"What's a life lesson that you can share with a 20-something year old?" Join our guest, Dr. Tripat Sahi, as she shares her experiences interacting with patients in Hospice care. Her medical education, practical knowledge and the answer to her question, highlight the importance of living life to the fullest!
"What's a life lesson that you can share with a 20-something year old?" Join our guest, Dr. Tripat Sahi, as she shares her experiences interacting with patients in Hospice care. Her medical education, practical knowledge and the answer to her question, highlight the importance of living life to the fullest!
Time Stamp:
00:16 Meet Tripat Sahi, MD
00:59 Medical Education and Hospice Unit assignment
02:02 A 27-year-old's Perspective: Before and After Hospice Experience
04:27 Social Media and TikTok: Bringing the message to the young generation
05:06 The World is Noticing: Her message featured in Magazines and News
05:40 "What's a life lesson that you can share with a 20-something year old?"
08:17 Mindset: Lesson or Blessing
11:47 New Perspective in Patient Care
14:29 What's Ahead
15:25 Words of Wisdom: Volunteer at a Hospice Unit
Social Media and Contact Information: Tripat Sahi
Instagram @tripatsahi
TikTok: @tripat.sahi
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YouTube: Life 100 Podcast
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Life is better when we live it at 100 !
Rosie (00:07):
Welcome back to Life 100 Podcast. This is Rosie, and it's so good to share this time with you today. Our special guest is Dr. Tripat, a remarkable physician who will share with us her knowledge and experience, not only from the medical profession, but also on a personal level, working with patients in Hospice care. Doctor, thank you for being with us today.
Tripat (00:33):
Thank you so much for having me.
Rosie (00:35):
We are so fortunate that you are here because I received this link, a link where you were talking about what you have learned, and it revolutionized what I have seen because it's done not only from your medical expertise, but also from your personal view. So tell me why you chose medicine and also about working with patients during these stages.
Tripat (00:59):
I have my medical degree from the American International School of Medicine. I am currently in the process of getting into the Canadian residency program. During COVID I got a job at a unit that was on outbreak. This was at the Palliative Unit, Hospice Unit, and I was not expecting for my life, my thought process and just everything to be shifted in less than six months, because everything about me is different from when I started six months ago. It's because of the unit that I was working on, and interacting with some of these patients right before they pass away. It's been life-changing.
Rosie (01:37):
I can imagine, and not only from the medical profession, but in the personal point of view, and during COVID. All these three forces joining at once. So given what you see every day, and where you are in your life with so much ahead of you, how these help you appreciate more the way that you are living your life at this moment?
Tripat (02:02):
I have been a pretty free-spirited person, majority of my life to begin with, but it really just hammered it home now, working there. I'm only 27 years old. Right now is usually the time for everyone to chase something, either chasing marriage, chasing their dream, chasing money or chasing something. I personally am chasing my career. In that chase, you kind of forget that you need to also be living life, and what your version of what living life may differ once you go work in this unit. Once I've worked in this unit, it's more about experiences and more about the connections and the relationships that you have with your loved ones and your friends, and just the bonds that you create with people, really. Those are the things when you're dying and you're going to be on your death bed, those are the things that you reflect on the most. And just hearing that from of the patients that I've had the chance to get close to, has been eye-opening, as in, I'm so focused on, I need to get into residency,
Tripat (03:08):
What's the next step in my career? What do I have to do next? If I achieve this next thing, then I'll be happy. Or if I achieve this next thing, then I'll think about kids or getting married. So it's always looking forward to that next thing. And you kind of forget to live in the present moment. And that's where I've really started to look back and be like, I need to slow down a little, think about the relationships that I have right now. I need to water those more. I need to just be present more, explore more. I love being in nature. So when I get in the go-go go mode of getting my career started, I didn't start to neglect those little aspects of myself, of taking that time to go out in nature and go on hikes and all of that. It's incorporating those things more and more into my life.
Rosie (04:00):
Absolutely, because we tend to live this type of resume life, going checkpoint by checkpoint. And we're trying to do different. We are trying to enjoy the moment, at the moment. And because where you are in your life, I can imagine that perhaps not too many people, your age are thinking about the same thing. So how is that translated in what you have realized, and how they have welcomed that information or that point of view?
