From the Wards

Rachel Kim (1 Posts)

Contributing Writer Emeritus

University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine

Currently in Canada. Loving every moment of the way.




What the Doctors Know and What the Doctors Don’t Know

Published by Rachel Kim

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 …

Mind Your Perspective

Published by Mohammad Esfahanian

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 …

Friend or Foe?

Published by Donald Brown

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 …

The Chair

Published by Ben Ferguson

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 …

The Beginning

Published by Alyssa Liubakka

It was 6:58 a.m. and it was my first day in the hospital as a third-year medical student. I was excited. I had my short white coat on and my pockets were full of little gems recommended by those more experienced than myself. As I found my team I saw the second-day-interns nervously preparing for rounds. I hoped my excitement was not too obvious. I could not believe I was about to round on real …

Reflections on Internal Medicine Clerkship

Published by Alixandra A. Scheufler

During my internal medicine rotation, I learned many things about medicine, and many things about patient care, and they are not always one in the same. By far the most influential piece of knowledge I will take away from this clerkship is the importance of clear verbal and written patient instructions and education, as well as the benefits of keeping patient care in a network of physicians.

A Simple Humanistic Touch in Medicine Goes a Long Way

Published by Sharmin Kalam

I met a patient at preop for an elective sigmoid resection for a malignant mass in her colon. She had no previous surgical history. Unfortunately the patient was widowed and lived alone and had some understandable concerns about her recovery. She seemed anxious and a bit nervous about the procedure. I introduced myself before the surgery and tried to the best of my current ability to answer any questions she had. As we spoke, I …

A Reflective Case of Patient Safety: The System and the Individual

Published by Kimberly Ku

The night flow team had picked up a woman in her late 60s with a history of diverticulosis presenting to the ED with bleeding from the rectum.  She was scheduled for colonoscopy the next day and orders were placed for NPO (nothing by mouth) after midnight and GoLytely (bowel cleanser) to be finished within three hours before midnight. As a third year medical student, I picked up this patient the morning of her colonoscopy.  She …

You’ll Always Remember Your First

Published by Deke Barron

Every life is full of firsts. First steps. First words. First kiss. First love. First (and ideally only) marriage. For physicians in training, there is one other first that quite possibly ranks ahead of those other life milestones: the first real patient. Sure we’ve practiced on each other, on paid actors, and even on lifelike robot mannequins along the way, but at some point every medical student starts rotations. Rotations equal the first taste of …

Applied Bioethics: Marathoning and Medicine

Published by John Dougherty

Paternalism and medicine have a storied past that is difficult to grasp in the abstract. For me, the values of autonomy and beneficence were cemented on the day I ran my second marathon. After the first one, I remember being asked what the hardest part of the race was. “Every mile was harder than the last,” I replied. After that day I felt like I was in the best shape of my life, dampened only by having fallen nine minutes short of my goal. Resilient, I recovered for a week, trained for three and then raced again in the Indianapolis Monument Marathon.

John Dougherty John Dougherty (1 Posts)

Contributing Writer Emeritus

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

John Dougherty is a medical student at the Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois.