Audrey Lyu is a first year medical student at Rush Medical College in Chicago, IL. She graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2023 with a degree in Neuroscience. You would find her making art or playing with her bunny in her free time. Audrey hopes to pursue a career in psychiatry.
when i die, donate my body to science. for perhaps i may be dissected, by childlike hands and fresh minds, whose shoes I once stood in. open my body, peel back the layers of fascia and adipose, swallowed with that in which I lived for. when they open my abdominal cavity, may they learn my favorite foods, the myeokguk i ate every birthday, and my love for candies, that painted my stomach red. and in …
“Call security. We need restraints.” The nurse yelled out into the hallway while he gently held down the patient’s strong right arm that vigorously wrestled in all directions to escape. I, a relatively new Patient Care Associate on the floor, was on the other arm. His screams echoed throughout the room, bouncing off the walls and into the hallway, prompting glances from other staff members. I had walked in a few minutes earlier with his …
Foreign Bodies (Berries) Veronica Gibbons (2026) acrylic on paper This painting reminds us that beneath every incision is a unique individual, shaped by experiences that cannot be standardized. Medicine is inherently unpredictable, and while training emphasizes mastery of uniform knowledge, that focus can shift attention toward efficiency, performance, and personal progress. The unexpected blueberries disrupt this mindset, highlighting that while anatomy may be shared, each patient is different. The piece underscores the responsibility to stay …
I was having one of those days in medical school where the weight of everything felt crushing — the pressure to be perfect, the constant comparisons to my peers, and the nagging doubt of whether I truly belonged here. In need of a break, I turned to The Bear on Hulu, hoping to escape, even if just for a while. Although, like any medical student, I felt initial guilt in indulging in this free time.
From premed onward, an interest in pathology is often met with a well-meaning but mildly disapproving joke. It comes from friends, family, mentors and internet forums. “You must hate patients.” It seems introverts and misanthropes alike are often relegated to the sub-sub-basements and windowless corners of the hospital, where radiologists and pathologists hiss at lost patients. While every specialty is ripe with ridicule and stereotypes, this particular joke damages the image of an already underappreciated …
It began with a list. Not of medication or interventions, but of what we needed to prepare my grandmother for burial. In the seven-by-ten-foot room tucked behind the prayer hall, there were no beeping monitors, and no nurses rushing to check vitals. Instead, bathroom tiles were beneath our feet, a floor drain at the center and a shelf filled with supplies. I could hear the faucet dripping in the back, almost rhythmic, like a slow …
I stepped foot on the island, unaware of what the next 39 days will hold. I recounted the advice I sought out prior to this adventure. “Remember to not step on anyone’s toes.” “Don’t be a burden. Be proactive.” “Read the room.” I wandered about my new home, using a map to guide me to my assigned tribe. I stepped foot into camp; a windowless room filled with scattered computers, rolling chairs, and an overfilling …
“Walker! David Walker!” I called the name of the next patient as I stood in front of the obnoxiously loud automatic doors that separated the emergency department waiting room from the clinical area. As the doors scraped shut behind me, I realized I’d probably called his name too loudly. The waiting room was dead silent. Only empty chairs on a nauseatingly sticky floor looked back at me as I glanced around the room for Mr. …
It, in fact, hit me like a wall. As I pushed past mile 20 in my first marathon, I felt the notorious ‘wall’. My glycogen stores were depleted, and my legs felt like they were no longer part of my body, but rather two 40 pound dumbbells I was lifting and dropping on the hard pavement with each step forward. Most distance runners would break down a marathon as a two-part race: cruising for the …
I was having one of those days in medical school where the weight of everything felt crushing—the pressure to be perfect, the constant comparisons to my peers, and the nagging doubt of whether I truly belonged here. It felt like I was running a race on a treadmill—no matter how fast I went, I was never getting any closer to the finish line. The harder I pushed, the more distant my goal seemed, leaving me …
The clinic room was quiet, the air laced with the familiar scent of hand sanitizer. Cold air crept out from the overhead vent and slipped through my scrubs, sharpening my focus but numbing my hands at the same time. I was a third-year medical student on my family medicine rotation. Sitting across from me was my first patient of the day, a woman in her forties, here for her routine annual checkup. I settled onto …
“Two roads diverged in a wood and I- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” ‘The Road not Taken’ by Robert Frost. ‘The Road not Taken’ is a poem by Robert Frost, where he talks about the impact of making different choices. The poem has stuck with me as I believe it resonates with my choice to specialize in family medicine – unknown to more than half of …
Contributing Writer
Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi
Ayesha is a graduate of Karachi Medical and Dental College, Karachi, Pakistan from the batch of 2015. She is now working as a full time faculty at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi as a Family Physician; also the institute where she did her residency training in 2022. She enjoys writing, painting and poetry. She has an interest in reflective writing and medical education.