Tripat (04:27):
I started using my TikTok platform as a way to kind of bring in that perspective into life. Especially nowadays, the pressure is a lot more and more for people at a younger age to become those millionaires or to become super successful and to achieve those things. Social media ---, and TikTok is the new social platform. It's the best way to get in touch with the younger generation. And that's where I started, trying to incorporate some of those parts into video format, to be able to understand those parts.
Rosie (05:06):
And you have done it very effectively. I have seen articles about you and about what you have done in a magazines in the UK, in Indy 100, in MSN. And this is something that is so important because people don't like to talk about it. Don't like to talk about this subject and you are doing it and living it day by day, and then you are bringing this message to everyone else. So what are some of the main things that made an impact in your life that you can share with us?
Tripat (05:40):
One of the things I actually started when I got to the unit was start asking patients that are still coherent, mentally function on their own, a simple question. I always give them the option of not answering because it can be a little personal. So the question is what's a life lesson that you can share with a 20-something year old? And the answers I get from that are a wide range. I don't think I've received a similar answer or the same answer twice so far. Each person's story and their life is unique to themselves, so it's more of guidance, like you can put parameters on and take them off on your own discernment of when they should apply and shouldn't apply. Each patient's answers are usually different. One that I can think of is a patient that said, "Make sure all your documents have your proper name on them with proper spelling." Make sure you do that as a younger person, because when you're get older, he's struggled a lot with transfers from hospitals or getting medication because of the names weren't correct on his birth certificate or on his license. He told me, "You won't be suffering like how I've been suffering for the past couple of years." He told me that one, that's a really interesting life lesson.
Rosie (07:01):
Absolutely. That is a unique one because we don't hear that all the time. What are some of the things that no matter the person's background or their experiences are pretty much the same all across?
Tripat (07:15):
Some of the other ones are, take care of the one body that you have -- . For females, one of the sweetest lady gave me this one. She said, "If you're a female in this day and age, education is the most important thing for yourself that you can do." And then another one from the same lady was, "When it comes to following your heart, following that inner wisdom that you have, when it comes to that fork in the road, follow your heart versus your head." That's one that it can't be a law. You have to use your discernment of when you should follow your heart versus follow your logical mind.
Rosie (08:09):
I agree. And in one of your posts, you have shared that things are either a lesson or a blessing. Let's talk about it.
Tripat (08:17):
Through my own personal experience, and through some of the patient's experience, you have to have the mindset nowadays in life to get through a lot of the things that people go through, your own traumas of the past or experiences, you have to have the mindset of either it was a lesson or it was a blessing. So if something bad happened, someone did something to you, you have to look at it as in a way of-- what can I learn from this? Maybe you don't have proper boundary setting skills, and that's something that to be worked on, or you're learning something about other people. The way that humans interact or the way that things are done in society, there's always something that you can gain, learning wise, if you're willing to pay attention and actually take the time to sit there with yourself and see that point of view, or it was a blessing.
Tripat (09:16):
Something didn't work out, something better is going to come along. Something didn't work out, you might've actually ended up worse in that situation, then getting something better-- further down the road. So either is a lesson or it was a blessing. Because a lot of people will get in their sixties or seventies; there has been a few patients realize that they've been soaking about something that happened to them 30, 40, 50 years ago. It might've been a traumatizing moment, I'm not trying to downplay whatever happened in their life, but you carry that burden or that emotion for 40, 50 years untill you pass away? Those 40, 50 years, did you just stop living? Did you take the time to try and process those emotions so that you could start experiencing life in a different way? And so in my eyes, it almost like you stop living.
Tripat (10:14):
You stopped enjoying the small moments of life because you held onto something. Even when you asked them what took you there in that way of your viewpoint in life, then they'll bring up the incident that happened. And it's just sad to see, because if something's happened, you take the time to go see a therapist, go figure out a way to work through it so that it might take you a year, two years, three years, but 40 ,50 years is a little much. And holding on to these negative emotions also can cause so many different types of disorders and diseases because the stress hormones and the hormones that is being released in your body when you're angry or frustrated, your body gets used to that concoction of stress hormones. And that's not your normal zone of what your body inside is supposed to be like. So that can turn on different genes and hence more diseases or cancers.
