InspirationMedicine
Medical School: A Fairytale
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess, who had decided to go on a long journey. She had been told about what lay at the end of a long and winding path. It was all of the good things
InspirationPerspective
The Healers of Then, Now, and Tomorrow
I look ahead of me, and I see a future bright with the joy of service and the triumph of progress, but also, I look behind me. And when I look over my shoulder, when I close my eyes and travel
Medicine
National Birds
We traveled by school bus for two days to reach the health center. The roads from the capital, originally wide and paved and bustling with urban life, had gradually given way to dirt and dust and
MedicinePerspective
The Last Physical
First day of medical school. Nervous students huddled around a white bag in a cold room under pale fluorescent light. We made small talk across this white bag, trying to dance around the fact
InspirationPerspective
Violence and concussions, among other things….
I know nothing about football culture. It was difficult enough for me to understand the reason for the argument, much less the cause of violence. The social worker let us know that legally this
MedicinePerspective
I Love Our Hospital
I love our hospital. It’s big and white. It’s where I met mommy and daddy. I love our hospital because I got a cold one day, and we went there. A nice man in white smiled at me and told me that
MedicineOtherPerspective
A Changed Perspective on Life
The first time I saw her, her skin was thin and wrinkled. Her hair was gray and brittle. Her eyes stared at the empty wall. She was dying. It was so, so sad. Goodbyes are so sad. I remember
AdviceInspirationMedicine
Letters to a Young First Year
Welcome Class of 2020! You are about to embark on a most wonderful adventure. You have worked so hard to get to this moment and I hope in the midst of the craziness of orientation you find a
MedicinePerspective
Orientation
They said, Not everyone can be the best. And you thought, I’ll show them. Fast forward many months of struggle and self doubt, shame and regret Late nights, highs and lows In retrospect, a slide
Mindfulness
Power Stance: Assume the Position
Take a mental snap shot of the posture you’re in right now. Are you hunched over your computer screen or smart phone, reading this article? Do you find that you’re in this position quite often,
InspirationMedicinePerspective
A Letter to a Third-year Medical Student
Dear Third-year Medical Student: It’s hard to believe that, as I’m writing this, I am in my last rotation of third year. This year has been amazing and has gone by so quickly. There is no
Inspiration
Perspective
“Normal is an illusion. What is normal to a spider is chaos to the fly.” I had a very unproductive evening in the library that day. It was empty, mostly because of the long weekend
InspirationMedicinePerspective
“Does Everyone Here Realize that I’m an M1?”
It was very late on a Friday evening as I sat in the trauma bay of our University hospital. I was about halfway done with my trauma-shadowing shift when the infamous blue lights above my head
Perspective
The Monster Inside Us
I am a monster. Or so I think as I relegate myself the darkest place on the internet: the comments section. Here, among the semi-anonymous maze of haters, trolls, religious zealots and the
InspirationPerspective
Fatigue: A Love Story
For me, it always starts behind my eyes. It’s the end of the day, and there’s a weight behind my eyes, pulling the rest of my face down, creating a painful point in the center of my forehead. I
InspirationMedicinePerspective
Scaffolding
I really like construction metaphors. In our last course, one of my instructors used brick laying as a metaphor to describe blood clot formation, and the information stuck with me. For years my
InspirationMedicinePerspective
The Anatomy Lab: What They Don’t Tell You Before Med School
When I was a young girl, weekends were always for writing. I would get up early and sit with my dad as he had his coffee and I would type away, dreaming up characters and plot lines. I can’t get
InspirationMedicinePerspective
Mindfulness in the Medical Student
Mindfulness in the Medical Student • What is mindfulness? • A real-world application • Why should you be more mindful? Mindfulness. If you had a psychology class in undergrad, you may be familiar
MedicinePerspective
The Power of Palliative Care
Why Care about Palliative Care? “Our ultimate goal, after all, is not a good death but a good life to the very end.” – Dr. Atul Gawande, Being Mortal I wish I had words as eloquent as Dr. Gawande
InspirationMedicinePerspective
Imposter Syndrome.
They say you can tell the inexperience of a med student by the weight of their white coat. Pockets are stuffed with reference books, note cards, snacks, stethoscopes and a myriad of other tools.