Author Archives: Hannah Benz

Winter-Term EMT Course Fall Information Meeting

Tuesday, September 17, 6:30 pm in Coltrane Lounge

The Winter Term EMT Program is a credit bearing comprehensive, emergency medical internship that is co-sponsored by Middlebury College and Middlebury Regional EMS (MREMS).

The intensive month long program will provide students the opportunity to become nationally certified EMT-B’s. EMT skills may be used to provide medical support on the ambulance, at the Open Door Clinic and other College and community events.

The application process begins with students attending this information session, at which time you will learn about the program including the cost of the internship and complete a preliminary application. Once preliminary applications have been reviewed, students accepted into the program will be given three weeks to complete a series of tasks (form completion, immunizations, payment, etc). Students who fail the complete the application by the deadline will be removed from the roster and replaced with students on the wait list. Please email Hannah Benz (hbenz@middlebury.edu) with questions.

RSVP in Handshake.

Medical Scribe for Dr. Bouchard at Mountain Health Center in Bristol, VT

This is an amazing opportunity to work for a truly unique and engaged physician. Dr. Bouchard takes an integrative, holistic approach to medicine and has been in practice in Bristol for 24 years. She has a deep commitment to her patients, and community informs her approach to care. Scribing at a rural community health center is a fascinating experience, getting to engage with and learn from a wide array of patients. As a Scribe, you are in the patient exam room with Dr. Bouchard, experiencing medicine in action. Dr. Bouchard is a fantastic teacher and mentor, and her scribes learn the fundamentals of medical care, from diagnosis and treatment, to patient interaction, EMR, and much more. Anyone interested is welcome to reach out with an email directly to Dr. Marian Bouchard. Start date is roughly late Summer 2018.

Health Professions Shadowing Program

Porter Internship 2016

The Health Professions Program at Middlebury College sponsors a small clinical shadowing program at Porter Hospital and Clinics. As many of you are aware, medical, dental, PA and nursing programs value clinical shadowing in their holistic applicant review, but getting this experience can be tough.

Shadowing Session I will begin in early November 2017 and will continue through the end of JTerm; Session 2 will take place during the Spring Semester.  Students who are selected will be oriented and signed off and then will be allowed to shadow at Porter Hospital and Clinics during their session. Students might, for example, elect to spend a morning with a pediatrician, a day in the operating room, an afternoon with a cardiologist, and a 12 hour shift in the ER. Please indicate which session you would prefer, or if you have no preference.

The application process begins with completion of a simple form; use it as an opportunity to convince us why this experience is important to you! We ask that you not reach out to any Porter provider directly as there are a number of protocols that need to be followed in order for a student to shadow in the hospital. Doing so could jeopardize our affiliation agreement with Porter and result in termination of this beneficial relationship. This opportunity is open to Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors.

Interested? Please fill out this form and email it to: hbenz@middlebury.edu. We will accept applications until all slots are filled,  and we typically accept 6 students per session.

Please email Hannah Benz with any questions.

We Need More Doctors With Disabilities

One-fifth of all Americans have a disability, but less than 1 percent of doctors do. That’s slowly starting to change—to the benefit of medicine and patients.

Advances in technology are gradually expanding the pipeline for applicants with disabilities, both creating new means of accommodation and making accommodations that were once too clunky or expensive easier and cheaper.

“Doctors are healers, but they’re also arbiters of what’s normal,” said Temple. They tell us whether our worries are worth the worry. They help us grapple with the fragility of our bodies, the contingency of our lives. We see and hear and walk, but we won’t always. As we age, we are more and more likely to gain a disability—nearly three-quarters of adults over 80 live with one. Doctors with disabilities are not only able to heal us in the same ways as any other doctor; they may be able to help us better understand our bodies and how to live in them.”

Read the full article by Nathan Lohrman in Slate.