Contributing Writer
Florida International University
Emilio is a fourth year medical student at the Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine in Miami, Florida, class of 2026. In 2022, he graduated cum laude from New York University with a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology. He enjoys drumming, playing guitar, drawing, and creating digital art. After graduating medical school, Emilio would like to pursue a career in psychiatry.
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 …
In halls of sterile light and steel, Where pulses echo, hearts to heal, A quiet truth begins to rise— Care can’t be measured by device. For every chart, each test result, There lies a gap, a hidden fault, Where voices lost, unheard, remain— A silent burden wrapped in pain. From city streets to rural lanes, Health divides in unseen chains, A mother waits, her voice denied, As walls of care grow far and …
As medical students, we spend years preparing for the daunting hurdle that is the summer between the third and fourth year of medical school, a twelve week stretch in which you prepare for USMLE Step 2, perform at your highest caliber on a sub-internship in the specialty of your choice, and craft your application to residency. Accordingly, as I approached this part of medical school myself, I expected its accompanying level of academic stress. I …
Baby powder, body odor Dark red blood, pale white skin A mother’s cry, a baby’s silence Image Credit: “Baby Feet” (CC BY-NC 2.0) by Joseph D’Mello Poetry Thursdays is an initiative that highlights poems by medical students. If you are interested in contributing or would like to learn more, please contact our editors.
The rhythmic clash of the kartal, a copper instrument, marked the beginning of our Sunday dance extravaganza. “Chak De India” pulsed through the air, a Bollywood anthem that ignited our spirits. Didi, a kartal maestro, kept the beat steady, a rhythm that mirrored the pounding of my heart as I twirled and leaped, lost in the joy of dance. In a small town where everyone knew each other’s stories, dance was my mother’s gift to …
For most of my life, I never truly understood what it meant to be a doctor. As the first in my family to pursue medicine, my understanding of healthcare was shaped by occasional doctor visits and, admittedly, unrealistic portrayals on TV. Like many other students in this position, I was naïve about what the profession would entail. I began my undergraduate journey as a chemical engineering major, drawn to its problem-solving aspects. I soon realized, …
As a former in-Training staff member and columnist, I gave you A Taste of Your Own Medicine and now it’s time to give you a taste of my own medicine! I started writing for in-Training as a medical student when the site was in its infancy. It’s amazing to see how it’s grown while I have been away in training and now as a breast surgeon. It only feels right to provide some reflections on …
“That doesn’t happen often,” I quietly but excitedly say to myself while discussing our consult from the PICU. My attending hesitates, pondering the precarious balance between encouraging my medical curiosity and protecting me from the horrors of child abuse and mistreatment that still haunt her to this day. That day, I was a first-hand witness to the necessary but horrible clinical task of a brain death exam. This task is a rite of passage for …
Being a health care professional can, at times, feel ironic because our intention is to promote health and wellness, yet we often neglect our own. As medical students, we consume large amounts of information in short periods of time, which can be both stressful and mentally strenuous. We often must be awake for long hours, whether it’s for rotations, for studying or for both at once. This lifestyle can foster many unhealthy habits, but are …
I walked up the stairs in my heels, white coat and stethoscope, which I had no idea how to use, on the first day of my first clinical day two weeks into medical school. The question of whether I belonged in a position of authority felt more prominent than ever as patients in the lobby passively asked me about their treatments and I waited for the staff to return from their lunch break. I told …
I have always been taught to treat the patient and not the disease. As a first-year medical student, I am not sure I know how to treat either yet, but I know that putting a face to a disease is crucial to my training as a physician. I have always been intrigued by human stories in medicine that involve difficult and often stressful conversations because they have a tendency to become flashbulb memories that impact …
Contributing Writer
Emory University School of Medicine
Leenah Abojaib is a medical student at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, class of 2027. In 2022, she graduated from Rice University in Houston, Texas with a Bachelors of Arts in Biosciences and Spanish Studies. In her free time, she enjoys weight-lifting, long-distance running, crocheting/knitting and connecting with friends and family. She is interested in pursuing a career in critical care medicine.
