Off the Shelf

Off the Shelf is our section for creative works by medical students.

Samia A. Ali (1 Posts)

Samia is a medical student at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science in Los Angeles, California. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Physiology from the University of Washington, with minors in bioethics and humanities. Deeply committed to global medicine and refugee health, Samia is driven by an interest in caring for displaced and underserved populations and addressing health inequities across borders. She aspires to pursue a career in cardiology with a focus on global and refugee health. Outside of medicine, she enjoys walking and hiking, cycling, and exploring new food spots.




Supply List: What Honoring Those Who Passed Taught Me About Respecting the Living

Published by Samia A. Ali

It began with a list. Not of medication or interventions, but of what we needed to prepare my grandmother for burial. In the seven-by-ten-foot room tucked behind the prayer hall, there were no beeping monitors, and no nurses rushing to check vitals. Instead, bathroom tiles were beneath our feet, a floor drain at the center and a shelf filled with supplies. I could hear the faucet dripping in the back, almost rhythmic, like a slow …

The Wall at Mile 20

Published by Hannah Korah

It, in fact, hit me like a wall. As I pushed past mile 20 in my first marathon, I felt the notorious ‘wall’. My glycogen stores were depleted, and my legs felt like they were no longer part of my body, but rather two 40 pound dumbbells I was lifting and dropping on the hard pavement with each step forward. Most distance runners would break down a marathon as a two-part race: cruising for the …

The Bridge We Build

Published by Leanne Peres da Silva

In halls of sterile light and steel, Where pulses echo, hearts to heal, A quiet truth begins to rise— Care can’t be measured by device.   For every chart, each test result, There lies a gap, a hidden fault, Where voices lost, unheard, remain— A silent burden wrapped in pain.   From city streets to rural lanes, Health divides in unseen chains, A mother waits, her voice denied, As walls of care grow far and …

You’re Supposed to Keep Doing What You Love

Published by Nima Trivedi

There is nothing quite like the feeling of puncturing the thin shrink film around a new canvas. Getting ready to paint is a routine — the rumbling of the kettle as I thumb through my collection of teas, picking the perfect album to play on repeat for the evening. Putting on the highlighter yellow shirt from high school plastered with smudges of blacks, greens, and whites from years of previous paintings.

Ceili Hamill Ceili Hamill (3 Posts)

Writers-in-Training Intern and Contributing Writer

Geisinger College of Health Sciences

Ceili Hamill is a medical student at Geisinger College of Health Sciences in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Class of 2025. In 2020, she graduated from Saint Joseph's University with a Bachelor of Science in biology. Ceili is also a student member of the Health Humanities Consortium and of the Academy for Professionalism in Health Care. She enjoys reading, baking, and playing with her pug Poppy in her free time. After graduating medical school, Ceili would like to pursue a career in pediatrics.