Studies of Mice and Men
Investigate. / Deeper, / deeper, / deeper: / To a depth of understanding beyond understanding.
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Contributing Writer
University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine
Kelly Stanek is a third-year medical student at the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine class of 2022. In 2016, Kelly received a Bachelor of Science in biology and a minor in classical humanities from Biola University in La Mirada, California. Throughout her life, she has been an adventure-seeker and lover of all living things. In the moments between clinics and research, Kelly gardens, runs, paints, writes poetry, and flees to the mountains to snowboard or hike. She loves God and is passionate about recognizing the spiritual and psychological elements of health: both in the medical field and through poetry. Upon graduation, Kelly hopes to become a pediatric emergency physician.
How a Pandemic has Shifted the Conversation Around Harm Reduction
For a variety of reasons, the substance use population is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on data from previous financial crises, the emotional toll will increase rates of new substance use, escalate current use, and trigger relapse even among those with long-term abstinence. There may be a significant lag before these changes are detected and treated because health care resources are being funneled toward the pandemic.
A Heartbreaking Diagnosis
While the professor moved to the next slide, my face visibly blanched. All I could hear was the drowning sound of my own heartbeat thumping in my ears. Is this true? I thought. Nothing we can do? Only five years of survival? Did this apply to my grandpa Baba? But Baba has been sick for six years!
Six Feet Apart
March 2020 One inch more than the measure of me, and one inch less than that of my father. It’s been a while since I lined up, back to back. But if I did, the space between us would only read two inches. Maybe less now that he is older. Nearly sixty. Closer to the next decade than the last. It’s common knowledge that people shrink as they get older. Or at least I think …
Building a Sense of Ownership in My Medical Education Through Elective Curricular Development
When I began thinking of establishing an elective, I wished there had been a roadmap to follow to understand where to start and how to invest my time. Hopefully, by detailing my own process, which I’ve broken down into three phases, other students may feel that they too can take ownership of their education by developing something rooted in their passions for others to enjoy and learn from.
The Anatomy Lesson
There were seven of us standing around the table as the attending surgeon debrided the infected fascia. The vascular surgeon came in the room and barked at us to identify the structures before us. “What’s that artery?” he interrogated us. “I’ll give you a hint,” he said, “there’s a deep and a superficial.” We named the sural nerve and iliotibialis band and the great saphenous vein. As we clamored around the table, I suddenly thought of the Rembrandt painting: The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp.
The Mother of All Preventative Medicine — Anti-Aging: A Review of “Lifespan” by David Sinclair
The incidence of chronic disease is strongly correlated with aging. According to the Information Theory of Aging, aging results from a progressive loss of genetic material due to gradually worsening cellular repair mechanisms. This cellular erosion leads to a nearly interminable list of diseases, including but certainly not limited to cancer, heart disease and neurodegenerative disease.
This Space
This is a space / between you and me / where you can simply be
The Littlest Future Docs
Upon meeting the new children I was babysitting, the little girl Elason immediately asked me if I brought my stethoscope. Her mom had told her that I was a medical student. In the eyes of Elason and Kaje, that made me a superhero. It didn’t matter that I was at the bottom of the food chain in the medical world.
Structural Violence and Noncompliance: A 49-year-old Hispanic Woman with Metabolic Syndrome
Mrs. H’s story is just one of millions of Americans who have become victims of structural violence and suffered from the social determinants of health. With a clearer understanding of the complex factors that contribute to patients’ health outcomes, I now aim to reunite the erroneously separated domains of medicine and social sciences.
Allow Natural Death
Allowing natural death gives the elderly and terminally ill the opportunity to control the end of their life, providing empowerment and a sense of peace during their time of uncertainty. This patient and her family’s forethought allowed us to provide medications to ease her pain and discomfort. When she closed her eyes for the last time, her body relaxed into the sheets, and I pulled the blanket up to her shoulders. Her family said goodbye, and then I began to perform post-mortem care.
Lessons From Quarantine
I was anxious because I was used to moving at such a fast pace that slamming on the breaks gave me whiplash. I was desperate for things to do because I had forgotten how to slow down and relax — how to just be. Slowly, I began to see the opportunity that quarantine had presented me with.
Contributing Writer
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Sylvia Guerra is a fourth-year medical student at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in Hanover, NH. Prior to beginning her career in medicine, she completed her undergraduate degree in religion at the University of Rochester and her Master of Theological Studies at the Harvard Divinity School. She is interested in pursuing a career in general surgery. She is also interested in the intersection of medical education and health equity and hopes to make this a central part of her surgical career. She lives in White River Junction, Vermont with her partner, their two cats, and eight chickens.