From the Wards

Lindsay Heuser (2 Posts)

Contributing Writer Emeritus

University of Colorado School of Medicine

Lindsay is a member of the Class of 2015 at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She is originally from Colorado Springs and earned a BA in chemistry from Bowdoin College. She plans on pursuing a career in psychiatry.




A Letter to Myself, Future Resident, on Dealing with Myself, Current Medical Student

Published by Lindsay Heuser

Dear (future) self, I imagine that you’re busy right now. Like really busy. Like the coffee-driven, adrenaline-fueled, sleep-deprived kind of busy that you experienced to a lesser degree in medical school except now you’re actually expected to care for patients. Of course, by “care for patients,” I mean “avoid doing dumb things to patients.” A terrifying thought, the burden of patient care, but I’m sure you’re learning and becoming more confident by the day. Why, …

Learning to Hear: A Medical Student’s Experience with Hearing Loss During Medical School

Published by Greg Rosic

Developing moderately-severe to severe sensorineural hearing loss in my last year of college came as a total shock. My first reaction was a combination of bewilderment and denial. Every day I hoped I was getting better, but repeated tests showed nothing was improving. By what I felt was necessity, I became quite isolated. Repeated attempts at social engagement led to repeated failure. It was very difficult to understand what anyone was saying, particularly in locations …

Match Day Spotlight 2014: Internal Medicine, Take Two

Published by Christopher Deans

Recent fourth-year matcher (and in-Training editor) Francis Dailey from the Saint Louis University School of Medicine gives us his advice for surviving and succeeding in medical school. 1. Tell us about yourself: Where are you from? What is your undergraduate degree and where did you receive it? Did you do anything between undergraduate and medical school? Francis Dailey: I am from Kansas City, Missouri. I went to Rockhurst University in Kansas City for undergrad, and …

Getting a GED: A Story of Abortion and Adolescence

Published by Katie Taylor

One eye is open as they velcro her legs into the stirrups. I ask the anesthesiologist why that is. He says he thinks it’s because she’s exophthalmic, the medical way of saying she has bulging eyes. Her hips writhe as they insert the long, slender, metal dilators to force open her cervix. They are reflex movements, they say, she won’t remember it, she isn’t in pain. She lifts her pelvis up and off the table …

Match Day Spotlight 2014: Internal Medicine

Published by Christopher Deans

Recent fourth-year matcher (and in-Training writer) John Dougherty of the Feinberg School of Medicine provides his expertise on how to succeed — and stay sane — in medical school and beyond: 1. Tell us about yourself: Where are you from? What is your undergraduate degree and where did you receive it? Did you do anything between undergraduate and medical school? John Dougherty: I’m from Valparaiso, Indiana, and went to Northwestern for my undergraduate and medical …

Match Day Spotlight 2014: Family Medicine

Published by Christopher Deans

Recent fourth-year matcher (and in-Training editor) C. Emily Lu of the Pritzker School of Medicine in Chicago, IL gives us her expert advice on succeeding in medical school and beyond. 1. Tell us about yourself: Where are you from? What is your undergraduate degree and where did you receive it? Did you do anything between undergraduate and medical school? C. Emily Lu: I grew up in Wisconsin, but have spent most of my adolescent andadult …

Are We There Yet? Words of Encouragement for Exhausted Third-Years

Published by Callie Hintzen

It feels like we have been in medical school forever, and the neverending saga continues this spring. Perhaps first semester was a gauntlet of rough rotations and long calls, and now you’re counting on some R&R in the upcoming months. Or maybe, like me, you have already completed the clerkships that interested you, and you’ve found yourself low on enthusiasm for the leftovers. Perhaps your semester is back-loaded, and you’re staring down the barrel of …

A Story of Love from Psychiatry

Published by Manasa Mouli

The patient was a man in his sixties, sitting in the armchair. His wife was next to him. He was there for his routine appointment with a psychiatrist about his depression, stress and anxiety. A year ago, he had a stroke, followed by a motor vehicle accident. His wife is now his caretaker. “It’s hard to take care of him at home, when I’m at work all day, too,” she said. “And he hasn’t been …

Futile Surgery: Does a Mother Even Have a Choice?

Published by Amy Rogers

Today was not sunny, but today James got to go outside. James is seven years old. Today, he was allowed to drink ginger ale. He’s never been allowed to drink what he wants. He hasn’t left the hospital in weeks. Since James was born, he has had an array of complications. He’s suffered numerous heart attacks, a nearly fatal hemorrhage, a stroke, renal failure, and has lived most of his life on dialysis. His doctors have tried heroic measures “to …

A Welcome Reminder of the Compassionate Physician

Published by Gillian Johnston

The medical students, residents and Dr. G stood around the computer with backs hunched. With serious and emotionless faces, we stared directly into the screen. We were taken aback by the MRI results of his brain in front of us. Was this a primary tumor? An AVM? A dreaded metastasis from somewhere else in his body? How long has this mass been in his brain? Look at the size. Look at the calcifications. What did …

Confessions of an OR Wannabe

Published by Lindsay Heuser

Confession One: I am an OR moron. Take me out of the OR, and I’m like any other third-year medical student. High achieving with at least some capacity for normal adult functioning. I study, I cook, I pay my bills. I attend medical school, for goodness sake. Most people in this world would consider that the pinnacle of young adult functioning. But in the OR, none of this matters. In the OR, I’m like half …

“I Will”

Published by Soroosh Hashemi

Kyle died early on a Sunday morning.  His last meal was vanilla pudding, fed to him lovingly by his grandmother Shirley, while reruns of “Inspector Gadget” played in the background.  When Kyle was born 25 years earlier, the family had been told he would not live more than a few weeks into infancy.  But Kyle surprised everyone by surviving a quarter of a century with debilitating cerebral palsy. What surprised me most about Kyle was …

Soroosh Hashemi (1 Posts)

Contributing Writer Emeritus

The Commonwealth Medical College

Soroosh is a Class of 2015 medical student at The Commonwealth Medical College.