"I recently contacted the father of an adolescent patient who was overdue for a wellness examination at the Squirrel Hill Health Center (SHHC). I was attempting to schedule the patient for an appointment, but was met with a few obstacles as the father grew frustrated, largely due to the language and cultural barriers between us. The patient’s father was non-English speaking, and we were communicating through an interpreter. In our exchanges, there were numerous words in the English language that did not directly translate to the father’s language, which made the process all the more challenging. As our struggles with communication continued, I took a moment to step back and reflect on the situation and soon realized the father was simply trying to do something that I often take for granted, which was to obtain the best possible health care for his child."
