In this column, Allen shares personal and clinical experiences with healthcare disparities and barriers to access. He reflects on personal struggles, internal conflicts, difficult and inspiring patients, as well as valuable lessons learned. Through these reflections, he has learned the power of listening, the importance of addressing underlying factors of health, and how empathizing with patients can allow us to treat them as people and not diseases. These lessons can help us better understand our patients and give them not only the care they need but the care they deserve. They have rekindled Allen’s inspiration and purpose of what it means to be a doctor, and he hopes that by sharing these experiences, they will do the same for others.
Medical Student Contributing Writer, Columnist
Indiana University School of Medicine
Allen is a fourth-year medical student at Indiana University School of Medicine. He is a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. Allen plans on pursuing a career in Radiology.
Medical student Allen Betts explores the often underrated effect of psychosocial determinants and the integral part they play in the influencing health and well-being. Read more to find out how he has come to appreciate the soft skills a physician gleans through patient encounters rather than through books.
Medical student Allen Betts writes a letter to a former patient reflecting on the importance of treating a patient as a person rather than a disease.
Medical Student Contributing Writer, Columnist
Indiana University School of Medicine
Allen is a fourth-year medical student at Indiana University School of Medicine. He is a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. Allen plans on pursuing a career in Radiology.
