Lena Khanolkar is a current third year medical student at Vanderbilt. During her time growing up in Plano, Texas and as an undergraduate at WashU, she was extensively involved with serving her community. In undergrad, she worked for several nonprofits focused on homeless health services and developed initiatives to increase access to healthcare and nutritious foods for these communities. She is excited about the intersection of health equity and medical education, particularly how they are related to environmental health and her future career in radiology.
What would you like future physicians who are working with people experiencing homelessness to know?
These individuals face serious challenges to accessing healthcare, of which should be kept in mind when taking care of them both inside and outside of the hospital. At the same time, these patients are more than just their circumstances and working to make meaningful personal connections can go a long way. Ask your patients about them and their stories as you will find yourself learning a lot about not just life on the streets but also the unique life stories of each and every patient.