So as a youth advisor here at Children’s Hospital Boston, one of my responsibilities is to participate in resident training. Basically, the interns and medical students that are working here are invited to have mock appointments with us, (the youth advisors) and we play the roles of the patients.

It’s SO MUCH FUN. Our job is to help get the residents comfortable interacting with teen patients and difficult situations that could come up. This way they can see what works best for them when the time comes to see real patients. I really enjoy these meetings because every time I get to work with new people and play the role of a different patient. Im also a little bit of an actor, (ahem) if I do say so myself.

There have been times when emotions got really intense. For example, just a few meetings ago I played a troubled 14 year old, and while going through my character’s experiences, I just kept talking until I felt like my face was getting warmer and even tears were beginning to swell up in my eyes. IT WAS INTENSE!!! Everyone in the room saw how emotional I was getting, and when I realized this, I snapped out of it. After the meetings are over, I can surely say that everyone leaves having learned something. It’s great to help doctors get better at what they do, and it’s even better to know that they are learning from teens like us who go through problems everyday. It’s definitely one of the perks of working here, I enjoy it, and wouldn’t give it up for anything.

-Hieu