Mehdi Dinarsakti

August 8, 2018

Personal Reflection Essay

Personal Reflection: Washington Adventist Hospital Internship

This summer, I did an internship at the Washington Adventist Hospital. Overall, it was a

positive experience that helped me learn how it felt to be a transporter at the hospital. I got to

experience what it felt like to be in a hospital environment, and to meet all the nice people that

were working there alongside me. This was a second internship for me this summer, in addition

to Alhuda Summer Camp.

The Washington Adventist Hospital is a religious Christian hospital whose aim is to give

their patients an exceptional experience. The hospital has around four facilities, and has a

recorded 752,000+ encounters with patients, visits, staff, and much more. The particular facility I

interned at is located in Takoma Park, Maryland. The hospital routinely brings in volunteers to

assist in the emergency room and other departments.

My assignment was to be a transporter. A transporter in the hospital is responsible for

bringing patients to different departments for their treatment or if they are leaving. Transporters

also assist in moving supplies and samples from the lab. I was specifically assigned to transport

patients to the lobby when they are discharged from the hospital and to move items from unit to

unit. I worked there on the afternoons on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays after my

summer internship at Alhuda Summer Camp, and also on Sunday afternoons. Some days were
very busy and others were quiet in terms of the number of job assignments. On very busy days, I

would have around 15 jobs completed at the end of the day. On quiet days, I would have as little

as two jobs done and also have enough time to interact with my fellow transporters. There were a

total of seven different transporters working on any given day, including myself.

One incident I would like to share from my time interning at the hospital is when I was

unexpectedly assigned to help transport Br. Hamdy. This made my experience very memorable.

While interning at the Washington Adventist Hospital, I learned the value of helping others and I

was reminded by my parents that Allah is with the sick people. When Br. Hamdy was undergoing

heart surgery, my parents had told me to visit him and I was intending to find which room he was

in. When there were no longer any jobs for me to do that day, I was expecting to have the time to

visit him. Incidentally, a transporter undergoing a job asked if I could take a patient to the main

lobby because he was ready to leave. I took the job and as I opened the door to the room, I was

excited to see that it was Br. Hamdy, Alhamdulillah.

In conclusion, I learned a lot from my time at the Washington Adventist Hospital.

It was a fulfilling experience and I learned a lot about safety procedures, communication skills,

and the hospital environment. It was a different experience because I did not know anybody. I

learned how to meet new people and they were all very nice and personable. I enjoyed getting to

know my colleagues, and it helped even more that some of their interests intersected with mine,

such as boxing and sports. The hospital environment was also very different in that it was very

quiet and sterile. Overall, I found to be a very good exposure and would even consider working

there part time in the future.