Rutgers medical students moonlight as Bergen Barbers, doling out haircuts and shaves to patients

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A group of medical students are helping patients at University Hospital in Newark in a most unusual way.

They’re moonlighting as bedside stylists, giving patients haircuts and shaves.

“As you can imagine, patients sitting in a hospital for weeks at a time, their beard grows out, their hair grows out, they’re already dealing with an illness that they’re trying to fight, so we’re hoping that just a little bit of help with shaves and haircuts makes their day better,” said Shivani Srivastava, a second-year student at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, and member of the Bergen Barbers.

The program was started by Vaishali Ravikumar, who graduated last year from the medical school and now works as an OB-GYN intern at the University of Arizona. Bergen Barbers was inspired by a patient Ravikumar was treating, who became depressed and requested a haircut. The group’s name refers to Bergen Street, where University Hospital is located.

Srivastava learned to cut hair during the height of the COVID pandemic. She said she enjoyed it and becoming a Bergen Barber was a natural next step. The group has more than 16 barbers who work in pairs. Bergen Barbers gave 40 haircuts last year, she said.

“I think it’s like one of the few volunteering opportunities where you see the gratification on the patients faces right away, you know the transformation happens within minutes,” said Riya Sutariya, who is studying to become a surgeon.

Recently, the Bergen Barbers were providing their service to a 62-year-old patient, who goes by Angel. The Newark resident has been waiting for weeks for a liver transplant.

Angel was was quiet and withdrawn, but after his Bergen Barbers appointment, his spirits lifted and he was smiling.

“When you shave and have a clean haircut you feel more alive, you feel like you want to keep going,” he said. “When you’re not clean you feel down, worse than anything.”

Srivastava, who was his stylist, said she noticed the change in Angel’s demeanor.

“Talking to him, asking about his life while giving him a shave and haircut, he really brightened up,” she said. “It felt like he wasn’t in the hospital, more like at the barber shop, telling us he wants this kind of cut, this kind of look.”

She said medicine is moving to a more holistic approach, which is not just treating the illness, but also treating the patient as a whole.

“Haircutting is not really taught in school, but what is taught is the importance of addressing their mental well-being, asking them what do they need,” she said. “They might say ‘My hair is bothering me, I want a haircut.’ So then it’s important to address that.”

Chinedu Nwadike, a registered nurse at the hospital said he is always impressed watching the Bergen Barbers in action.

“My patient got a haircut, and he was so happy, so excited, he said, quote, ‘I look like a human being now.’ It’s giving the patients an element of meaning in their life and giving them hope that tomorrow is going to be a better day,” he said.

Sutariya said the patients are always smiling after their grooming.

“Even if we feel like we didn’t do the best job, or give them the most perfect haircuts, you see a smile every time., I don’t think I’ve had a patient who looked disappointed,” she said.

She said the Bergen Barbers program allows first- and second-year medical students, who don’t normally have patient interaction, a chance to get to know patients.

After his haircut and shave, Angel looked into the mirror and said some flirting with the nurses could be in his future.

“Maybe, it depends on them, you think my wife would like that,” he said, and then he giggled.