"If Bread for the City didn't exist, I don't know what these people would do. None of them have insurance through their jobs and clearly can't afford to pay for [these services] on their own," said junior Katie Propst.

Propst’s favorite aspect of her internship at a Washington, D.C. medical clinic is her independence, her supervisor's faith in her, and how much contact she has with the patients.

"The point of our clinic is to treat the under-served population [of Washington D.C.] and I'm excited about the opportunity to interact with people that have had such different experiences from mine. Some of them are homeless, some have lived in the District for years, some of them are immigrants. I met one man who was visiting family before he had to go back to Africa. One man had just gotten out of prison and had to show me a note from his sister as proof of address. They all have stories to tell and they aren't stories I would hear anywhere else. I wouldn't hear them at a private hospital. I wouldn't hear them at EMU. I’m investing in their lives, which is something conventional systems don't do," said Propst.

As a biology/pre-med major and sociology minor, Propst takes seven hours of biology at Catholic University of America and works 20 hours a week at Bread for the City, a non-profit organization that aids the city's disadvantaged residents by offering free medical, legal and social services, as well as clothing and food.

I met Propst in the Bread for the City Medical Clinic where she was “running lab.” She was already in full swing. As I walked down the hallway from the front of the building that houses all the departments and services the organization offers, I saw her through a window, bent over an elderly man's arm, drawing his blood.

When I got into the room she greeted me with a hurried smile as she said to her patient, "Thank you sir. Have a good day." She took the three vials of blood that she'd drawn from him and set them with a stack of paperwork on the counter behind her.

Between patients, Propst explained that while she is running the lab, as she does every Thursday morning, she is responsible to draw blood and prepare it to be sent to various companies for the testing. She showed me the different types of vials necessary for each different test, how the patient's information is entered into the computer, how she fills out the lab work forms and where to find all the different things that she needs to draw blood.

Propst clearly has her system down. After a patient leaves, she replaces the paper towel, takes out a new tourniquet and cotton ball, sets out a new needle, picks out the vials she needs and glances at the paperwork. Only after she is ready does she step outside the room to usher in the next patient.

As I sat on a stool in the corner of the room that is her domain for four hours each week, I had a chance to watch Propst greet each patient, draw his or her blood, organize the paperwork, prepare the blood for testing, answer questions from patients and coworkers, keep track of each patient and reassure not only them, but the doctors as well.

"The experience I'm getting here is so great," Propst explained as she cleaned up. "Medical schools are looking for applicants who have spent time working with patients - not observing or filing medical records, but actually working with patients. I have so much independence here that I can handle most problems on my own. It's so valuable."

Propst put away the last of the supplies. "In the past, my experience has only been with private health care, and this clinic has exposed me to a whole different side of health care that I never would have considered as a career if I hadn't taken this job. I felt good about what we were doing [at the private hospital], but this is so different. There's just such a need in this city. It's amazing."

As a student at WCSC (Washington Community Scholars' Center), Emily Nelson has been privileged to have the opportunity to share the internship experiences of some of her fellow students.