Opinions

Duha Shellah (2 Posts)

Writer-in-Training

An-Najah National University, Palestine


Duha Shellah is sixth year medical student at An-Najah National University, Palestine. Duha is the chief executive officer (CEO) & Founder of the research community of Palestine ”The Researchist". She is an Elsevier Student Ambassador. Duha is a Student Editor & Palestine Ambassador at the International Journal of Medical Students. She has been assigned as an Associate Editor and Director of Recruitment HPHR Journal (Formerly Harvard Public Health Review). Also, Duha is Country Coordinator at the International Youth Alliance for Family planning (IYAFP). She is intern writer at In-Training Magazine. Newly, She got the membership of Committee of Publications Ethics (COPE). Nationally, Duha, is an ambassador for the Palestinian Forum for medical Research and the third undergraduate Research conference - Al Quds University. Duha is a founder member in Palestinian women in surgery community here in Palestine




This photo, taken in 2020, shows one of the mobile clinics in action, with health care workers offering primary health care services.

Sexual and Reproductive Health in Palestine: A Medical Student’s Experience in Health Education

In September 2020, I started to volunteer as a health educator in sexual and reproductive health and rights with mobile clinics of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, reaching marginalized communities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). I worked in the villages of two cities in the West Bank — Jenin and Qalqilya. 

The Interpretation of Cultures

During my Step 1 dedicated study period, I remember looking at these visual comparisons of an early version of First Aid and the most recent edition and feeling righteous indignation bubble up inside me. The former was thin and worn and tattered while the latter was thick, hefty, solid. Hundreds of pages longer, the newest edition felt impenetrable and impossible to commit to memory, expanding yearly with new minutiae to scrutinize.

Socializing in Medical School: Evaluating Our Racial Comfort Zones

I came across a photo on social media of some classmates that appeared almost identical to another one I had seen months ago — beaming medical students crowded together against a brick wall of a campus apartment. Déjà vu. But there was one difference. Nearly all the students in this picture were white, whereas all the students in the older picture were non-white. 

Mariam Shalaby Mariam Shalaby (1 Posts)

Contributing Writer

Penn State College of Medicine


Mariam Shalaby is a third year medical student at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, PA class of 2023. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2018 with a Bachelor of Philosophy in music and a Bachelor of Science in natural sciences. She enjoys spending time others, playing musical instruments, and trying new foods in her free time. After graduating medical school, Mariam would like to pursue a career at the intersection of medicine and public health.