A Peer-to-Peer of a Different Variety
- ENGin Program
- Sep 17
- 2 min read
This article was created for publication in SGA ROUNDS by an ENGin volunteer Alexander Kanfer and reproduction on the ENGin blog.
Like many of my peers, I have felt upset and powerless in the shadow of world events, especially as medical school consumes much of our time and energy. Volunteering has always been a rewarding escape from these emotions, reminding me that I can positively impact the world and improve others’ lives.
Throughout the past seven months, I have found a unique volunteering opportunity with ENGin that has allowed me to simultaneously support a country enduring harsh war, find mentorship from a passionate medical professional, intimately learn about another culture, and form a strong friendship with someone across the globe.
ENGin is a women-led nonprofit that improves the English skills of Ukrainian citizens by pairing Ukrainian students with English-speaking volunteers to serve as tutors.
After discovering ENGin and signing up to volunteer, I was incredibly lucky to be matched with Diana, a recent medical school graduate (with several years of English instruction) in her internship year of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery in Kyiv. After seven months of weekly hour-long Zoom tutoring sessions, I feel comfortable calling Diana my close friend and genuinely enjoy learning about her experiences as an intern, physician, and Ukrainian.
Every week, I look forward to our sessions. We typically begin by catching up on school, work, and any other life updates. Next, we either review weekly topic-oriented vocabulary I arranged, work through presentations either of us prepared, practice conversational situations, or play language-based games. Every week, Diana’s pronunciation, vocabulary, and confidence seem to improve.
Some of our most memorable lessons have been working together to edit her English CV, prepare questions for a conference on cardiac surgery in Poland, and presentations Diana prepared for me on women in cardiac surgery, cardiopulmonary bypass machines, and Ukrainian holidays.
Volunteering with ENGin has not been without its challenges. I had to learn how to properly correct someone’s pronunciation, diction, and grammar. This often means overcoming my excitement to discuss a topic and focusing on the tutoring aspect of our relationship. By working with Diana, I am also reminded of the ways the current war has impacted Ukrainian civilians. I hear of the curfews, travel restrictions, missile sirens, drone attacks, and destruction of civilian infrastructure (including hospitals). I am still shocked by how casually she says “before the Russian occupation” or mentions the previous week’s missile/drone attacks. These are unfortunate situations that we, as empathetic future healthcare professionals, must recognize, bear witness to, and address.
My experience with ENGin has been a highlight of my first year of medical school. Volunteering has helped me grow into a more confident educator and cross-cultural communicator. I am pleased to have already devoted over 30 hours to my work with ENGin and look forward to continuing to spend time teaching and learning from Diana in the future. I am proud to say that Diana and I have much more in common than not, and believe this holds true for any other two physicians (or future physicians), regardless of where in the world they reside.
