With Passion, Live

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Cost-Benefit Analysis

Lately I've been pondering the idea of cost-benefit in terms of medicine and research. We've been talking about healthcare and poverty and injustice in my medical anthropology class (love it!) and have been analyzing different systems of medicine. There is such this disparity in the United States between the rich and the poor, and many, many people somewhere in between with varying levels of income. Our medical system is great in that if you have some rare disease, or an extreme condition (trauma, preemie babies), then you are getting the best care no matter what the price (and the price is really steep). On the other hand, there are millions (MILLIONS) of people who do not have any type of healthcare, and the majority of them also live below the poverty line.
And I don't know what to think about this. I don't want to say, x person doesn't get treatment but y does, but that is what we are doing now in some ways, at a great expense to our medical system. We've also been talking about how power struggles and political decisions shape our culture and therefore our medicine, and I think these issues play a huge role in the way medicine is practiced and the quality of care that is available.

No matter how much education people get, if they can't actually apply the knowledge because of their circumstances, how much help is it? How much is this going to cost us? I've never been a business person but I've been wondering if what we are doing is effective. Do I want to have to be a part of practicing this system, and what does my ideal look like? Is this possible on a large scale? With people of all kinds of beliefs, including mine in God?

I've also wondered for a long time if the money that went into research and some really expensive innovative treatments could be better spent elsewhere, maybe in prevention and policy reform, and could thereby eliminate the need for the treatment? Personally, that's why I want to be more involved in the providing of medicine and not the development of medicine. I also don't want to get to that place where I feel like I'm overwhelmed by need, because every little thing makes a difference. We don't live in an (my) ideal world, and sometimes I don't know how to grapple with that either. I don't want it to sound like I'm ranting, because I'm not, I've just been processing these things that I really do care about. These are bigger issues than I've never thought about before, and they are challenging me and inspiring me to dig into issues and think deep things and post about it on here!

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Soul Junk

Do you ever feel like you have accumulated junk in your soul? Not literally of course, but things we like to call baggage, or stresses, or whatever is weighing you down? I feel that way occasionally, and the only way for me to fix it to clean my spaces. Usually, I feel this way after the semester has been pretty rough, and I haven't stopped to put away laundry, clean the piles off my desk, empty the trashcan, clean out my wallet, ... you get the point.

Something I've been thinking about lately is that physical stuff actually hinders my mental space. A pile of school papers too high on my desk makes that space unwelcoming and therefore unused, making for a less productive me. Too much stuff in my backpack or purse literally makes me carry around unnecessary things. A large pile of laundry seems so much more intimidating than a medium-sized pile. I also feel like when stuff is put in its proper home, it is enough for me to know where it is, not just to see it.

Mentally, a ton of stuff on my to do list clutters my head, but I do know that as long as I write them down I will not forget about them and can stop constantly thinking about them. {Side note: this is why I have paper/my iPod next to bed so I can list these things that pop up as I try to sleep. This also might be why when I get bored in class, I will make lists. I love lists.} Too many tasks going on at once gets nothing done quickly or efficiently. This is the hardest one to remember - I am multitasking even as I write this and wishing I could also be working on like 4 other things. I am torn between just switching tasks and completing the other one so I can feel less distracted by it, and finishing the task at hand. Still a toss up, but currently this one is winning!

Spiritually, there is a lot of stuff that I would like to read/write/say that sometimes it gets cluttered in my head. Making lists of what I want to do helps too - I currently have like 30 topics I would like to post about. Ironically, I keep posting about current things. Hopefully one day I will get to that backlog. And I have like 10 books to read.

So, is your physical space a reflection of your soul space? And/or vice versa? Some people think your desk affects how you are viewed at your job: Your Desk Job. Last week it was empirically discovered by these people that physical clutter negatively affects your focus. Hmm. As a quasi-messy person, {read: It may look like a mess but I to me it makes sense and I could find it quickly!} I have been pondering this because I do think my space reflects my mind/soul and then this space affects my mind/soul. And the right kind of reminders are necessary - things I need to take somewhere, work to do. But maybe their place isn't at my workspace, but its own space, where it's not occupying so much of my mind.

So I'm working on keeping my soul and my spaces free and uncluttered, even if it means not doing other things, because it makes for a happier, more focused self. And I am free to think about interesting things instead. Like why I'm cleaning. Or on Him who cleanses me. :)

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Procrastination? Distraction?

I'm trying to write a paper about how biomedicine (aka US medicine) and personalistic medicine (aka shaman healings) can benefit from each other. And I'm having the hardest time writing it. Because I would much rather be writing this, so I'm just going to write this and then turn back to the work. Maybe then I could focus on what the prompt asks me to write about, and not all these things that I want to include but that are not at all part of the paper.

I want to write about how I see the world as spiritual. Not in the sense that everything is a god, but that God created everything. That mind, soul, heart, and strength are not separate from each other. I want to say that I believe in this type of medicine that may be classified as personalistic but what does that really matter anyway?