Rosie (11:16):
Yes, because we are not talking about something that happened tragically or suddenly, we're talking about the normal progression of life. What can we do today? How these things are going to affect me, affect us, not only at a personal level, but from the medical point of view. Now, you as a doctor, someone who has studied this in depth, how this has transformed the level of care that you give, has it altered or has not changed at all?
Tripat (11:47):
It transformed the way that I deliver patients care. 100%. I had being able to provide the space for people that will bring out their emotional, what happening with them to build that rapport with patients. But the compassion that's needed for end of life care is a whole nother level. You'll notice, especially during COVID, just the simplest things like holding a patient's hand makes the biggest difference to them. Being able to say, "I'm here. I am giving you this space," because a lot of them will be scared. You're sitting in this room by yourself all day, just --- away at the time, and being able to go there and provide them that space of "I'm here. I'm listening. If you have anything that you want to share, or if you just want to sit here in silence and watch TV," just providing them that space, I've made the most amazing connections with patients just with this simple step to my patient care. And a lot of them, if they're scared, they'll just hold your hand. They'll just watch TV. Some will share about their life and how proud they are of their family and how happy they are that they had their family. How well everyone's doing, and that they're sad to leave them, but that they're proud that they have such a loving environment to leave behind.
Rosie (13:22):
Yes. And that is so meaningful because I have gone through both experiences with my parents, my father, it was sudden, totally unexpected. Within days, it was from normal to gone, and the level of care that we received during those circumstances, it made a difference. And my family and I, my sister and I are forever grateful. Now my mother, on the other hand, it was the normal or expected transition of age and different medical conditions until the end. And then she was in Hospice, and the level of care, the attention that they provided, it felt like extended family because they were with us all the way, explaining what to expect. And I'm just so grateful for professionals like you, who are doing this type of work, because it is so meaningful. It truly makes a difference. Now, looking into the future, what is next for you? What is next in your professional, your personal life? What is the next step?
Tripat (14:29):
I'm still trying to get into residency. That part hasn't faded away. I actually would like to move to a different country. I haven't picked a country yet, but I want to experience life in a different way. I want to be very uncomfortable within my surroundings, as in it could be a different language, and able to experience medicine in a different country, which I think is super important because I did med school in a different country. So I already have the knowledge and experience, and each country differs, not in the general medicine obviously, but the way that they practice medicine. And I find that super fascinating. Other than that, I'm not married. So hopefully one day that'll happen. I think right now it's wanting to move somewhere else. I want that experience. I do want to add in one thing for the listeners, if you ever want to get experience with what I have gotten the experience of, most hospitals and most long-term care that have a Hospice Unit, usually have a volunteer program and you can sign up to go volunteer and just spend some time with these patients.
Tripat (15:46):
It doesn't have to be super long or you don't have to dedicate a lot of time, but just going in for a few hours and spending time with patients makes a world of a difference for them too, because they're sitting there by themselves most of the time. Even when family comes in and out, there's still a time for some patients require a lot more social interaction, and the nurses and the health care aides can only provide so much because they have their own jobs to do also. So go volunteer at a Hospice Unit. It will be life-changing, because you're going to ask the same types of questions that I've been asking them and gain the same type of knowledge and insight of life and even more questions that you might have.
Rosie (16:29):
And what a beautiful way to conclude this episode. Thank you doctor. Thank you for sharing your experiences and your knowledge with us, and for those who will like to get in touch with you, what will be the best way to reach you?
Tripat (16:44):
Either my Instagram @tripatsahi or TikTok @tripat.sahi. TikTok is more of my personality, video form of everything that I talked about. And then Instagram is more of my photography side and, I put in a lot of my meditation epiphanies on Instagram. So the contents are a little different, but very similar realm.
Rosie (17:07):
And both of them are fantastic. So thank you so much. I appreciate you, and until next time.[Bye]. What a wonderful conversation to remind us to live to the fullest, and thank you for sharing this message, for being part of this journey. I invite you to visit her social media that is full of insight and inspiration. And once again, thank you for listening, and like, leave a comment, and subscribe, follow us because like I always say: Life is Better When You Live it at 100!