A Family Matter
When I reflect on ways to implement holistic care for the patients I work with, I think of the impact of my mother as a primary caregiver for my abuela’s (grandmother’s) medical care, despite not having a medical background herself.
From the Wards
Contributing Writer
St. George's University
Michael is a medical student at St. George’s University in Grenada, West Indies, Class of 2024. In 2016, he graduated from College of the Holy Cross with a bachelor of arts in english. Prior to medical school, he worked as a clinical research coordinator in Hematologic Malignancies and Transplantation at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Outside of medicine, he enjoys caring for his house plants, browsing med twitter and thrift shopping.
Dear God
My eyes locked on the upside-down words scribbled on the paper that was torn from my preceptor’s notebook a few moments prior. Dear God, my patient wrote, I am grateful for this life.
Lessons from the OB/GYN Waiting Room: A Reflection on Clinical Research Recruitment
One young woman sits and waits patiently, scrolling on her phone to pass the time. A couple sits across the room talking softly to each other. The air feels light in the quiet room. A woman arrives, checks in, walks with heavy steps to a chair and sits down with a sigh.
More Than Skin Deep
As a future physician, this experience reminded me to remain empathetic, compassionate and unbiased in all aspects of patient care. By doing so, I can not only improve trust and connection with my patients but also ensure that my clinical judgment remains clear.
The Most Important Thing: First Day on Wards
Most of all though, I tried to calm my racing mind and remind myself to just learn. And with that, I wondered, “What is the most important thing I can do today?”
Deceased Note: Facing Death as a Medical Student
I opened their chart and scrolled to the recent notes section. A new title I had never seen before popped on the screen. There, at the top of the chart, “Deceased Note” was written in bold letters.
What They See First
The beauty of medicine is that we are trained to see each person as an individual, not as a victim of their stereotypes. We are taught that we are more than our skin color, our religion, our clothing or our gender. But even though I see more than a patient’s demographic on static paper, those same patients, and sometimes even colleagues, fail to see me as more than just a woman.
Tell Me About Yourself
As I completed my residency interviews, I recognized that we are hard pressed to find a better way to match burgeoning physicians with training programs searching for their next class of interns. Yet I also knew that neither I nor any other applicant could fit into a preconceived box or several sentence summary. I could not simply market myself as a humanist or an artist, or an activist or a researcher.
My Most Important Lesson from Medical School
Upon reflection, my actions and feelings in caring for this patient reveal how truly afraid I was to be wrong; not necessarily about the diagnosis, but rather about whether the patient would be okay. Maybe coming in daily and opening her chart for good news was just me hoping that my initial impression was still right instead of coming to terms with the fact I was very wrong.
East of Eden: Illness Representations and the Moral Compass
The crumpled old gentleman nestled in the armchair of his hospital room, bundled in blankets from the warmer down the hall, cards from his family propped up like a miniature Stonehenge on the table beside him. I listened closely to his heart and lungs, eyed the half-full urinal hooked onto his bed frame, and drew my fingers along his shins.
“Hola, mi nombre es … y soy un estudiante de medicina.”
She asks me if I can speak Spanish, to which I regrettably deny, stating I can understand it well, but my ability to communicate in my mother tongue is lacking. Her eyes catch my sight, this time not projecting annoyance, but now disappointment, with her head shaking and her uttering, “That is an absolute shame. You should know how to speak Spanish. You are Hispanic and do not know Spanish? What a shame.”
I’ll Call Her Tiffany
Pink playdough littered the exam table, sink, counter and floor. In a flash, a thin child, all elbows and knees, jumped athletically from the sink counter to the exam table and then to the floor, stomping over my feet in the process.
Contributing Writer
University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia
Julia is a third year medical student at University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia in Columbia, South Carolina Class of 2023. In 2017, she graduated magna cum laude from College of Charleston with a Bachelor of Science in biology and a minor in psychology. She enjoys cooking Taiwanese food, exploring Brooklyn and spending time in her hometown of Newport, Rhode Island in her free time. After graduating medical school, Julia will be completing her residency training in OB/GYN.