What I really want to talk about is how for me, faith and medicine are so deeply connected that I wonder if I should just go into 'ministry' and then I think, medicine is my ministry. People are searching for healing, and where better to find it than at your doctor's office? I just want to write that medicine is ministry and ministry is medicine and why is there a boundary? This true, deep healing is desperately lacking in our medical system which believes that everything must be based on what we can see. Do we really have any faith at all? Because everything that is seen was formed by a God who cannot be seen by this naked eye. But the Son expresses the very nature of God (Heb 1:3) - and when we look at Christ we see the Father (John 14:9). He is seen! I digress. But science and our culture has this idea that this physical world is all there is and with all my heart I have to disagree.

Because who says the supernatural, all-powerful God doesn't have complete control over this earth and everything in it? That disease and microbes are part of God's creation and yet at the same time can be used by the enemy to tempt us to doubt God's goodness. I am crying out to say that relationships are what matters more than the physical. To say that all of creation waits and groans because the relationship of all of humanity to God was irrevocably broken that day in the garden. That because of this we are broken people who hurt each other, who believe the lies about who we are, causing us to act out of self-love and not other-love. We are completely unworthy of approaching this perfect God and we know it. We know that this hurt and pain are not how it should be. Our souls are longing for something that can only be satisfied by this endless, infinite God and not with all these measurable, physical things that we can see.

I long to say that God is beauty, perfection, harmony, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, peace, love, joy, patience, gentleness, unity, trinity ... must I go on? These characteristics that we all seek and all deem as good (because we do have knowledge of good and evil) are found in this God. Who sends his Spirit to be in all of us! And by his Spirit we can love one another. And if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us (1 John 4:12), and Christ this unseen God is seen!

I want to say that you were created for more than this world. That the supernatural does exist and it is real and there is a war being waged for your soul. That even once you fight on God's side the war isn't yet over, and yet Christ has already triumphed over evil! That your God is fighting for you and sent the best weapon to take out the enemy by triumphing over death. I want to say that pills are not the answer and even if you have no physical pain, you cannot tell me you have no emotional pain. That on your best day there is still the question of is there more than this? What happens when all that you can tangibly want is yours? That living even one more second on earth will not take away your fear of death unless you trust that Christ has paid the price and you can have eternal life if you trust in him.

I want to say that the world does not need more medicine, what they need is more knowledge of Christ. And I plan to bring it by way of medicine. How do you classify that?

Friday, March 25, 2011

So, this week, this non-profit in Kansas that I really like, Hospitals of Hope, posted a job opening on Facebook. They are a really cool Christian medical relief organization, and work mainly in Latin and South America. Their work is really similar to that of Global Links, the non-profit I work at here. So, I checked out the job requirements, and since they didn't require any experience, I sent in my resume! I got an email back, asking me for an additional writing sample - a blog post trying to raise support for a relief organization providing relief to Japan.

As a result, I began to research different relief organizations. I wanted something that was Christian, and had medical aid programs, since these are things I am passionate about. Somehow, I came upon Samaritan's Purse, an organization similar to Compassion and World Vision, which donates aid and supplies in Jesus' name. I am also really excited about their medical aid opportunities - they send many medical missionaries, and you can donate directly to this medical aid or in support of the medical missionaries. In addition, they send people directly out of residency into the mission field for 2 years - fully supported! Even if I don't get this job (now or ever), I am super excited about finding this out about Samaritan's Purse!! And their 'gift catalog' is so cool too!

I also just wanted to share the sample blog post I submitted (and encourage you to donate to Samaritan's Purse Japan aid fund!):

Blog for Samaritan’s Purse Aid Relief for Japan

On March 3, 2011, Japan experienced a devastating 9.0 earthquake which subsequently caused a tsunami. To date, there are over 24,000 people dead or missing. In addition, hundreds of thousands of people were displaced from their homes Japanese officials are estimating the damages to be up to US $309 billion dollars. The need for aid is astounding.

Samaritan’s Purse is a US-based international relief organization which gives aid in the name of Jesus Christ. They provide emergency relief, medical aid, education, and development programs to countries all across the globe. They are striving to fulfill Jesus’ call about the Good Samaritan who had mercy on his neighbor and showed him compassion: “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37 NIV). They recently donated 93 tons of aid to Japan, which was distributed toward local churches there. Through this, Samaritan’s Purse has been able to share the Good News about Jesus Christ with many people in Japan, providing them with hope in His kingdom which will never be shaken (Isaiah 54:9-10, Hebrews 12:28).

Will you act like a neighbor to Japan, showing them love and compassion through aid in Jesus’ name? Will you pray with us that God would use this to bring people to himself and heal both their physical and spiritual needs? Will you partner with Samaritan’s Purse in the mission of spreading Christ’s name throughout the globe? Will you give to further His kingdom which will not be shaken? To donate, please visit:

https://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/Giving/Project_donations?pc=13953