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Letters From the Field September 7, 2004 Boston Globe article featuring Ms. Deveney |
Over the past few years I have done a significant amount of traveling around the world. I have found beauty that is awe-inspiring and degradation that is heart wrenching. Working in a third world country has been an interest of mine since before entering college, but it is recent travels that have convinced me that this type of work is right for my career. With my education, the work that I have done at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and my travel experience, I now feel that I will be an asset to any relief program and look forward to the opportunities that the Thomas S. Durant Fellowship in Refugee Medicine can offer.
I want to help. It is as simple as that. I realize good nursing skills are a gift to any community. Yet, in a community where resources are limited, good nursing skills are an indispensable commodity,. There are few people who are willing and/or able to volunteer in hostile and primitive environments, but I am both willing and able. The poverty I have seen through my travels has only fueled my enthusiasm to intercede in a positive way, and I believe that the knowledge accrued over the past three years on a demanding and fast-paced medical floor at MGH will be a great asset to me in this endeavor.
Working at MGH I have been able to hone my assessment skills and expand my critical thinking abilities. Dealing with complicated patients with multi-system problems presents new challenges daily and new learning opportunities. I have risen to these challenges and gained much from these experiences. I now look forward to the new challenges and learning opportunities of working with refugees.
I also look forward to working wit a new team of health care professionals. I imagine a solid team structure becomes even more important when working under such harsh and potentially volatile conditions. I am proud of the reputation I have created at MGH as one who is always willing to lend a hand to a fellow co-worker. I have demonstrated that I know how to be at team player and additionally know how to step-up and lead if the need arises. I am easy-going and flexible but also confident in my knowledge and expertise. I am eager to utilize and fine-tune these characteristics under the auspices of the Durant Fellowship.
Yet, even more than that, I look forward to an opportunity to make a different – to not just be saddened by the way the world is but to attempt to make it better in some small way. Because I truly believe:
“Changes can come from the power of many but only when the many come together to form that which is invincible…the power of one.”
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