The leader Within

Chapter 5: Terry Fox Medical Clinic

Terry Fox Medical Clinic is a walk-in clinic located on Terry Fox road in Mississauga. The clinic consists of eight doctors who work at different days of the week. Doctors and nurses assess and treat minor illnesses and injuries. The clinic also has a connected pharmacy with it which makes the medicine easily accessible for patients. The clinic also does minor tests such as blood tests but recommends patients to other hospitals for major illnesses or tests such as X-rays or CT scan.

One of the doctor in Terry Fox clinic was my family doctor who told me that I could do my volunteer hours in the clinic if I wanted. So, I started volunteering at the clinic every Saturday for 3 hours. I registered patients into the clinic's system, collected their health cards and scheduled their appointments. I also helped organize sort out doctors' files and documents while simultaneously engaging with walk-in patients. I called in to remind patients of their appointments and scanned and faxed patients reports. I also assembled patients blood samples.

This experience did not involve me being much of a leader, but it still helped me develop as a leader myself. This is because I used to assist the nurse at the clinic who used to manage everything there. She would have a proper system to organize the patients reports and their tests. She would have a set time to fax and scan documents and would always do her task at that time instead of putting it for another time. This made me realize that she does her work so effectively because she manages her time well. She had a set schedule for herself which outlined the time she would do a set task.This kept her on task, she always had all the reports ready for the doctor;this avoided confusion and saved the doctors time too. This taught me that a leader always needs to be at the top of their game and make sure they manage their time wisely. It allows them to stay ahead of their work and also inspires their followers to do the same. If their followers also start managing their time wisely, it helps the whole team be successful in achieving their goal.Also, while engaging with the customers, I realized that merely being supporting and positive towards them made them comfortable at the clinic. I learned that sometimes a leader just needs to stay positive in order to provide hope and comfort for people around them too. If a guiding figure is positive and supportive towards their team, it helps provide reassurance and puts the team ease which is part of a leader's job.