Contributing Writer
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine
I am currently a Class of 2014 medical student in the awesome state of Texas at TTUHSC SOM. I absolutely love medicine and have enjoyed my time as a medical student. I am currently interested in pediatric cardiothoracic surgery and hope to get into one of the new, fast-track integrated CT programs.
Outside of being a medical student, I am involved in various activities including my church and various Bible studies, leadership both at the local and state level and volunteering in local community groups. I love running and recently completed the 12-mile obstacle course in Austin known as Tough Mudder. I also play the piano, love to bake and explore random places. I love traveling, so any opportunity I get to visit a city, I go! I love learning and I love having fun, but most of all I love being around people. I'm excited to write for in-Training as I never want to lose my love for writing, no matter how crazy medical school gets!
It’s that time of the year again. For second-years, USMLE Step 1 is around the corner. For third-years, it’s Step 2. For fourth-years, their future careers are just months away. At times, the pressure of medical school looms and the daily challenges that students face become disheartening. That’s why I like to be reminded of short stories of people who did not necessarily go through medical school, but were faced with many hardships. Some were …
It was 3 a.m. in the emergency room. I had the ultrasound probe in my hand and was searching for a 50-something-year-old man’s bladder. He had not been able to urinate for over 10 hours and was in terrible pain. I figured his bladder had to be the size of a basketball by now. I stared intently at the black and white fuzzy screen, trying to interpret the landmarks. I did not see the large …
Editor’s note: This article was originally published here by contributing writer Paul Thomas. This morning, I had the good fortune of practicing medicine in a homeless shelter with Street Medicine Detroit (SMD). SMD is a student-run organization at Wayne State University School of Medicine that ventures out into the community and provides compassionate medical care to the underserved and homeless of Detroit. Because of the cold weather in Michigan, our “street run” took place inside a church just off …
Since that fateful day when I read the words ‘Congratulations, you have been accepted…’, I consider my medical education to be my ticket into the world of international development. With the tools I obtain through my medical degree, I dream of setting up medical clinics in remote jungles and responding to need following natural disasters. Prior to medical school, I served at a rural Salvation Army medical clinic in Ghana, where I was the lone …
Not everyone has the pleasure, or should I say honor, of being a part of the miracle that is life; even fewer get to say that they witness and influence that miracle every day. As a medical student, I have been privy to a whole new world of opportunities that have opened my eyes to how fragile life truly is and how much of a difference one person can make to affect the life (or …
Scene I: 7:30 a.m. in the OR at the VA [Elderly gentleman with too many comorbidities to be induced into sleep. He is given local anesthesia and lies draped on the operating table. General surgery is suctioning a fluctuant mass from his upper left thorax. Case has been opened.] Patient behind curtain: Oh, God. Oh, God! Errrgggggh! Anesthesiologist: We’re just gonna give you some more medicine. Chief Resident: It’s right around your broken rib. There …
I’m sitting by the window in a hospital room with my eight-year-old sidekick who is being treated for rhabdomysarcoma, here for chemotherapy. Sidekicks is a student-led initiative at UMass Medical School that matches medical students with pediatric oncology patients in order to build long-term, non-medical relationships. He is watching his favorite cartoons and so he is unresponsive to my attempts at engagement. My own five-year anniversary of being in remission from Hodgkin’s lymphoma just passed …
22 June Jambo! Leaving today. A bit apprehensive considering how busy I have been and how unprepared I feel. 13 July: Day 1 I’d be lying if I told you I imagined my first day to be anything like this. Everything leading up to today made me think that this externship was an opportunity to see some very interesting cases, while conducting my hypertension research in a modern, Swiss training facility in rural Tanzania. …
Since the beginning of medical school, I have always been astonished at the fact that my preceptors often had no idea what was going on with their patients. Many times, they resorted to prescribing Tylenol, simply telling their patients to come back if the condition became worse. Gastric ulcer? Tylenol. Terrible headache? Tylenol. Joint aches? Tylenol. Period cramps? Tylenol. Of course, they were family doctors with years and years of experience, but it came to …
Third years — this one’s for you. You’re already a few months into the year, and probably getting the hang of things by now. As you wade through the ocean of scut, progress notes, and evaluations, it can be easy to lose sight of the potential bias in your perspective. However, if you remain mindful of your perspective, you may be a better judge of your specialty interests while simultaneously getting more enjoyment out of your …
A patient with a past medical history of hypertension and IV drug use (IVDU) presents to the ED. He reports a one month history of neck pain. He denies any trauma. He also reports having upper extremity weakness for two weeks. He denies any previous episodes like this. He denies any fevers or chills. He reports an IV drug history for a number of years and reports that his last heroin injection was two days …
A little humor goes a long way with a lot of patients. The degree to which a positive attitude—on their part and ours—can help them get through a difficult time in their lives never ceases to amaze me. One patient came to us with massive lower extremity swelling and an EF of 15 percent. He was an inpatient for over a month and had a Foley catheter for more than three weeks. He had an …
Contributing Writer Emeritus
University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
I am a Class of 2013 medical student at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. In 2011, I earned a PhD in cancer biology through the Committee on Cancer Biology at the University of Chicago. I graduated from the University of Illinois in 2004; while there, I sang with a jazz a cappella group called No Strings Attached.
In 2007, I started the Pritzker Podcast, an online audio resource for premedical applicants. Medical education, technology, and photography also interest me greatly. I plan on a career in academic surgical oncology.
