NHC SF Member Blog: Called to Serve - A Conversation with Second-Year NHC Members
For the 2022-2023 Service Term, National Health Corps San Francisco welcomed three returning NHC Members!
Paola Vidal-Espinoza and Saadhana Deshpande completed a Service Term with NHC San Francisco for the 2021-2022 Service Year, while Angela Zhang completed a Service Term with NHC Chicago for the 2020-2021 Service Year.
In this interview/podcast, each of them reflects on their previous service term experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, how components of the program have changed or have stayed the same, as well as providing quintessential advice for both prospective NHC applicants and NHC members that are considering serving a second time!
Throughout the conversation, they answered the following questions:
How did the previous Service Term wrap up for you? What were some of the reasons for why you chose to return to NHC San Francisco? If you’re coming from a different location, what brought you back to NHC? What similarities are you finding between San Francisco and your previous city?
Up until now, you’ve participated in the Pre-Service Orientation trainings, as well as in a NHC SF Member Meeting. Many of the trainings have been like the ones that you did last year but centered on topics that are ever-present and consistent in both our professional and personal lives. Some of the trainings might have been new entirely! What new lessons did you take away from these sessions, if any?
Since you’re returning to either the same or similar roles, what was new or different in terms of your onboarding process and required trainings? What was completely new this year? What experiences from your previous service term have impacted your approach to this service term?
What were you nervous about in coming back to NHC? What were you excited about?
Do you have any words of wisdom or words of consideration for NHC members thinking about serving a second term?
For a full transcription of the interview, please click here.
About the Authors
Saadhana Deshpande
Saadhana served with NHC San Francisco during the 2021-2022 Service Year, and chose to reapply for their position as a COVID-19 Responder/Food Access Coordinator with the SFHN - Food As Medicine Collaborative for the 2022-2023 Service Year.
Angela Zhang
Angela served with NHC Chicago for the 2020-2021 Service Year, during the beginning of the pandemic. After taking a gap year, Angela applied to NHC San Francisco to the COVID-19 Responder/Food Access Coordinator role with the SFHN - Food As Medicine Collaborative for the 2022-2023 Service Year.
Paola Vidal-Espinoza
Paola served with NHC San Francisco for the 2021-2022 Service Year as the COVID-19 Responder/Pediatric Coordinator, and chose to reapply for a second term as the COVID-19 Responder/Perinatal Coordinator with the SFDPH - Population Health Management Team for the 2022-2023 Service Year.