Reflecting on my Time with Justin Short...
When I sat down and thought about what I wanted to gain from the interview process I decided I wanted to see what it is like outside of the hospital. I wanted to gain perspective on what it’s like to work with patients emotionally out of the presence of doctors. How does one feel when losing all their hair through chemotherapy, what it is like spending time with people who know they are going to die, or even what it’s like to be a little kid going through all of this. Justin Short provided me with all of this information and more.
Justin is the Program Director at the Community Cancer Center. This facility is one of two different support centers within our community and plays a vital role in the rehabilitation, growth and support of both the cancer patients and their families. The Community Cancer Center is a newly remodeled center that is just shy of four years old, and is coming up on there ten year anniversary as a center. It includes a spacious open layout, with a beautiful kitchen, yoga room, private session rooms, a beauty parlor/kids space, and a few offices for the staff. The moment I walked into this center, the mood overwhelmed me, the sense of calm was heavily present and everyone was very warm and welcoming.
Sitting down and discussing with Justin I learned specifically about what he does, and what the Center itself provides. He became involved around 3 years ago when a position opened up, and he decided he wanted to take his degree in oncology in a new and different path. On a daily basis, Justin is in and out of the office, meeting with different doctors both here in the gallatin valley, as well as over in Ennis and Livingston. Some days he hosts a support program, or takes a group out to go do an activity.
Each program offered, he organizes and plans out, offering a variety of activities for each person's interests and needs. These can range from general support groups, to kids art clubs, yoga, strength training, cooking and nutrition classes, and much more. Because of all their offerings, the center supports and see’s over 4000 patients each year. It brings in around 120-150 patients annually. In order to run all of this smoothly and see all of these patients, they need a rock solid staff. Here they have two shifts a day for the front receptionist period, which adds up to around ten staff members each week. These are there regular employee’s. In addition to the onsite doctors and therapists, the center has an additional twenty plus group of standard volunteers that comes in on a regular basis with the addition of many community groups like; fraternities and sororities from MSU, Banks, Rotary Interact Club, etc. This center relies on volunteers, and involvement from our community.
Going more in depth on a more personal level with Justin, we discussed the most rewarding parts of his job, as well as the hardest parts. He first described the hardest part, which naturally you could assume was seeing one of his patients pass away. Forming a personal relationship with them, and in the end the patient dying. Whether this was a foreseen death, or something unpredicted. But going off of that, he said the most positive part was when “good deaths” occurred. Knowing that you helped someone end their life in an easy and calm manner. Also positive feedback about their programs from both the patients and family members. Not many jobs can offer you such a rewarding feeling.
Overall sitting down and talking with Justin, I was able to grasp a better idea of what it was like to work with patients coping with cancer and in a setting outside of the hospital. Support groups, and therapy programs are just as important as medical treatments in trying to mentally heal each and everyone of these patients. After meeting with him, and seeing the environment he worked in on a daily basis, it really intrigued me, and gave me another potential career path to look into. And even if that for say didn’t work out, I will be back to volunteer and help out in anyway that I can!
Justin is the Program Director at the Community Cancer Center. This facility is one of two different support centers within our community and plays a vital role in the rehabilitation, growth and support of both the cancer patients and their families. The Community Cancer Center is a newly remodeled center that is just shy of four years old, and is coming up on there ten year anniversary as a center. It includes a spacious open layout, with a beautiful kitchen, yoga room, private session rooms, a beauty parlor/kids space, and a few offices for the staff. The moment I walked into this center, the mood overwhelmed me, the sense of calm was heavily present and everyone was very warm and welcoming.
Sitting down and discussing with Justin I learned specifically about what he does, and what the Center itself provides. He became involved around 3 years ago when a position opened up, and he decided he wanted to take his degree in oncology in a new and different path. On a daily basis, Justin is in and out of the office, meeting with different doctors both here in the gallatin valley, as well as over in Ennis and Livingston. Some days he hosts a support program, or takes a group out to go do an activity.
Each program offered, he organizes and plans out, offering a variety of activities for each person's interests and needs. These can range from general support groups, to kids art clubs, yoga, strength training, cooking and nutrition classes, and much more. Because of all their offerings, the center supports and see’s over 4000 patients each year. It brings in around 120-150 patients annually. In order to run all of this smoothly and see all of these patients, they need a rock solid staff. Here they have two shifts a day for the front receptionist period, which adds up to around ten staff members each week. These are there regular employee’s. In addition to the onsite doctors and therapists, the center has an additional twenty plus group of standard volunteers that comes in on a regular basis with the addition of many community groups like; fraternities and sororities from MSU, Banks, Rotary Interact Club, etc. This center relies on volunteers, and involvement from our community.
Going more in depth on a more personal level with Justin, we discussed the most rewarding parts of his job, as well as the hardest parts. He first described the hardest part, which naturally you could assume was seeing one of his patients pass away. Forming a personal relationship with them, and in the end the patient dying. Whether this was a foreseen death, or something unpredicted. But going off of that, he said the most positive part was when “good deaths” occurred. Knowing that you helped someone end their life in an easy and calm manner. Also positive feedback about their programs from both the patients and family members. Not many jobs can offer you such a rewarding feeling.
Overall sitting down and talking with Justin, I was able to grasp a better idea of what it was like to work with patients coping with cancer and in a setting outside of the hospital. Support groups, and therapy programs are just as important as medical treatments in trying to mentally heal each and everyone of these patients. After meeting with him, and seeing the environment he worked in on a daily basis, it really intrigued me, and gave me another potential career path to look into. And even if that for say didn’t work out, I will be back to volunteer and help out in anyway that I can!