Author: Nicole Perkes

Nicole Perkes Nicole Perkes (3 Posts)

Contributing Writer Emeritus

University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine

Nicole is a Class of 2015 medical student at the University of British Columbia, Canada, who enjoys the unique perspective her bachelor's of tourism management provides her in medicine.




Reflections of a Long, Long Longitudinal Clerkship

Published by Nicole Perkes

Once upon a time, in a rural hospital far, far away, a med student began her clerkship. At the University of British Columbia, the Integrated Community Clerkship (ICC) provides an opportunity to spend the first clinical year of medical school in a hospital in rural British Columbia rather than a large academic center. The intent is to provide hands-on education and to encourage physicians to one day return to serve a rural community. Applying to the ICC was …

Barriers to Mindfulness in Med School

Published by Nicole Perkes

The life of a medical student is a rapid succession of lectures, small group sessions, exams, clinical experiences, workshops, meetings, eat, sleep, rinse and repeat. As such, there has never been a more perfect time to stop and smell the roses. Seriously. As described in the blossoming literature, mindfulness techniques quite literally offer the opportunity to stop, breath, and take in the present moment -– roses, exams and all. Mindfulness is the nonjudgmental observation and …

Defining Mindfulness in Med School

Published by Nicole Perkes

Listen carefully and you may hear the whispers that mindfulness is becoming yet another buzzword in medicine, following in the steps of “cultural competency,” “narrative medicine,” and the like. It is trendy among its niche and it is being compelled into the curriculum of med schools across Canada and the United States in the hopes of creating a generation of physicians who haven’t burnt out by their ten-year reunions. Yeah, I’ve heard of mindfulness, but what is it, really? …

Nicole Perkes Nicole Perkes (3 Posts)

Contributing Writer Emeritus

University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine

Nicole is a Class of 2015 medical student at the University of British Columbia, Canada, who enjoys the unique perspective her bachelor's of tourism management provides her in medicine.