Outside the Room: A Code Blue
I was called to a code the other day. Now I should probably clarify: as a medical student, I don’t actually do anything (unless they really need people for compressions). In fact, I wasn’t even in the room.
Tag: patient story
Contributing Writer
University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine
Emily is a medical student at the University of Illinois at Chicago in the Class of 2019. Born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, she eventually went on to become a Hawkeye, and graduated from the University of Iowa in 2014 with a degree in Human Physiology. In her free time, she enjoys reading, swimming, doing puzzles, and most of all, sleeping.
Fourth Year: Fences
The last year of medical school heralds more than just the end of an era. It brings with it the confidence in a career choice doubted several times just a year ago.
Ready to Go
The very first patient I ever met on my internal medicine rotation was someone who hated being in the hospital. He took every opportunity in the following ten days to remind us that he was waiting to be discharged.
Her Wardrobe
In high school, I was obsessed with wearing only vintage clothing. After hours of painstakingly searching every clothing rack at Goodwill, I would find a well-worn baseball jersey or an elaborately bejeweled Christmas sweater. I felt a sense of immense pride in reclaiming someone else’s memories — their winning games, their holiday parties – in an attempt to express my “uniqueness”.
On Strangerhood, Intimacy and Fake Pee
She and I experienced such extremes of strangerhood and intimacy in only 72 hours. But what a privilege it was, to be there for her when she had no one else, to advocate for her, to go a little (or a lot) above and beyond on her behalf, to see the inter-workings of this stranger’s life: this is why I chose medicine.
Under
Little girl / in the pink hospital gown / sits in a windowless room.
“You Don’t Know How I’m Feeling”: A Plea for Death with Dignity
“That’s rubbish.” My new friend — I’ll call her Sylvia — lay supine on her bed, staring bleary-eyed at the ceiling. White bedsheets swathed her long, gaunt limbs, and her sickly pallor startled me.
Doctor, This Isn’t Normal — Is It?
“Knife.” One of the surgical nurses slapped it into his hand, and Dr. James drew the scalpel quickly down the woman’s betadine-covered belly. So little fanfare preceded that moment that I almost missed it.
My Peer, My Professor
Sometimes the best intervention is not a medication but rather a listening ear, not a vaccination but rather a shoulder to cry on, not a screening test, but instead an advocate.
Death
Dan and I mimicked ducklings as we followed our senior resident, Tassia, single file down the stairs on our way back to the resident room. As we neared the bottom, we crossed paths with another medicine resident leading two medical students playing the same roles as Dan and I.
When We Listen
It was a Wednesday morning. The air was crisp. The sun graced us with brilliance. I made my way to the emergency room where I was working for a two-week period on the cardiology consult service.
Helping Moms: Maternal Addiction in the Opioid Epidemic
In 2006, Daisy Goodman first experienced a patient disclosing a narcotics addiction. A certified nurse midwife working in obstetrics, Goodman had had years of experience working with pregnant mothers to cultivate a healthy pregnancy and birth.
Writer-in-Training
Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine
John Damianos graduated from Dartmouth College in 2016, majoring in linguistics modified with neuroscience and minoring in French. While at Dartmouth, he did a lot of work in substance abuse counseling, and became interested in behavior change through tools like Motivational Interviewing. He is now a member of the class of 2020 at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine. He is a Medical Education Scholar and completed a Pano T. Rodis Fellowship in Compassionate Medical Care. Greek by heritage and a linguist by training, he particularly enjoys anatomy and dissecting not only the body but also the names of structures therein.