Columns

Impartial Witnesses

Published by Ravi Katari

An open letter appeared in the world’s most prominent medical journal a few weeks ago with the title “Let us treat patients in Syria.” Carrying the signatures of 55 esteemed physicians from around the world, including three Nobel laureates, the letter served as a condemnation of the collapsing medical infrastructure in the region due, in part, to the “deliberate targeting of medical facilities and personnel.” Saleyha Ahsan, an emergency medicine physician and signatory, subsequently published an op-ed in …

Who – or What – is Responsible for Obesity?

Published by Mariam Bonyadi

“Study snacks,” both high in fat and sugar, are an indispensable part of any medical student’s life during exam season. Putting on weight while cramming can be expected, as there exist evolutionary, genetic and neural bases underlying high caloric food cravings during times of stress. These factors fuel unhealthy weight gain despite scientific research into obesity and educational outreach by health professionals advocating this scientific approach to understanding obesity. Uncontrolled weight gain is often a …

Choosing the MD/PhD Journey

Published by Emilia Calvaresi

It’s hard to say what motivates my fellow MD/PhD trainees to pursue the physician-scientist career track. In some ways, we’re a masochistic group, voluntarily choosing to spend seven to 10 years in the prime of our lives completing two doctoral degrees instead of one, then spending another four to eight years or more in residency, research residency, postdoctoral and possibly fellowship training before seeking a “real” job. Even for those of us who started our …

Just Saying Hello: A Nod to All Those Who Helped Us

Published by Valentina Bonev

We had our white coat ceremony on the third day of medical school. Each student was given a rose to give to someone who helped during their journey to medical school. As soon as we started school, we had lectures to attend, books to read and frequent tests to study for. Everything started off with a bang! Before we knew it, we were nose deep in books, and we quickly forgot what life was like …

Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover: A Complex Twist in a Patient with Diabetic Ketoacidosis

Published by Manik Aggarwal

Here was a 45-year-old Type 1 diabetic who presented to the emergency department in a near coma with diabetic ketoacidosis. The diagnosis seemed clear as day, with some of the classic presenting signs: polyuria, polydipsia, hyperglycemia, high anion gap, low serum bicarbonate and presence of ketones in the urine. She was admitted and treated appropriately. Once she was stabilized, the human interaction and history-taking began, which proved to be far more convoluted. She thoroughly explained …

Ancient Medical Practices Still in Use Today

Published by Valentina Bonev

Medicine is rapidly evolving: new drugs, new devices and new techniques are constantly introduced to improve patient care. And yet, despite these many innovative advances, there are some mainstays of modern medicine that are thousands of years old and have withstood the test of time. Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine that was developed in China approximately 4,000 years ago. Its intended purpose was to restore the body’s inner balance by placing needles at …

“People Can Take Every Wealth Away From You Except One—Your Education”

Published by Jency Daniel

It is powerful timing that I write the first entry for this column—a tribute to my mother—on Sept. 1, 2013. Today, my Ammachi (my maternal grandmother) passed away. Seeing those words is still a fresh wound, forcing me to externalize a reality that my heart and my mind have yet to come to terms with. This is the woman who helped to raise my two siblings and me; who raised my mother and her two siblings as …

My Path Towards a Career in Internal Medicine

Published by Manik Aggarwal

As our friends finish undergrad, apply for jobs, settle down and develop a lifestyle, we are preparing for the next standardized exam, writing that catchy personal statement and requesting another set of recommendation letters on our journey towards residency. Although medicine is not for everyone, for whom it is, it likely is the only choice. After completing three years of medical school, the time finally comes to choose what we will do for the rest …

Getting it Right

Published by Christopher Hudson

Pharmacology is over. I sit in my house with the post-test buzz still ringing in my ear amid a rhythmic background of raindrops striking windowsills and cars sliding past outside. I doze, and the rain conjures afternoons in Borgne when the clinic visitors had slowed to a drip after the morning hubbub. The end of summer happened fast. At times I have to catch myself to remember that I am back in Rochester since the …

Don’t Stress Eat!

Published by Madeline Haas

Last night I had one of those horrible nights where bacteria- and virus-laden nonsense raced through my head as I lay in bed, in powerful mockery of my lame attempts at meditation and mind-clearing. Once an hour this was punctuated by becoming fully awake, getting up, and then laying down once again to the same as soon as my head hit the pillow. I’ve been trying to do everything right, too: yoga, running, studying, dinner …

Choosing General Surgery: Reflections from a Fourth-Year Medical Student

Published by Valentina Bonev

Why do I want to become a general surgeon? The real question is why wouldn’t I want to become a general surgeon? I enjoy the operating room, I find the cases interesting, and I couldn’t see myself doing anything else. Even more than all the usual reasons, I feel like there’s something so unique about surgery that is almost indescribable. Being a surgeon is unlike any other career: you get to operate on people. You improve and …

Juggling

Published by Madeline Haas

For 24 years I lived in Cambridge, Mass. with or near my parents. I was in high school when my maternal grandfather died, and I remember when my mom and brother met me at a dress rehearsal one evening to share the bad news. I was a few blocks away, living at Harvard summer school, when my dad was briefly hospitalized with an ulcer. I lived just one zip code over when my brother was …

Madeline Haas (16 Posts)

Columnist and in-Training Staff Member

Albany Medical College

Madeline Haas is a graduate of Harvard College and a Class of 2016 student at Albany Medical College in Albany, New York. Cooking keeps her sane and healthy within the limitations of the med school lifestyle and budget. Read her daily blog at The Med School Cookbook.

The Med School Cookbook

The Med School Cookbook offers a weekly account of the challenges and wonders of med school as seen through the eyes of a student. Each post includes a healthy and easy recipe designed for busy people on a budget.