The Experiences of a Harvard Medical Student

My name is Monica Fung, and I am a fourth-year Harvard Medical student who is taking the 2011-2012 academic year to obtain a Masters of Public Health. Serving marginalized populations has been rooted in my interest in medicine long before starting medical school. Some of my most rewarding clinical experiences I have had include treating the homeless and LGBT populations of San Francisco in the setting of an acute sexually transmitted disease clinic as well as working with the HIV-afflicted population of rural India.

During my third year of medical school that ended in the summer of 2011, I experienced some amazing learning in my primary clerkships at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.  At the same time, I noticed that there was a wide range of patients that presented to the hospital – some who navigated the maze of the medical world smoothly while others were unable to advocate for themselves and benefit from mainstream medicine due to complex social and psychiatric situations.

I met Dr. Roseanna Means at a Boston shelter during my Ambulatory Medicine Clerkship on a day that she was being filmed by CNN for her years of medical service to Boston’s community of homeless and marginally-housed women.  From my interaction with her and conversations with several of the guests, I realized that Dr. Means served this population so effectively by addressing the medical needs of homeless women at a level individualized to the patient, factoring in their emotional, social, mental and physical functioning – their ability to access transportation, their medical knowledge, their psychiatric co-morbidities.

Having been deeply influenced by Dr. Means, I have dedicated a portion of my year to working with these women.  As a member of the Women of Means team, my goal is to provide the best medical care for these women, with the hope of benefiting their entire wellbeing and integrating them into mainstream medical practice.  I attend clinic every week and have gotten to know several women.  I invite you to join me in my medical learning of providing the best medical care in a setting of juxtaposed sometimes limited resources but always deepest care and understanding for the women we serve.