Looking Beyond the Addiction
This summer, TouroCOM student Kseniya Svyatets had the opportunity to intern at the Betty Ford Inpatient Program
As a participant in the Summer Institute for Medical Students in the Betty Ford Institute, Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine (TouroCOM) student Kseniya Svyatets got an insider’s look into the world of addiction.
Going into the program, Svyatets admits, she did not know much about addiction. But she was eager to learn.
“A lot of the patients staying there have felt that doctors didn’t really know how to approach them and talk to them,” said Svyatets. As a future doctor, she wanted to learn how to bridge that gap.
She accompanied patients throughout their day and attended their lectures. But her most memorable experiences came from her participation in the group therapy sessions. “It allowed me to see the people behind the addiction and how prevalent the disease is in our society.”
During her participation in the program, she met an osteopathic physician who practiced pain management. A few of the patients spoke to her about how the doctor’s osteopathic manipulations made a big difference in their pain levels. “As someone studying osteopathic medicine,” she points out, “that was encouraging.”
