Author: Ria Pal, MD

Ria Pal, MD Ria Pal, MD (11 Posts)

Former Editor-in-Chief (2017-2018) and Former Medical Student Editor (2016)

University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry


Ria is a Class of 2018 medical student. She graduated from the University of Rochester with a BS in neuroscience. Her interests include human behavior, social justice work, art, public health, and mnemonics.




Reflecting on Ten Years of in-Training, by Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Ria Pal, MD

About three months into our roles as editors-in-chief of in-Training, we had created a system. Mondays, I’d come home from the hospital — usually with some ineffective Anki studying, or commiseration with my roommates, or hastily composing a Chopped-style dinner with leftovers — log into our WordPress backend, and start making my way through the latest batch of submissions.

WALL\THERAPY: An Intersection of Street Art and Public Health

Today, a person’s zip code is a better indication of their health than their genetic code is. We know that physical communities experience shared sickness, whether linked to trauma, viruses or unavailable nutrition, and there are established biomedical consequences to poverty and segregation. Acknowledging these links, however, only gets us so far; successful intervention demands thinking deeply about the relationship between patients and their communities. Rochester, NY is home to an innovative attempt to combating these issues. It is one that challenges traditional ideas of what factors define health and consequently, what metrics define therapy.

A Case for Inclusive Language

“And do you have a husband at home?” “A wife, actually.” “Oh, excuse me. And how long have you been with your mate?” the physician answered. He was unflustered and looked expectantly at the female standardized patient sitting across from him. For the remainder of the interview, when it came up again briefly, the physician referred to the patient’s wife as her mate.

Playing the Part

He and I are early, and we are the only ones in the room. I sit in an office chair — the kind that swivels — around a long, industrial-looking table with another ten chairs, and I watch him as he nods, his eyes closed, to music playing through his headphones.

Ria Pal, MD Ria Pal, MD (11 Posts)

Former Editor-in-Chief (2017-2018) and Former Medical Student Editor (2016)

University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry


Ria is a Class of 2018 medical student. She graduated from the University of Rochester with a BS in neuroscience. Her interests include human behavior, social justice work, art, public health, and mnemonics.