From the Wards

Vivienne Meljen Vivienne Meljen (3 Posts)

Contributing Writer

The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

Vivienne T. Meljen is a fourth-year medical student at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth ('17) and a graduate of The University of Scranton ('13). She will soon be beginning her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Duke University Medical Center. She is a 2013 Truman Scholar and National Health Service Corps Scholar interested in working with medically underserved populations. Vivienne first learned about Narrative Medicine through an English course in college and is taking strides to begin to share her stories. She takes pride in her education and work as a physician-to-be as well as spending time with her family and enjoying outdoor action sports any time of year and anywhere. Follow her on Twitter: @StethoscopeOn




Transitioning to the Clinical Years: Be A Duck

Published by Vivienne Meljen

“Be a duck,” became my mantra throughout medical school, so much so that my mother had it printed onto a canvas and has it hanging on a wall at home in my honor. As a medical student you might think I would be more interested in having the prowess of a lioness, the elegance of an eagle, the speed of a cheetah or the energy of a dolphin. A duck, as most envision it, does not have much appeal; except, however, when swimming. The quote that led me to emulate the duck is Michael Caine’s, “Be a duck, remain calm on the surface and paddle like the dickens underneath.”

Finding a Home in Internal Medicine

Published by Kayla Correia-Staudt

Whenever I consider my time in medical school, I am surprised by how quickly I have been able to cultivate a sense of belonging at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, far from home and in a very unfamiliar setting. After all, I grew up in a single-parent household with my dad in a small, weary mill town in central Massachusetts called Ware. He was a carpenter who always carried at least two jobs to make ends meet. I did not really thrive in medical school until my first rotation on the wards, where I was reintroduced to “my kind of people” — patients.

Empathy in Medicine

Published by Hannah Simon

When I enter the examining room, Mr. Jones is visibly distressed. His chest heaves as he struggles to catch his breath. I glance at his charts and make note of his chief complaint: chest pain. After a brief introduction, I fire off a barrage of well-rehearsed questions: When did the chest pain first begin? Does it radiate outwards or stay localized in one spot? Is there anything that makes the pain better or worse?

Neighbors

Published by Michael Hernandez

I thought about you and your wife today — about how we were neighbors. A fleeting thought chipped away at some mental dam I had constructed, and the details of those months flooded my mind in vivid detail. It was like remembering every little element of a past night’s dream all at once after lunch. I remember meeting you for the first time. We were riding the elevators, and you were lost. You were hushed and panicked as you spoke into your phone: “I don’t know, I don’t know where she is, I just want her to be okay.” The phone was held up by your shoulder as you used your hands to balance on crutches.

Crow’s Feet

Published by Joshua Stein

There was an elderly man suffering from late-stage Parkinson’s dementia. There was a patient with schizophrenia experiencing a COPD exacerbation. Then, there was Mrs. G, who was admitted for immune thrombocytopenia. She was a retired teacher who spent her time volunteering at her church and caring for family members.

Into the Wild (2016)

Published by David Yu

My foray into the wilds of Alaska was part a journey that my classmates and I call “the Safari.” While no African wildlife are spotted on the trip, bears and moose are plentiful, and the journey traverses over a quarter of the United States landmass, from four-room clinics serving towns of a few hundred people to the massive edifices of a level one trauma center and tertiary care university hospital serving five states. For those unfamiliar with the program, the University of Washington is the only allopathic medical school in the “WWAMI” region, comprising of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho; the school has clinical sites and regional teaching campuses in each of these states. Come third year, students can request rotations in the multiple hospitals in Seattle, or rotate at the regional sites.

Farah Dadabhoy Farah Dadabhoy (2 Posts)

Contributing Writer

University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

Farah is a Class of 2017 medical student at University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. She has a passion for food and writing, although most of her meals are bought from the freezer aisle and most of her writing is associated with powerpoint slides.