Mirit Balkan

"First, the creator. Then, I think I had very good teachers - Cleveland Clinic was the best place to learn this profession. I learned at what we kind of call the Disney World of Spiritual Care, so learning at the best place possible really helped me. When I go to other places, I know what needs to happen. It's also helpful that I have a supportive family and that my husband earns enough for me to be a chaplain, because it's not something you do for the money, not at all. So that is also something I'm grateful for. I think my success comes from having a very strong drive - I'm very good at what I do. I ask for a lot of feedback. I'm not afraid to make mistakes. I ask patients to tell me how can I do better, and they give me answers, and then I get better, and that's how I succeed."

A mentor told me something that I tell myself when there's a challenge: what is happening is not who I am. So if there's a challenge, or if things don't work, or if there are changes in leadership that make my work more complex, I try to keep it - not without emotions - but say, what is happening is not who I am. I'm not derived, like my identity is not dependent on this. I am doing the best I can, and the rest will follow. It was very good advice.

Don't think that it's either fulfillment and success and a full heart, or money. You could do both.

The biggest challenge is to see a patient, know that I can't help them, and still be there for them. I see people without homes - people whose accessibility to healthcare is very limited. We basically know that once they're done with us, they're gonna go back to the streets. Knowing that there's not a lot that I can do other than just sit with them and help them feel like people, keep their dignity, keep their sense of self, is good, but in my heart, I know it's broken. Seeing the brokenness, knowing that there's nothing I can do about it, is very frustrating, and I think it's the hardest part of my job. I will also say that in relation to women, it's very hard for me to see how women always get it worse. Because we're caregivers, because stereotypically or generally speaking we are the caregivers, so when a mom is in the hospital, there are kids at home, and if there isn't a home, there are kids in the street. We're usually picking the traditional parts of caregiving, so somehow for women it's always harder. I have more women that are hurt by men than women that are about to lose all their assets if they don't go back to the house than men. This is a part that is very hard for me to see, to watch, to know that it's like that, and there's not a lot that I can do.

Compassion, dignity, and integrity.