VCOM View Magazine Vol. 13 | No. 1

“ “...there are a lot of resources out there to help patients, but they can be difficult to find. This is why social services are such an important part of healthcare.” - Casey Harvey , VCOM-Virginia Class of 2027

the time being,” she says. “I hope as I get further along in my recovery, I can start adding things back and returning to the full school experience.” Her treatment journey taught Casey a lot about the healthcare system, and one of the biggest lessons she learned is just how complicated the system is. She went into the experience believing that, as a medical student from a medical family, she was an informed consumer. “But I was very much a fish out of water,” she observes. The difficulty was further complicated by the fact that she had to start treatment immediately. “There wasn’t a lot of time to acclimatize to being a patient. Everything from insurance to support resources had to be learned as I went.” She notes that there is a lot of burden on the patient and their family. They must learn about their disease and its treatment, as well as how to navigate the system. “I learned there are a lot of resources out there to help patients, but they can be difficult to find,” she notes. “This is why social services are such an important part of healthcare. They are an immense resource for patients, helping to connect them with programs and reduce the burden on the patient.” Casey knows that her experience as a patient is going to influence how she practices medicine going forward. She says her oncologist at UVA took the time to explain the diagnosis to her—what she describes as a “crash course”—and it was invaluable in helping her feel less afraid of the journey she was facing.

“As a physician, I want to embody that same teaching mindset with my patients,” she says. She also knows that there is often a mismatch between what the physician is worried about and what the patient is worried about. Physicians are thinking about treatments. Patients are thinking about the cost and accessibility of treatment, what the diagnosis means for school and work and the impact on other responsibilities. “I remember my oncologist’s voice fading away (like the teacher in Peanuts) and all I could think about was missing school,” she says. “Physicians cannot fully eliminate these competing priorities, but it is important to make sure they are acknowledged and, when possible, addressed.” Casey’s experience as a patient has reaffirmed her interest in hospital-based medicine, and she’s thinking about pursuing emergency medicine or critical care. Editorial Note: When we originally wrote this story, Casey had returned to the VCOM-Virginia campus and was hard at work, studying for her future career as an osteopathic physician. In August 2024, Casey unfortunately experienced a relapse of her acute myeloid leukemia and returned to UVA to continue treatment. All of us are rooting for her recovery, and we hope to see her back on campus soon.

18 Student Spotlight