Contributing Writer Emeritus
The Commonwealth Medical College
Anjani Amladi is a Class of 2015 medical student at The Commonwealth Medical College in Scranton, Pennsylvania. She was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, and went to the University of California at Davis where she received her undergraduate degree in biological sciences. She balances the rigors of medical school with extensive writing, and finds inspiration in her daily interactions with others. She takes pride in being a dedicated sister, daughter, student, friend and "dog mom." She has a passion for people and writes in honor of those who have enriched her life.
After arriving at the hospital, scrubbing in and warming up with a few anatomy questions with my attending, I was relaxed and ready to assist with the upcoming thyroidectomy. My patient, who will be referred to as “M,” was a 17-year-old girl who presented to the office with dizziness. After an extensive workup it was discovered that her symptoms were due to thyroid dysfunction. The surgery was meant to be a straightforward case, but the …
I read the latest progress note: ¨67-year-old male with metastatic lung cancer. Mildly agitated. Pain controlled with morphine.¨ I walk into a single room to see a frail man looking worn beyond his years. I introduce myself and ask if it is a good time to chat. He looks away and tells me that now is not a good time. I can see he has just received his lunch tray. Fair enough. I would not …
“Es un milagro, señora.” It was getting late, and the clinic waiting room was almost empty. It was OB/GYN day, and the patients—predominantly Spanish speaking migrant agricultural workers—had all finally been seen. All except Maria, who was still in the exam room. Her six-year-old son, Joaquin, skittered around the outside corridor, under the watchful eye of the nurses preparing to close up shop. I was in the exam room with the doctor and Maria, and …
Throughout my rotations, I often wondered what it must have been like to train under the tutelage of Michael Debakey, a pioneer in cardiac surgery, or Harvey Cushing, the father of modern neurosurgery. I imagined myself scrutinizing a CT scan (or a plain X-ray in Cushing’s time), having these masters of medicine critique my differential diagnosis or being in the operating theater learning a new operative technique. I tried to imagine the immense satisfaction one …
“Are you really prepared to see this?” the doctor asked staring intensely at me, his arm blocking my way to the patient’s room. “Yes,” I replied hesitantly. “You prepped me on the patient already.” “Kid, I didn’t ask if you were prepped. I asked if you were prepared.” I knew that a scheduled delivery for a miscarriage would be a traumatic experience. I knew that it required the utmost sensitivity and compassion. Dr. A had …
“This can be a depressing specialty at times; we laugh to stay sane,” my attending explained as I stared in dismay at the cackling residents and faculty after one of them made a rude comment about their patient. This was the first day of my rotation on this service and I was very disappointed. Still brimming with the ideals of professionalism taught in the first two years of medical school, the scenario I witnessed seemed …
Doing a sub-internship in the ICU is, well, intense. On the first day, I was completely overwhelmed by seeing so many sick patients, most of whom were sedated, ventilated, and on at least one pressor. In just a few weeks, this came to seem perfectly normal. However, what continued to stir me were the extreme emotions I saw patients and their families experiencing. I couldn’t help but feel those emotions myself. The most difficult day—thankfully …
Sunday, 8 p.m. What started as valiant efforts of creating new recipes turned out to be embarrassing failures in judgment and common sense. Initially, I thought mixing tofu, some greens and pasta would turn out to be an Asian delicacy, maybe something that I could proudly share with friends and family. But, after adding one spice to another, topping sauce over sauce, I realized that it was over. It was time to call it an …
May – Bright-eyed and fresh from the books, I start my first rotation on internal medicine. I stay at the hospital until 11 p.m. to get a good history of my first patient. It is three pages long. I come in on weekends to practice writing notes. I find out that a patient is witness to child abuse and file a mandatory report. I pat myself on the back. My intern pats me on the …
Moving across the country to attend medical school left me without a fridge that was magically full of Russian salads, homemade breads and grilled goodies. This magic was never much of a rainbow. It was domineered by the deep purplish-red of cooked beets. Despite their sweet and hearty favor, I didn’t want my kitchen, cloths and fingers to turn into a heavy and semi-permanent shade of faded purple. I began to grocery shop like a …
After a late night out the Friday before Halloween, a long run in the morning and the scent of pad thai on Newbury Street in the afternoon, I came home craving brown rice in peanut sauce. I stood in the doorway and thought about the biology of food cravings, but quickly snapped out of it to scrounge my cupboards for ingredients. I aspire to cook without (printed) recipes like my mom does, so here was …
Well ladies and gents, it is that time of year again. The temperatures are getting cooler, the leaves are falling off the trees, and for thousands of fourth-year medical students, myself included, it is residency application and interview season. Fourth year year is a special time for all medical students. It means we are but mere months from achieving those oh-so-special added letters at the end of our names. It means no longer introducing yourself …
Contributing Writer Emeritus
Lincoln Memorial University DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine
Deke Barron is a Class of 2014 medical student at Lincoln Memorial University DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine. He has a master's in biomedical sciences from William Carey University and a bachelor's in cellular, molecular, and systems biology from Berea College.
He likes pretty much any sport and long walks on a beach (no, not really). Deke's medical interests include family medicine and sports medicine, as well as rural medicine. Deke is very excited to join the in-Training team, and he would like to thank his great friend Brittney O'Grady (http://foodieuncensored.blogspot.com) for inspiring him to start writing again.
