MFA Program By Rachel Pearson: Chapter Analysis

Puzzled on what was right for her, Rachel Pearson studied in the creative writing MFA program at Columbia University before she attended medical school and eventually be exposed to the inhumanity of contemporary American health care system. The MFA program provided her with the ability to have a distinct voice through vivid storytelling. This well-balanced book teaches the readers about the deficiency and injustice of the healthcare system. Through Pearson’s journey as a medical student, we get the real insider details on how the system works, a system that discriminates based on race and class, and a system that regardless of matter of life and death situations will not treat you if you are uninsured or a prisoner. As a medical student Pearson

This is the system that when it comes to treating the underprivileged puts them at risk since they are the ones that suffer from the mistakes of medical students. On chapter 9 we are introduced to Mr. Rose, a man who “was clearly sick, but wasn't actively dying.” Mr. Rose was under the care of medical student Pearson, who worked in the clinic that helped the underprivileged, yet the help was not enough and full of mistakes. Mr. Rose died because Pearson couldn't detect what was wrong with his urine sample soon enough to get him help. Guilty, Pearson wished for Mr. Rose to have been insured and have had a primary care doctor that would’ve caught the cancer in its early stages and provided him with the necessary

Jimmy died because he did not have a regular primary care provider who would know and take care of his needs. Left with a sense of guilt, Pearson wished that Jimmy and Vanessa had a better and more experienced advocate than her. On chapter 24 we are introduced to Gloria, “a foreign-born, uninsured Latina woman living in poverty in Texas” (241) who was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Although the American medical system does not help the underprivileged, the “Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act of 2000 guarantees funding for both screening and treatment for these cancers to women living at or below 250 percent of the federal poverty level” (240). But because Gloria is undocumented she is deliberately excluded from the program that funds these treatments. On chapter 22 we are introduced to Malachai, a man who because of his criminal record was on the edge of being denied medical treatment. Because St. Vincent's motto is “All Are Welcomed Here,” Malachai was able to get treatment. To Mr. Jackson, the “‘Servant in Chief,’” “you are not just welcome here. You are expected here”