Contributing Writer
University of Arizona-Tucson
Hannah is an MD/PhD student at the University of Arizona-Tucson who joined the program in 2020. In 2018, she graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in microbiology and cell science with a minor in bioinformatics. After graduation, Hannah dedicated 2 years at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-NIDA branch to research novel therapeutic treatments for opioid addiction in a behavioral animal model. She is currently completing her PhD in Medical Pharmacology. She enjoys hiking, trail running, and reading in her free time. Hannah is looking forward to experiencing the variety of opportunities the program has to offer her in helping her decide the right path and specialty best fit for her.
Moving to Arizona for an eight-year dual-degree MD/PhD program was one of the biggest, and reflecting back, best decisions I had ever made. Though at the time, it truly felt like the scariest commitment of my life. I feared the bundle of unknowns that came packaged together all at once – my first time on the West Coast, my first time leaving my family and friends behind not only across the country but another time …
there is nothing quite like the feeling of puncturing the thin shrink film around a new canvas. getting ready to paint is a routine – the rumbling of the kettle as i thumb through my collection of teas, picking the perfect album to play on repeat for the evening. putting on the highlighter yellow shirt from high school plastered with smudges of blacks, greens, and whites from years of previous paintings. ideally, it’s a rainy …
“Patient is a 34-year-old male with a 9-month history of rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease who is currently being treated with mycophenolate and rituximab. He remains on high-flow nasal cannula with oxygen saturations of 84-87% overnight. Transplant team signed off as the patient did not qualify for transplant. He reports feeling well this morning and that he learned a great new magic trick with a disappearing card.” Two weeks into my internal medicine rotation, I …
Oh God, what time is it? I stumbled over to my bedside table in pitch-black darkness, thanks to my new blackout curtains, which continue to be the best financial decision I have ever made, and checked my phone that was blasting my alarm. The brightness of my phone blinded me at first, but then my eyes adjusted to its shine, and I came face to face with my terrifying reality on this simple Tuesday morning …
As patients moved in and out of the modest office for their appointments, their duffel bags and luggage in tow containing all their personal belongings, the day unfolded in typical fashion. Yet, within the confines of this psychiatry office catering exclusively to the local unhoused population, “normal” took on a unique meaning. The narratives of childhood neglect, abuse, drug addiction and homelessness recounted by these patients never ceased to startle me as a third-year medical …
At the start of clinical rotations, we are urged by preceptors to immerse ourselves in the experience, advocate for our patients and strive to understand them better than the rest of the team. I could not, however, shake an underlying thought: Why would any patient divulge their most intimate details to someone so inexperienced? After all, I was just a medical student. Part I “Please go speak to the patient in room three, she is …
“Could you water my plants?” I asked my roommate when I was out of town. They say it takes a village to raise a child, make it through medical school, to do anything worth knowing. When I started medical school, I had a village: parents, friends, family, a partner and my plants. By my third year, it was just me. Nothing tragic happened; differences drove us apart. I went from calling my parents twice a …
I do not know what to say or feel when I first meet you. My first instinct is to introduce myself, but you can neither hear me nor reply. When you are uncovered, I finally get to see you. During a typical encounter with a stranger, it is customary to make eye contact and exchange names. It is out of respect for you, however, that I cannot see your face or even know your name. …
It was Valentine’s Day morning with about thirty minutes until rounds when I noticed Madeline, one of our medical students, approaching. I took my eyes off the WOW to greet her, and she shakily said that the nurse had just told her that a patient was pulseless. Without registering the nature of the information she just shared, I told her to tell our senior and stayed in place to finish drawing the chemistry fishbone on …
Ever since I could remember, I stood out in my class for all the wrong reasons. I was the kid who dangled his feet from chairs while others rested their feet flat, the kid forced to stand in the front during class photos and the kid who always had his height checked by the ride operator during field trips to the local amusement parks. But it wasn’t just a matter of being short, I was …
As the hands of the large clock on the wall turn to 8 a.m, a wandering medical student strolls through the intricate hallways of the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. Her eyesight shifted to various places in the unit as she struggled to find the so-called “fishbowl,” an office space where residents station themselves to work. After walking past the various rooms a few times, she was finally able to meet …
A light knock at your hospital room door and my introduction: “I am a first year MD-PhD student. Thank you.” You smile and wave me in. Hidden around the corner, your guest stands up from their bedside chair to leave your hospital room, though I ask if you would like them to stay. Their face, their eyes, and their mouth shine a striking gratefulness in my direction: as if, through the ever-present weight of my …
MD-PhD student at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Non-traditional student: older and a father. Roberto is a 2nd year MD-PhD student at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, NY class of 2031. He graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology (2008) and a Masters of Science in Mathematical Statistics (2011). He enjoys spending time with his wife and kids in his free time. After graduating medical school, Roberto wants to pursue a career in neurology, psychiatry, or neuropathology.
