Soleha Patel ‘21 is a biomedical science: medical and veterinary sciences major from Mumbai, India. Her involvement in COVID-19 testing on UNH's campus has given her valuable exposure to the American healthcare system.
Soleha: I am a COVID-19 tester. I swab students and walked them through the process of how to self-swab when at home/dorm, how the barcodes are applied to their sample and when they should drop them off.
Soleha: I applied for this job to make a difference, to learn, to grow and to feel rewarded at the end of the day. As an international student, being a part of this community was an amazing experience. Being integrated into the American healthcare system and helping to facilitate smooth testing for everyone was a lesson and an experience I wouldn't trade for anything.
Soleha: I think when we think about healthcare, we think about people who are high up on the hierarchy. We often don't think about the micromanagement or the necessary work that others put into the process. While I was working for ConvenientMD, we got to observe and be involved in those details and see how they are managed.
From training people, to managing schedules every week, making self-swabbing kits, arranging the bar codes in alphabetical order, managing the crowd, managing technical difficulties, making sure people are safely distanced, accommodating people with disabilities, providing food for the entire staff — accomplishing all this and still being able to test everyone that comes through the door. All these people weren't just COVID-19 testers, they were an integral part of making the testing process run smoothly.
Soleha: I'm very lucky and fortunate to be able to be on the front lines. We as a community are faced with a challenge and I had the opportunity to rise with my peers and help. This had me realize the amount of effort the essential workers all over the world are putting in to make sure we are safe! I'm so grateful to be a part of such an amazing and noble community.
Soleha: This experience has taught me more than I could learn sitting in a class. And it’s not only the medicine part of it, this job/position has taught me patient contact, how to talk to a patient and walk them through a method, It has emphasized the importance of cooperation and respect for your peers and everyone that is working with you to make this process a success. It has given me confidence for which I'm always going to be grateful.
Soleha: I think UNH is trying their best to protect the staff, students, faculty and the community in general. They have and are working really hard to make sure that the campus is safe and people have a good and safe experience.
Learn More
