“Jook-Yum” Toothpaste
“James” handed me a new tube of toothpaste, the box a familiar green and white. Even without opening it up, I could already smell and taste the “jook-yum” (bamboo salt) I grew up with at my parent’s house.
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Writers-in-Training Intern and Contributing Writer
UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine
Joyce is a medical student at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in Los Angeles, CA, Class of 2027. She graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Arts in Health and Humanity in 2016 and a Master of Arts in Occupational Therapy in 2020. She enjoys traveling, exploring new cafes, and spending time with her partner and their cats in her free time. Joyce is currently interested in geriatrics, the intersections of housing, aging, and health, and community wellness.
Still Here: My Experience with Repeating a Year of Medical School
Within the first week, the excitement I felt at my white coat ceremony quickly faded as I became overwhelmed and fell behind. Even with seemingly endless hours of studying, I was still doing poorly. I was exhausted every day and neglecting my well-being. For the first time in my life, my hard work was not paying off.
Notes From The 13th Floor
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, I kept myself sane by writing “Notes from the 13th Floor” — a series of moments I wished I could share with the outside world and the kind I never wanted to forget.
Beneath the Shroud
…what remains is the removal of the layered white shroud: the only barrier standing between two humans — one dead and the other alive.
Spirituality by the Bedside: Training Physicians Beyond Medicine
The illness experience is chiseled by the search for meaning, for purpose, for greater understanding of existential suffering. This search is at the center of the spiritual journey.
Food for Thought: It’s Time We Start Talking About Nutrition in Medical Schools
A physician’s two favorite words: diet and exercise. Patients are constantly told that lifestyle interventions are the most important modifiable risk factors to prevent chronic illnesses like diabetes and hypertension.
Metamorphosis
Much like the development of a butterfly, the journey through medicine is an exquisite metamorphosis. As a fourth-year student looking back at the past four years, I remain grateful to those who helped pave the path for me to grow into what will soon be a physician.
Spill
Sunshine, in the mornings, / spills. It / slips and slithers as it / tills.
Listening: The Best Form of Communication
I was assigned to complete my family medicine clerkship at Sanitas Medical Center, a primary and urgent care site in Miami, Florida that serves a large and diverse population. Most patients are elderly, Spanish speaking immigrants from Latin American countries such as Cuba, Venezuela and Colombia.
June
Alone in her chart stands a telehealth appointment from seven weeks ago. June disclosed a positive at-home pregnancy test. She asked about establishing care and family planning options. Just as I notice her three prior cancellations, her name flashes: Arrived.
Passed Tense
I wasn’t expecting the morning report. / I wasn’t expecting to see images, / The death, the blood, the open eyes, / the open hands grasping at someone / long gone. Bullets buried deep.
Harry Styles in the OR: Reflections of a Gen-Z Medical Student
I had never truly scrubbed into an OR before, and I was incredibly terrified on my first day of general surgery. So I was skeptical when the scrub tech said, “Congratulations on getting here.” Yet somehow, against all odds, something clicked. Within the bright, sterile, cold OR, “Can’t get you off my mind,” rang out.
Contributing Writer
UT McGovern Medical School
May is a medical student at UT McGovern Medical School in Houston, TX Class of 2024. In 2020, she graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor of Sciences in honors biomedical sciences and minors in medical humanities, ethics, politics, and law. She enjoys reading, writing, traveling, making playlists, Pilates, exploring everything her city has to offer, spending quality time with friends, and all things art-related! In the future, May would like to pursue a career in ophthalmology with a focus on medical tech and innovation, global ophthalmology, and equity and justice in medicine.