CLL (Child Learning Love)
You call me on a Thursday to tell me / You were diagnosed with leukemia in October.
Off the Shelf
Off the Shelf is our section for creative works by medical students.
Medical Student Editor and Contributing Writer
SUNY Downstate College of Medicine
Gabe is a fourth year medical student at the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate College of Medicine in Brooklyn, New York. In 2017, he graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri with a Bachelor of Arts in English. Gabe is interested in the power of creative and reflective writing for both patients and providers, and in his free time, he enjoys reading, writing, and exploring Brooklyn. After he graduates medical school, Gabe hopes to pursue a residency in psychiatry and eventually become a clinical educator.
Studies of Mice and Men
Investigate. / Deeper, / deeper, / deeper: / To a depth of understanding beyond understanding.
I Sit in the Classroom
I sit in the classroom, / staring blankly at the wall. / The professor has gone off once again, / regaling a story of some elderly patient’s fall.
New Normal
Never committed a crime, / but now I feel like a prisoner. / Trapped in our minds, / our spirits leashed, / our existence wanders among these all too familiar walls.
Six Feet Apart
One inch more than the measure of me, and one inch less than that of my father. It’s been a while since I lined up, back to back. But if I did, the space between us would only read two inches. Maybe less now that he is older. Nearly sixty. Closer to the next decade than the last.
The Catastrophic Search for the Operating Room
Wake up a 5:00 a.m., / Cannot afford to be late. / It’s my first day of preclinical shadowing, / I want my first impression to be great.
Drinking Grapefruit Juice
I didn’t know / many can’t / sip coral pulpy bitter / juice from narrow glasses.
Circle of Life
A loud cry as we enter the world. / A silent cry as we depart.
Clash of the Experts
We’re overloaded with so much advice, so many ideas on how to be a better doctor, / how do we decide what to follow and what to ignore?
This Space
This is a space / between you and me / where you can simply be
hope
like breath in our lungs / we do not notice it / until it is gone
Where I Am From
I am from wide-toothed combs / pulled through tangled hair. / I am from rumbling yellow school buses
Contributing Writer
Drexel University College of Medicine
Joyce is a fourth-year medical student at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA Class of 2021. She is completing the final years of the Accelerated BS/MD Program there. Outside of the hospital, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, dancing, baking, and eating. After graduating medical school, Joyce is excited to pursue a career in Internal Medicine, and eventually Gastroenterology.