My experience doing community service in oncology hospital

   For me as a medical student social work represents a fundamental pillar in my training, however personally I find it very difficult to interact with certain patients so the work we do in the Oncology Unit Virgen del Valle has been a challenge.

The first activity that I realized that was the attention to the patients that receive treatment was a good way to start, since I have had experience in the care of patients, as well as the examination of the patients that visit the oncological consultation, nevertheless not I only attended them from the medical point of view but I learned a little to deal with and understand the psychological problems that these patients present, such as stress, anxiety, depression, hopelessness, sense of disability, etc. And being able to help them and guide them in this process has been important for me.

Acute stress is a form of human adaptation to overcome challenges, but chronic stress has been shown to be harmful, affects metabolism, cardiovascular function, among other systems. And it is this chronic stress that affects these patients, and there are some studies that indicate that substances such as Cortisol and Catecholamines; As a result of stress, they can reduce the effectiveness of treatment and perhaps the perpetuation of cancer, so we decided to talk about stress, how to handle it and even laugh therapy, which was a learning experience for me.

Empathizing and spending time with patients is something that I had not done, and I feel that it has been a win-win, for the patient since many times they go alone to the consultation or to get the treatment and have a company, a way of venting and clarifying doubts is important for them and for me to understand their situation, their point of view and how they face this obstacle is a reason for learning.

Among the activities carried out was the elaboration of informative billboards about the most common cancers.

Finally, I am very pleased and grateful to our community service tutor who allowed us and helped us to carry out large activities, such as an activity to commemorate the day of the child, the Virgin Mary of the Valley, the open forum for cancer breast and sports activity which was a very nice experience to be able to help these patients.