when they’re ready to take the fi rst steps to live a healthier life, someone will be there to help them get started on the right road.

What does DOCS offer to interns and residents?

As a Med-Peds resident, I often work in the hospital where I see both children and adults with their families in the worst moments of their life. At that time, I hear so many people start to regret not prioritizing their health sooner and I sometimes even have to deliver bad news that the patients may never regain their previous functional status. DOCS is a reminder that there are still patients out there that are not as sick yet and are very motivated to seek help for their health concerns. It’s a nice refresher from my usual daily work routine!

How has your involvement in DOCS impacted your current practice of medicine?

The cool thing about DOCS is that I get to see a population of patients that sometimes never make it into the clinic I work in for one reason or another. I have learned so many valuable lessons including how access to medications goes beyond just the ability to afford it and reliable transportation sometimes requires monumental sacrifices for an entire family. Oftentimes it’s either the patients or medical students who help to teach me these lessons every fair.

What role does DOCS have on medical education? Why is it important for medical students to participate?

Learning medicine is truly something that is done through service and repeated experience. I strongly believe that my current foundation of knowledge today was built through the patients that I saw during my training, not just in my medical school curriculum but also through volunteerism. DOCS is beneficial in that medical students can be exposed to direct patient care quite early in their educational careers and also understand the impact that their knowledge and time can have on a large population of people. In addition, I have heard multiple times while serving with DOCS how much the community is uplifted by the fact that a young generation of future doctors will take time out of their busy schedules to volunteer to talk to them.

What were your favorite experiences this year while volunteering with DOCS?

I did not know anyone in Miami, other than the people I met in my residency, prior to moving here. Volunteering with DOCS has given me a chance to get to know some amazing medical student leaders (who I now get excited to work with when they rotate with me on Internal Medicine or Pediatrics), become closer to some of my Internal Medicine and Family Medicine co-residents, and get to really know the cultures and people who live in Southern Florida!

How has your experience at health fairs changed during the COVID-19 pandemic?

In previous health fairs I’ve worked at, I’ve always felt like there was a giant swarm of people who come in sporadically throughout the day. DOCS leadership has come up with a clever organization for the people who come to the fair to follow a steady flow throughout the day to respect physical distancing guidelines. It has given more time to really focus on each individual patient who comes to the FDE station and allows more time to delve into health topics with medical students.