Author ’ s Note :
I see brokenness every day . I hear it in patients ’ voices . I see it in their scars , the ones seen and unseen . I feel it when we sit in the silence . Sometimes the tears come , sometimes all I can do is reach out my hands , gloved , hovering . Sometimes all I have to offer is one tissue after another .
a need for a hospital . But while we are here on this earth , even now , there is still someone out there who says , come , all you who are weary and heavy laden , come .
People go to doctors for healing . They want to know what is wrong , what is the diagnosis , how can it be treated . They lay out their questions . They reveal the aches of their hearts . They search for answers , and often , there are none . I see their worries , their fears , their eyes wondering , what now ? What is to come ? Sometimes , there are diseases that are in fact treatable . Streptococcal pharyngitis ( aka strep throat ), for instance , resolves with antibiotics . There are even diseases that are preventable , such as vaccines against polio . Still , there are hundreds of more cases without any guaranteed treatment . Everything is exacerbated all the more by the times and circumstances we live in .
Each day , I walk through a place that bears witness to the pain of fellow human beings . Hospitals take record of the hurting . As a graduating medical student who will soon enter the workforce , I am consciously aware that I will not always witness physical healing in people ’ s lives . I will not always know what to say , what to do , how to treat this or that . Medicine — even modern medicine — can only do so much . And yet , as a follower of Christ , I need to remind myself that there is still hope , and I can share this hope in the world of medicine . For example , one particular verse I ’ ve tried to live out is 2 Corinthians 1:4 ( NIV ): “ we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God .” This means that I can listen intently to patients , care for them , and let them know they will not walk this journey alone . Jesus is the one who does this all perfectly . He is that someone who is able to do both physical and spiritual healing . He is the one who knows each person fully , who knows what they need , who walks with them through the darkest of times . I repeat these words to myself when I wake up in the morning and when I leave the workplace at night . One day , there will no longer be
Anna Delamerced is a medical student at Warren Alpert Medical School .
Illustrated by Helena Suh ' 23 .
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