"Standing on a busy street in Skid Row on a recent sunny day, Mary Marfisee tried to block out street noise as she popped her stethoscope into her ears. Dozens of people were milling about. Dogs barked. Music blared. A constant thrum of cars drove past. But Marfisee is used to the commotion. "I'm going to listen to your lungs and see if they're ok. Is that ok?""
"Marfisee pressed the stethoscope onto the back of Hermione's oversized sweatshirt. "Your lungs are tight," Marfisee said with concern after a few beats. "Are you having trouble breathing?" she asked. Everything about Marfisee's approach is slow and deliberate. Before touching Hermione's arm, she hovers her hand over it and makes eye contact. Then, she lowers her hand gently. It's a deliberate, patient approach she's developed over her long career as a family medicine physician. Hermione's worried expression relaxed."
"That's because Marfisee, an assistant professor of medicine at UCLA, is also the family medical services director at the Union Rescue Mission. The Christian organization operates a four-story homeless shelter that is one of the oldest and largest homeless missions in Southern California. She told NPR she's coming up on 20 years tending to the more than 5,000 men, women and children who come through the doors of the shelter every year."
Mary Marfisee performs street-side and shelter-based medical care in Los Angeles' Skid Row, using a slow, deliberate bedside manner to calm patients. She assesses respiratory issues like asthma, checks for emergency needs such as EpiPens, and offers referrals to nearby clinics while accounting for shelter placement. The Union Rescue Mission operates a four-story shelter that receives more than 5,000 men, women, and children annually. Patients often carry belongings in strollers and face noisy, chaotic street environments that complicate care. Marfisee combines clinical assessment with knowledge of shelter resources to address health and housing needs.
Read at www.npr.org
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]